Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (Paperback) by Susanna Clarke - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists

rating	frequency	%
5		33%
4		33%
3		19%
2		8%
1		4%

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Next Best Boo...: OFFICIAL SUMMER CHALLENGE 2009	3863	4506	3 minutes ago
Novel Ladies: Your Latest Shopping Spree	793	64	8 minutes ago
The Next Best Boo...: Lists	3144	1430	37 minutes ago

05/23/07

Kelly rated it:

bookshelves: brit-lit, fantasy, favorites, fiction, worth-rereading

Read in June, 2007

recommends it for: Fans of gothic, Victorian, Jane Austen or fantasy literature.

Without a doubt the best book I have read this year. I write that without hesitation and with a beaming smile on my face. Incredible. Enthralling. Amazing. The book was over 800 pages long and it did not seem long enough. I wanted more of the page length footnotes. When I finished the book, I immediately turned out the light and tried to drift off to sleep, because I knew nothing else I did that night was going to top the feeling I got after blowing through the last 100 pages like a madwoman. I ...more Without a doubt the best book I have read this year. I write that without hesitation and with a beaming smile on my face. Incredible. Enthralling. Amazing. The book was over 800 pages long and it did not seem long enough. I wanted more of the page length footnotes. When I finished the book, I immediately turned out the light and tried to drift off to sleep, because I knew nothing else I did that night was going to top the feeling I got after blowing through the last 100 pages like a madwoman. I want to start it over again, immediately.

The book is like reading Dickens, with the dialogue of Jane Austen, and the best writing of every classic fantasy I've read. All at once. Clarke manages to pay her homage while being entirely original herself. And the pages just keep turning and turning. You almost don't notice as 200 pages go by in less than two hours. This is a book to devour. Again, and again, and again. For those who have never been interested in the fantasy genre before, do not be put off. It's not even about the fantasy, though of course it is a major presence and the plot focuses around it. History geeks: There are three delightful, hilarious appearances by Wellington, George III and Lord Byron, as well as various Cabinet ministers of the time period.

The prose is wonderful, dead-on. Clarke has the ability to shift seamlessly from witty, sarcastic, detached prose and dialogue in the style of Jane Austen or Oscar Wilde:

These ladies and gentlemen, visitors to the city of Venice, were excessively pleased with the Campo Santa Maria Formosa. They thought the facades of the houses very magnificent- they could not praise them highly enough. But the sad decay which buildings, bridges and church all displayed seemed to charm them even more. They were Englishmen and, to them, the decline of other nations was the most natural thing in the world. They belonged to a race so blessed with so sensitive an appreciation of its own talents (and so doubtful an opinion of any body else's) that they would not have been at all surprised to learn that the Venetians themselves had been entirely ignorant of the merits of their own city- until Englishmen had come to tell them it was delightful."

... and then shift into lines that would do any fantasy author proud: "Spring returned to England. Birds followed ploughs. Stones were warmed by the sun. Rains and winds grew softer, and were fragranced by the scents of the earth and growing things. Woods were tinged with a colour so soft, so subtle that it could scarcely be said to be a colour at all. It was more the /idea/ of a colour- as if the trees were dreaming green dreams or thinking green thoughts."

Those quotes don't do it justice, they were just ones my eyes came across when I randomly opened pages. The writing is just beyond fantastic, to say the least.

That, on top of an intrguing, well developed, /incredibly/ well researched portrait of England at the time of the Napoleonic wars? It manages to cover all the major areas that british literature is known for, all at once, in one book, and do them all justice. Clarke is also able to touch on a lot of serious issues that were present in England at the time: (racial relations, the problems of a hereditary ruling class..) She makes you aware of them as a background, but doesn't push them in your face. It's just another way she's able to make her evocation of the time period that much more perfect.

... I should perhaps have written this review with a greater distance from finishing the novel. But I think I'm justified in doing it now, if only to give an idea of the kind of amazing feeling that the book gives you from reading it and finishing it.

Books like this are why I love literature.

Read it. End of story.

(... finally.)(less)

Like this review? yes (39 people liked it)

23 comments

07/13/07

Eric rated it:

Read in January, 2005

I so wanted to like this book. The idea is just wonderful. I was so pleased for a while to be in that world, a historical England. I love the dialogue and descriptions. And I love the idea of magic in an otherwise real setting, as though it were a normal part of our actual world. But it was so frustrating to read after a while. The footnotes, auuuugh, the footnotes. They were cute at first, because the book is written sort of like a history book from that period. But after a while they were jus...more I so wanted to like this book. The idea is just wonderful. I was so pleased for a while to be in that world, a historical England. I love the dialogue and descriptions. And I love the idea of magic in an otherwise real setting, as though it were a normal part of our actual world. But it was so frustrating to read after a while. The footnotes, auuuugh, the footnotes. They were cute at first, because the book is written sort of like a history book from that period. But after a while they were just so long and so unrelated to the main story that they became seriously cumbersome. And just when the story would be getting involved, she'd fast forward 2 years or 10 years and the last part of the story, though unresolved, would be pretty much forgotten. Boooo!

