Jonathan Strange And Mr Norrell, Episode 1

[poliphilo]

I loved the book. It's a leisurely book with lots of texture- and a TV adaption- even one that's been stretched to seven hours- is bound to go at a differen pace.  I could wish the adaptors had taken it by the tail and turned it inside out (that's how you translate something from one medium to another) but they've opted for a pious- if hasty- retelling of the story - scene by scene- very much as Susannah Clarke wrote it. The word for this is pedestrian. But it looks good- and as if rather more than a BBC budget has been spent on it. Some of the acting is a little too effusive- but this doesn't apply to Eddie Marsan who- as the dry, snuffy little Norrell- dominates every scene he's in.

Comments

[qatsi.livejournal.com]

I haven't read the book but I did rather enjoy the first episode. It's the first drama I've seen on TV for quite a while.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'm really quite pleased with it, but the book is better.
Mind you, when I re-read the book- as I fully intend to- it's Eddie Marsan's face I'm going to be seeing.