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The Magic of Murdoch
Murdoch is magical when she is at her best: a hundred pages can pass, and I sit with bated breath. Looking up only when the spell is broken and it is no longer as wonderful. Mischa's party for instance – still in The Flight from the Enchanter – kept me so wrapped up I didn't hear mum telling me, four times, dinner was ready. She has what Nabokov called shamanstvo, "the enchanter quality". The Sea, the Sea had the same thing. These occasional, brilliant, breath-taking scenes. It's just that there is so much in-between I have to force myself to take interest in.