The end was annoying, or rather the way the main characters reacted to it. It's fiction, it's fantasy, but when you're writing about basic human beings who have otherwise behaved consistently throughout the book, and then they react to something in a way you know isn't consistent and isn't how people would act, it pops the bubble of your suspended disbelief and sort of ruins the story. Another annoying thing is that we keep waiting to learn more about why Mr. Norrell acts the way he does, but we never do learn. He's just a pill and that's it. That's poor writing, No motivations for him, no insight into his character. So really he just serves a function in the book that could have been served by an inanimate object.

Overall the book is just filled with too many things that seem to have no point. It's not that they aren't interesting by themselves or couldn't have been made into something wonderful, it's just that they are tossed out there randomly and not connected to anything. In that way, the cold, dispassionate history book style disappoints, because what we really want is a story. We want to care about the characters and see resolution of some kind. Booo!

There will apparently be more books set in this world, but I won't be reading them. It's just too much of a time investment in a seemingly great idea that doesn't pay off.(less)

Like this review? yes (28 people liked it)

13 comments

08/01/07

Tiza rated it:

(review of isbn 0747579881)

Read in January, 2007

recommends it for: Everyone who loves fantasy, 19th century British lit and can endure long, slow read

Although Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell turns out to be a book I dearly love, I'm afraid I can't recommend it to just anyone. Whether you'll like it or not will truly depend on what you expect it to be. If you wish for a fast-paced excitement then this book is probably not for you. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is a blend of meticulously researched historical fiction and imaginative fantasy, sprinkled here and there with biting social comedy, and written in a style similar to Austen's, whic...more Although Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell turns out to be a book I dearly love, I'm afraid I can't recommend it to just anyone. Whether you'll like it or not will truly depend on what you expect it to be. If you wish for a fast-paced excitement then this book is probably not for you. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is a blend of meticulously researched historical fiction and imaginative fantasy, sprinkled here and there with biting social comedy, and written in a style similar to Austen's, which is, of course, relevant to the age in which the story takes place, the early years of 19th century England. The plot mainly focuses in the revival of magic in England, an art that has been long fallen into disuse but still theoretically studied by many. Among these people two gentlemen who actually practise the art come into the spotlight: the tedious, reclusive Gilbert Norrell and his pupil Jonathan Strange. The story further unfurls with the appearance of a certain silver-haired fairy, Norrell's and Strange's involvements in the Napoleonic Wars, and also the revelation of the prophecy of The Raven King in all its mythical grandeur.

JS & MN is a long, meandering read that needs to be slowly savoured, not to be rushed. I started reading it feeling a little bit wary myself,the first hundred pages being undeniably dragging. But I soon came to a certain point where something just clicked, and from there on it was almost impossible to put it down. This book is over 1000 pages long, and yet, as I close the book in completion, I asked myself of how 1000 pages could seemingly be so terribly short.

For me, who end up liking this book, JS & MN is a true charmer, compelling in all its subtlety, imaginative, witty and beautifully written. Clarke has a flair in language use. She employs the right words at all the right moments to make us feel exactly what she intends us to feel, and see exactly what she wants us to see. With this ability at hands she creates a fine balance of myths, magic, history, warfare, politic and mundane domestic life. Clarke treats magic as an object of study in the truest sense. Some parts of the book read like an academic essay, with long studious arguments of why such and such magic can or cannot be done, various citations from the works of great magicians long dead, and insanely lengthy footnotes (which people ever so often think as annoying distractions, yet I found them really fun to read). She also has a perfect grasp about the age in which her characters are living. Thus her writing comes off convincingly like a product of 19th century British literature (though it has the virtue of being more comprehensible), perfectly written with all the old spellings: chuse, sopha, shew, surprize.

Clarke's characterisation is definitely one of the best elements in the book. The characters, be it the main protagonists or otherwise, are solidly drawn and interesting, as lovable as they are flawed. Strange, though not someone who is altogether admirable, is charming and generally more likable, and yet narrow-minded Norrell, with all his jealousy and peevishness, feels all too human that I couldn't help but sympathise with him even when I didn't want to.

A literary merit though this book is, please be warned that not everyone will find it fascinating. If you're halfway through the book and it still doesn't pique your interest, put it down then, save your precious time. But if you're halfway through and already been absorbed it's very likely you'll be graced with something that stays with you days and weeks after you finished reading it. I know it did this for me. Definitely one of those rare treats I'd be willingly and gladly re-read each year.(less)

Like this review? yes (23 people liked it)

3 comments

01/28/08

Hyel rated it:

Read in November, 2005

Actually a really good book. Loved the detail and all the footnotes. But in case you have no patience to read a long and rambly book, but want to know what happens, here's a recap:

---

Mr Norrell
I've spent all my life studying magic and now I'm going to revive it in England. By which I mean I want everyone to see how good I am and admire me. Fairy, revive Lady Pole so the cabinet ministers will be impressed with me.

The gentleman with thistle-down hair
...more

Like this review? yes (31 people liked it)

8 comments

02/16/08

Martine rated it:

bookshelves: british, fantasy, historical-fiction, modern-fiction, pseudo-nineteenth-century

Read in March, 2008

recommends it for: Jane Austen fans and lovers of original fantasy fiction

You have to give Susanna Clarke props for ambition. In itself, her combination of fantasy and well-researched historical fiction isn’t new. Guy Gavriel Kay has made a career out of it, and a very good one, too. (If you haven’t read any Kay, do yourself a favour and rectify that situation as soon as possible. Seriously, the man is brilliant.) However, to write a huge historical fantasy novel in the language of the time in which the story is set is a different feat altogether, and in Jonathan ...more You have to give Susanna Clarke props for ambition. In itself, her combination of fantasy and well-researched historical fiction isn’t new. Guy Gavriel Kay has made a career out of it, and a very good one, too. (If you haven’t read any Kay, do yourself a favour and rectify that situation as soon as possible. Seriously, the man is brilliant.) However, to write a huge historical fantasy novel in the language of the time in which the story is set is a different feat altogether, and in Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Clarke almost pulls it off. Almost, but not quite.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is the story of two wizards who change the course of early-nineteenth-century history while failing to notice the many strange things that are going on in the lives of those around them. The first quarter of the book centres on Mr Norrell, a reticent old man who believes he is the only practical magician in England and longs to do something great and useful with his powers. After a bit of a struggle for recognition, he is employed as a weapon in England’s struggle against France, which is just then getting a bit uppity in Europe. Then, suddenly, a second magician appears on the scene -- the much younger and more likeable Jonathan Strange. Mr Norrell takes Strange on as his pupil, and for a while the two magicians work side by side, until, in the grand tradition of such things, their relationship turns sour and master and student become rivals. What follows will determine not just their fates, but many people’s, and indeed the fate of magic in England.

Clarke tackles many themes in her 800-page book, both genuine and fantastical. First of all, there’s the pseudo-historical angle in which Strange helps the Duke of Wellington beat Napoleon, tries to cure the madness of King George III and meets other interesting characters of the time. Secondly, there are various social issues, such as the relationship between the classes and the art of knowing one’s place in the greater scheme of things. Last but not least, there’s a spooky alternate universe with which the magicians get to deal, for as they find out rather late in the book, the good old Celtic world of Faerie is far from dead in nineteenth-century England. Clarke doesn’t go in for the kind of thorough world-building many other fantasy authors favour, but her scholarly take on Faerie (set out in weird but oddly entertaining page-long footnotes and journal articles) is consistent, intriguing and original -- a word one doesn’t often come across in reviews of fantasy books.

That said, it took me a bit of time to get into the book. The main problem (as so often with me) was of a linguistic nature -- to wit, the faux-Austenesque quality of the writing. Clarke has an excellent shot at Austen’s dry, witty brand of English, but for the first one hundred pages I simply wasn’t taken in. Rather than being transported straight to Regency England, I was acutely aware of the artificiality of the language, to the point where I occasionally felt like I was reading an unintentional Austen spoof. It didn’t help that the early part of the book centred on a prim, petty, vain old man to whom I couldn’t relate and that the writing was rather detached. I persevered, though, and I’m glad I did, for about 150 pages into the book things began to fall into place. Not only did I get used to Clarke’s language, but I began to enjoy it, finding pleasure in her subtle satire and in such throwaway phrases as ‘there is no word in the English language for a magician’s garden two hundred years after the magician is dead’, which evokes all sorts of things without actually describing them. Even better, Jonathan Strange finally entered the picture, and suddenly the novel got a whole lot better. It got youth. It got flamboyance. It got fabulous feats of magic. It got rivalry. It got loyalty and betrayal, madness and obsessions and characters being redeemed from zombie-like existences. It got a pretty entertaining take on history. It got a cameo by Lord Byron (a boon to any historical fantasy novel -- see The Anubis Gates). And most of all, it got a heart, although the writing continued to be a bit more detached than I liked. Thanks to all these things, I ended up quite enjoying the book, laughing out loud at some of Clarke’s more entertaining notions, such as generals wishing to replace their cavalry’s horses with unicorns so as to gore Frenchmen through their hearts, or Jonathan Strange temporarily moving Brussels to America to get it out of Napoleon’s way because ‘[America] always looks so empty on the maps’. Jane Austen never came up with anything like that, and that’s a compliment.

In the end, then, I enjoyed Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell quite a bit. I didn’t love it as much as I had hoped, but I certainly admired it. If only Jonathan Strange could have entered the story a bit earlier and if only the writing could have been a bit less detached, I'd probably have given the book five stars. Not bad, given my initial frustrations with it.

(One day I’ll learn to write concise reviews. Sigh.)
(less)

Like this review? yes (11 people liked it)

14 comments

10/12/08

Craig rated it:

bookshelves: --scifi-and-fantasy, highest-possible-recommendation, pleasant-surprises

NOTE: I didn't put the spoiler flag on this review because it technically doesn't give anything big away. Nevertheless it does come pretty close. So, if want to dive into the book completely clean you might consider moving on. You have been warned.

On with the review. First off, this is not Harry Potter for grown ups. I really hate it when people use that lazy comparison not only because it's completely stupid but because it isn't even remotely true.

With that off my c...more

Like this review? yes (9 people liked it)

1 comment

08/28/07

Meagan rated it:

Jesus Christ, this book reads like molasses. It's like the author took every book from her Brit Lit class and consciously tried to make it wordier and longer than all of them combined. I get the point she wants to make, but I honestly could not get past the second chapter.

It also was so incredibly pretentious. The whole thing has this superior feel, like having a conversation with someone who is absolutely reassured of how much smarter they are than you. It left me feeling bored, st...more

Like this review? yes (10 people liked it)

2 comments

05/10/07

Colin rated it:

(review of isbn 1582344167)

bookshelves: fiction

Read in May, 2007

recommends it for: anglophiles, historical fiction fans

I'd heard for a long time how amazing this book was, and I was decidedly unmoved by it. I did read the whole thing, and at 800 pages, that felt like an accomplishment. Clarke obviously put a lot of work into the back story, creating an entire historical library of magic that is cited in footnotes throughout. That kind of detailed work is, i suppose, admirable. However, I found the two main characters (rich white English men) boring. I couldn't bring myself to really care what happened to them, a...more

Like this review? yes (12 people liked it)

add a comment

12/12/08

Jon rated it:

bookshelves: alternate-history, award-winners, fantasy, fiction, historical-fiction, hugo-winner, nebula-nominee, read-in-my-40s

Read in January, 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

This novel was rich on many levels. It was fantasy, for it had magic and fairies, but it was also historical fiction, possibly even an alternate history of Britain during and shortly after the Napoleonic Wars. It's pacing matched that of the times, sedate and thoughtful, rich in detail and characters.

Gilbert Norrell is a miserly magician of Yorkshire who hoards any and all books of magic he can get his hands on. His first act of magic in the novel actually results in the dissolu...more This novel was rich on many levels. It was fantasy, for it had magic and fairies, but it was also historical fiction, possibly even an alternate history of Britain during and shortly after the Napoleonic Wars. It's pacing matched that of the times, sedate and thoughtful, rich in detail and characters.

Gilbert Norrell is a miserly magician of Yorkshire who hoards any and all books of magic he can get his hands on. His first act of magic in the novel actually results in the dissolution of a society of theoretical magicians in York for the sole purpose of making himself the only magician in Britain.

Jonathan Strange is an idle gentleman who stumbles upon his talent for magic and like a moth to the flame, flies to Mr. Norrell, the only source of magical information, and becomes his pupil. Their association lasts for several months until Strange surpasses Norrell in inventiveness and intuition and Norrell sends him to assist the army in Spain.

In Spain, Strange eventually becomes indispensable to Lord Wellington, initially by providing magic roads for the British Army to use which disappear back to a morass of mud just in time for the French Army to get bogged down in. Finally, Strange's magic turns the tide of the Battle of Waterloo and thus ends the reign of Emperor Bounaparte.

Three background characters are pivotal to the story. The first is Emma Wintertowne, who eventually becomes Lady Pole after marrying Sir Walter Pole. But only after she is resurrected by Mr. Norrell with his second and most famous act of magic. But Norrell bargains away half of Emma's life to the fairy he summoned to ressurect her, a fairy gentleman we know only as "the gentleman with the thistle down hair." This resurrection reults in the enchantment and imprisonment of Lady Pole in the fairy hall of Lost-hope, doomed to dance and endless balls or participate in pointless processions.

The second supporting character also enchanted by the fairy gentleman is Sir Walter's butler, a black man named Stephen Black. The fairy took a queer liking and attachment to Stephen and forced him to attend the same balls and processions that Lady Pole suffered. Both Lady Pole and Stephen were returned to the real world each morning, but they both suffered exhaustion and distraction from living a double life, which both were prevented from relating to others of their predicament.

The third enchanted and most tragic figure was Strange's wife, Arabella. Because Arabella struck up a friendship with the ailing Lady Pole, she came into the sphere of the gentleman with the thistle down hair. He immediately sought to enchant her permanently to the halls of Lost-hope. With Stephen's reluctant assistance, he was able to pull Arabella into fairy, seemingly causing her to perish to her family and friends.

Strange was nearly mad with grief but was eventually persuaded to take a long holiday on the continent, where he met another English family, the Greysteels. It seemed he was on the path of a second marriage to Flora Greysteel, when he discovered a pathway to fairy, stumbling upon the hall of Lost-hope and learning of the fates of Lady Pole, Stephen and his wife, Arabella. The rest of the novel is Strange's struggle to free the women. As we learn later, Stephen breaks his own and Arabella's enchantments when the opportunity presents itself.

Two of the most interesting supporting characters were Mr. Childermass, Mr. Norrell's strangely independent servant, and Vinculus, a seedy street sorcerer of London, run out of town by Mr. Norrell thanks to the efficient efforts of Mr. Childermass. Both of these characters provide some of the most colorful scenes and plots to the novel.

And in the background, every present in the sky, on the wind or sleeping in the stones, is the Raven King, a mythic being from Britain's past, a king who reigned in Northern England, in fairy and in Hell. He is vital and instrumental in the return of English magic.

The ending was sad and somewhat tragic, but not unexpected.

If you enjoy historical fiction, especially of the early 19th century, you will enjoy this novel and savor it for many hours, especially curled up by the fire with a warm cup of tea. (less)

Like this review? yes (5 people liked it)

5 comments

10/24/07

Sara rated it:

Read in October, 2005

recommends it for: no one

everything about the description of this book sounded like a promising, dreamy book - the type i could get lost in: dark, brooding 1800's england, with magic, intrigue, history... constantly compared to harry potter crossed with charles dickens...i beg to differ... maybe if they meant harry potter's most dull class on the history of magic - a dry historical reference book that hermione would read... and bleak house (which is probably the only dickens book i couldn't ever bring myself to read - t...more

Like this review? yes (6 people liked it)

add a comment

11/15/07

Katie rated it:

(review of isbn 1593977417)

Read in December, 2007

I place Susanna Clarke squarely in the company of Tolkien and Frank Herbert; that is, writers with the ability to imagine absolutely astounding fictional worlds - with incredibly rich and complete histories, cultures and people - but who don't have the skill to write down a compelling story. That's why enjoyed the movie versions of Dune and LOTR, but hated being forced to read them in written form. What Clarke has written here is a history book, a book that shows off the incredible world she h...more I place Susanna Clarke squarely in the company of Tolkien and Frank Herbert; that is, writers with the ability to imagine absolutely astounding fictional worlds - with incredibly rich and complete histories, cultures and people - but who don't have the skill to write down a compelling story. That's why enjoyed the movie versions of Dune and LOTR, but hated being forced to read them in written form. What Clarke has written here is a history book, a book that shows off the incredible world she has created. For that achievement, I applaud her. Unfortunately, she was so busy being proud of the world she created that she allowed it to get in the way of a story that could grip and keep a reader's attention.

There are many minor problems, but the major one, in my opinion, is that I don't care one iota for any of the characters. Mr. Norrell is a one-dimensional character with no depth or background whatsoever. He's a whiny, selfish, naive pill, and that's the whole length and breadth of his character. He's a placeholder for Clarke - a convenient anthropomorphic figurehead for the collection of books Strange needs to consult. Other than that, he's totally unnecessary to the plot or the story in general. Strange's character vascillates back and forth from a heroic nice guy to a self-amusing cad, such that the reader can never get to know his character comfortably. It's as if Clarke was writing him differently on different days, and then shuffled her papers. Plus, Strange goes inexplicably from being a feckless gentleman to a powerful magician - something Clarke doesn't explain (unless there was a CD missing from my audiobook, which there was not).

Clarke does that a lot- making sudden character changes that move the character/plot forward or tie up a thread without bothering to explain how or why this change occurs. The fate of Lascelles is another example. It's as if Clarke suddenly went, "Uh oh, the ending's coming and I have to do something with this guy. I'll just do...this." And poof, his thread is removed from the story, without really resolving anything.

Then there are the footnotes. If we're trying to show off the incredible world and history that Clarke has invented, bravo. If we're trying to totally interupt the flow and momentum of the story every other word so that we can never just settle in and enjoy a compelling tale, bravo again. And it isn't just the footnotes that do this. A huge complaint of mine is that every character talks like the footnotes, regardless of class, gender or situation. Even servants give long drawn-out explanations of things, using words and grammar that real people of their class in real situations just wouldn't use. I could sum up Clarke's use of dialogue in six words: REAL PEOPLE DON'T TALK LIKE THAT. I know she was trying to imitate the 19th century style of Jane Austin and the like, but even Austin knew that servants talked differently than gentlepeople. And Austin's characters didn't sound like they narrating a book. They sounded like people talking. Clarke's did not. They sounded like Clarke trying to tell us more about her great world that she thought up. (And I'm not referring to the accent or inflection conferred by the audiobook voice actor. I'm talking about the actual words put into the characters' mouths.)

Other readers must be seeing something I'm not, since this book won the Hugo and other such awards, and was named The Best of This, and The Best of That all over the place. Perhaps I gave it an unintended handicap by listening to the audiobook, so that I received it through the interpretation of the voice actor (with whom I was less than pleased). I will keep the printed book on my shelf and give it another shot sometime, since it certainly must have earned the acclaim it has received, which means that I'm the one who's wrong. :)(less)

Like this review? yes (5 people liked it)

9 comments

09/19/07

Kristen rated it:

Read in August, 2007

recommends it for: Harry Potter fans, Phillip Pullman fans, Jane Austen fans, fans of European history.

My father picked out this book for me. I went home to the beach for a week and read all three books I took in 3 days. On day four, I needed a new book. My father took me to the mainland bookstore (only about one room in size) and picked out this book with the words "This is a nice big heavy book. I'm sure you'll love it."
And he wasn't wrong. From the very first page I was hooked. I myself am never a fan of sycophantic hyperbole, but in this case it is nothing but the ...more My father picked out this book for me. I went home to the beach for a week and read all three books I took in 3 days. On day four, I needed a new book. My father took me to the mainland bookstore (only about one room in size) and picked out this book with the words "This is a nice big heavy book. I'm sure you'll love it."
And he wasn't wrong. From the very first page I was hooked. I myself am never a fan of sycophantic hyperbole, but in this case it is nothing but the truth. The opening line "He never spoke of magic and when he did..." sets the mood and tone in wonderfully easy way. The book is, like my father observed, big and heavy. At 844 pages, it's a lot of a book, with many linear sub plots that seem to have no connection, until the very last 20 pages, when the careful pacing and studied lesiure the author took with her characters and their adventures, ramps up to 90 mph and answers all the questions you didn't even realize you had.
The title characters, Mr Gilbert Norrell and Mr Jonathan Strange are some of the mosty perfectly flawed protagonists in modern fiction. Both men are developed within an inch of their lives, an unlike most heroes, I found my opinions changing on them as the book progressed. Mr Norrell, adorable and crochety in the beginning, becomes a villian of cirsumtance, when he chooses self advancement over another's happiness. Jonathan Strange, so charming and likable in the first of his chapters, soon turns to a man who compromises his principles and beliefs all the while fooling himself that on such thing has happened. Unlike so much contemporary fiction, where the characters remain the same despite the fact that their cirsumstances have changed, here the cirsumstances change, the characters adaprt to that, and in doing os change their cirsumstances again. And all done so fluidly that you barely notice a thing is different until you say to yourself under your breath "I can't beleive he did THAT."
The supporting characters and their subplots are so richly drawn that sometimes it is hard ot tear yourself away and return to the plot proper. The msot compelling of all of these subplots is the one regarding a servant in an upper class British household named Stephen Black. From his introduction to his fate, Stephen's story is so marvelously told, his characrter so reliably solid, that I found myself wishing and hoping for a book of just Stephen Black. Likewise, Arabella Strange, the title character's wife, John Segundas, a theoretical magician, and social climber Drawlight all have fascinating journeys and play important roles in the main story.
Kudos to Clarke for her well furnished History of magic. The clever footnotes and imemdiate references to historical magic, all presupposign that we already know what is going on, not only compliment the intelligence of the reader, but serve as a deeper link straight into the story. Fans of fantasy who crave more than just epic battles and funny creatures, but feel most comfortable in the greatly established words of Hogwarts and the Shire and Lyra's Oxford but crave books with a little more subtle humor, ala Austen and Dickens, will find themselves pleasantly surpirsed with this book, as it is almost impossible to pin it down in a genre and why would you want to when you could spend your time actually reading it.
(less)

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

add a comment

08/03/07

Anthea rated it:

(review of isbn 1582346038)

bookshelves: fantasy_and_magical_realism

Read in October, 2007

add a comment

08/18/08

Choupette rated it:

(review of isbn 1582346038)

bookshelves: ab-fav, currently-reading, fantasy, own-or-access, to-be-re-read

Read in January, 2003

recommended to Choupette by: The Age book review
recommends it for: Everyone (except I guess Suzy and my Dad)

I am weak, weak, weak!
_______________________________

This is one of my favourite books, and here's why:

1. It is original. The rest of the list should make it clear why.

2. The language. Hilarious, satirical, like a more-accessible (for me, anyway) version of Jane Austen, complete with period spelling and lengthy footnotes.

3. The portrayal of magic. Dark, subtle and above all beautifully written, Clarke's depiction of magic (which tends towards...more

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

16 comments

10/17/07

LaDonna rated it:

bookshelves: fiction, will_never_ever_finish

Read in September, 2006

I wanted so much to love this big fat book, to add it to my pile of favorites. But after getting bogged down in endless meandering footnotes and other extraneous nonsense, I shelved it. That was at least a year ago. Maybe more.

And there it sits, collecting so much dust. Every time I see it I feel guilty. "I should try harder," I say to myself. "I should give it at least one more go."

But then I realize there are so many other, bigger, better fish in the...more

Like this review? yes (6 people liked it)

1 comment

12/28/08

Werner rated it:

bookshelves: fantasy

Read in September, 2007

When I visited Australia in the summer of 2007, I wanted to take along a very thick book for the long plane flights; at over 1,000 pages in the paperback edition, this one fit the bill. Of course, that was risky; a dull book of that length would have been torture. But there was never a reason for worry on that score --this book was a delight from start to finish! Many fantasies have, to varying degrees, a considerable amount of commonality in conception, characters, and plot; but in this nove...more When I visited Australia in the summer of 2007, I wanted to take along a very thick book for the long plane flights; at over 1,000 pages in the paperback edition, this one fit the bill. Of course, that was risky; a dull book of that length would have been torture. But there was never a reason for worry on that score --this book was a delight from start to finish! Many fantasies have, to varying degrees, a considerable amount of commonality in conception, characters, and plot; but in this novel, Clarke has created something genuinely unique.

As noted in the description above, the setting here is early 19th- century England in the grip of the Napoleonic Wars, the mannered, class-conscious world of Jane Austen; but this is an alternate England, in which the northern portion, for 300 years during the Middle Ages, was ruled by the Raven King, a powerful sorcerer who learned his art in the Faerie realm, and who created a tradition (though it has become moribund) of English magic. (The magic here is strictly of the incantational, not the invocational, sort, though it can involve traffic with the ruling powers of Faerie --something the title characters learn has the decided potential for more harm than good.) Against this well-realized backdrop, Clarke depicts the revival of practical magic with an assurance that makes the reader feel that, yes --this is exactly the way such a thing could have happened, if it were possible! Her characters are well-drawn, brought to life with a rare degree of artistry; and even when they're involved in fantastic situations --this is, after all, a book where people can travel, through this and other worlds, by stepping in and out of mirrors, and where a city can be magically transferred to another continent-- she makes their experiences plausible. The 19th-century flavor of the style won't be to every reader's taste, but to me it was a perfect fit for the setting; and the numerous "historical" footnotes not only created an illusion of verisimilitude, but helped to elaborate an extraordinarily detailed achievement in world-building. Clarke evokes both wonder and dead-pan humor with equal facility.

While she has a moral framework --and definitely some evil characters whose comeuppance the reader longs to see (but no spoilers here! :-)), the primary conflict here is not between good and evil people, per se, but between flawed and fallible people who have conflicting perspectives and make mistakes, and, sometimes, learn something from them. Yes, it's a story about magic --but it's also, more basically, a story about friendship and rivalry, about the difference between what really matters and what we think matters, and about having the courage to find your destiny and be who you're meant to be.(less)

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

4 comments

01/11/08

Shane Avery rated it:

Read in January, 2008

recommended to Shane by: Jonathan Wilson

My friend recommended this book to me. And while I'm not too sure what prompted the recommendation, I'm thankful for it none the less. The book's not exactly an easy one to classify. One of the tags on Amazon lists it as fantasy. I suppose this is reasonable. Yet somehow it deserves a better adjective. It may be more accurate to call it historical fiction. Indeed, as one other reviewer has noted, it's often hard to tell where the history ends and the fiction begins. Yet "historical f...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

add a comment

11/01/07

Henrik rated it:

bookshelves: fantasy

Read in January, 2008

recommended to Henrik by: Christina Stind
recommends it for: those who enjoy historic fantasy, and those who enjoy fantasy with a twist

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Looking forward to reading this novel... And find out what all the hoopla is about;-)

FEB. 2: [CONTAINING A FEW SPOILERS!]

Okay, I finally completed this book. And what a blast! As probably most of the reading world know it's quite a long story, and spanning years as well as continents and worlds, so it is impossible to review it in a more detailed manner.

I loved the style (yes, the much-discussed footnotes too--I found it pretty easy to skip the places that had...more Looking forward to reading this novel... And find out what all the hoopla is about;-)

FEB. 2: [CONTAINING A FEW SPOILERS!]

Okay, I finally completed this book. And what a blast! As probably most of the reading world know it's quite a long story, and spanning years as well as continents and worlds, so it is impossible to review it in a more detailed manner.

I loved the style (yes, the much-discussed footnotes too--I found it pretty easy to skip the places that had no relevance to the story at hand whatsoever), the setting and the characters. The style considering--it being consciously Dickensque--I was pleasently surprised that the characters were so well fleshed out and believable. Something it is hard to say about most Dickens persons. More, I enjoyed how Clarke managed to show that the most admirable and likeable people also have a "dark side"; in this universe most people are not clear-cut good or evil, despite what they themselves say. Even the fairy called "the Gentleman" is rather likeable in his twisted, bizarre way; quite a feat on the author's part when one considers how utterly mean-spirited (downright evil, most people would say) he is most of the time.

The part of insanity being essential to magic as well as true insight--something we learn more than halfway into the story--is extremely interesting and is executed with a fine sense of rationality, emotional integrity, and irrational thinking as well as pure, phenomenological ways of experiencing things. Dazzling, in my opinion.

There are probably some who will feel let down by the ending. Personally I relished it; it is so wonderful to read an ending in a fantasy novel where everything does not simply end up with a big, dramatic magical battle. Yes, the author leads up to such an ending, but manages to twist it into something less scenic & dramatic, yet--in my opinion--just as powerful. Especially since the infamous Raven King we've heard about throughout the whole story makes an appearence that is very different from what we've come to expect--but so much more powerful and enigmatic than we'd ever have thought possible.

All in all a novel I can only recommend:-)(less)

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

4 comments

10/04/07

Darga rated it:

"Can a magician kill a man by magic?" Lord Wellington asked Strange. Strange frowned. He seemed to dislike the question. "I suppose a magician might, he admitted, "but a gentleman never could."

i hated this book for the first few hundred pages, and by the final page i was in love with it.

it's very british and dry and snarky. it's a book about britain in the 1800s, but magic has been rediscovered. it's a very satirical story about britain that only...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

add a comment

09/30/07

John rated it:

f I asked you to name a modern fantasy novel by a British woman that clocks in at 800+ pages and has as its subject magic in England, you'd probably give me a title that begins with Harry Potter and... and I could hardly blame you, though these are also characteristics of Susanna Clarke's debut novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.

That's where the similarity ends, however, except for both being novels I didn't particularly want to put down. The style is reminiscent of Jane Austen an...more f I asked you to name a modern fantasy novel by a British woman that clocks in at 800+ pages and has as its subject magic in England, you'd probably give me a title that begins with Harry Potter and... and I could hardly blame you, though these are also characteristics of Susanna Clarke's debut novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.

That's where the similarity ends, however, except for both being novels I didn't particularly want to put down. The style is reminiscent of Jane Austen and other writers of that era (sort of). It's actually been cleaned up (or watered down) to give hints and flavors of that style (the footnotes that add depth to the tale with sometimes-lengthy asides, the general tone). The setting is England in the early 1800s (sort of). This is not just England of the 19th century plus magic. In this England, magic is infused throughout England's history from at least a few centuries before the Renaissance, when the legendary Raven King established a kingdom in the north of England and ruled for centuries. He's long gone, and now [i.e. in 1806 when the novel begins] magic has been lost and no one does magic any more. People who are called magicians are either charlatans or scholars who study the history of magic rather than its practice.

That is, until Mr. Norrell hits the scene. He's a bookish man who's been study magic for many years and has determined to bring the practice of magic back to England. However, he's determined to do so on his own terms. He has bought up all of the books of magic spells in England and gets the government to help him regulate who can and who cannot be a magician.

We don't actually meet Jonathan Strange until we're a couple hundred pages in. He is a dilettante, a gentleman who's never settled on anything. He discovers is sold a spell which, it turns out, works for him, and he determines to become a magician. Of course, he can't find any books to learn from because Mr. Norrell has bought them all. So, he must go to Mr. Norrell to learn magic. Surprisingly, Norrell annd Strange take a liking to one another and together begin the restoration of magic to England, performing amazing feats with their mystical abilities. Norrell, despite his great affection for Strange, cannot bring himself to share all that of his books or all that he knows because Norrell believes that he knows what magic should be revived and what shouldn't, as well as what magic is safe and what is not.

Strange, though, has the advantage of an aptitude for magic which allows him to create new spells and he is also afforded some freedom to develop his talents when he goes to Spain to help Wellington in the fight against Napoleon. Eventually, Strange and Norrell have a falling out, but I will say no more about the plot, lest I leave you nothing to read.

The novel may seem as though it develops slowly. Well, it does. However, don't make the mistake of thinking that the early portions are mere filler. In fact, Clarke is carefully building up both her fantastic England in is richness and complexity and laying the foundation for plot elements which will be wound up by the end of the novel. She shows us many interesting characters, hints of the rich world they inhabit, and engaging plot, and intelligent, witty writing. She mimics something of the 18th and early 19th Century's humor and wit to very nice effect.

Besides being named Book of the Year by Time Magazine and Book Sense, it won this year's Hugo award given out at the World Science Fiction Convention, something of a rarity for a fantasy novel.(less)

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

add a comment