Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell in Into the Forest

Dec 05, 2022 Abby Jones rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

2024 Reread: (Spoilers)

Somewhere in early January, I got the hankering to read this book again. It is the absolute best January read since so much of the book takes place in winter. I indulged my need to underline things to my heart's content. I flagged passages, annotated sections, and just gleefully delighted in the amazing crafting that went into this tome.

I was able to see many more of the connecting lines flowing through this book, the prophecies, the foreshadowing, and I actually feel lik 2024 Reread: (Spoilers)

Somewhere in early January, I got the hankering to read this book again. It is the absolute best January read since so much of the book takes place in winter. I indulged my need to underline things to my heart's content. I flagged passages, annotated sections, and just gleefully delighted in the amazing crafting that went into this tome.

I was able to see many more of the connecting lines flowing through this book, the prophecies, the foreshadowing, and I actually feel like I'm understanding the whole instead of parts. This time through I picked up on the way Strange and Norrell were Arrogance and Fearfulness, and how they each had to overcome that. I better understood Flora's part. I finally caught that both magicians had to fail, and I think I see why the darkness didn't dissipate with the death of the gentleman, for darkness is John Uskglass' realm.

As always, I adore Childermass to the very end. I think he is simply the best. I am happiest when he is on the page. There are moments with him that absolutely give me chills. I also adore Wellington. I think Susanna Clarke must like writing about winter as much as I do.

Now, I shall try to practice some self-control and not read it again until next January.

2023 reading:
Ahhhhhhhh! Finished, but I don't want to be finished. I want to start it again immediately. And seeing as it's Monday morning, there is nothing but my own will-power to stop me. Help. I'm in danger.

So I read this book sometime in the 2000s. It had been described as a cross between Pride and Prejudice and Harry Potter. It is absolutely nothing like that. Nothing. Not at all. And I hated it that first time. Hated it and didn't get it at all.

It's much more accurate to describe this book as Dickens if he written a fantasy novel. That's what this book is. And this time, I loved it.

I read it in about 4 full-days-of-reading. It is beautifully written, covers a huge swath of history, has fairy tales, myth, prophecy, the 95th Rifles!!! magic, lost Kings. Nothing about this book wasn't awesome, all while being written in a very Dickens-esque styled descriptions and observations of every day life. Childermass was my favorite character. Strange fighting through the Napoleonic wars was great after reading so many Sharpe's Rifles.

I marked all over in this book. There were beautiful descriptions, moments were themes were repeated, questions about hidden identities, and meanings of prophecies. And just like Dickens everything was important. I lived in great fear that I was going to miss something by not reading this huge book in one sitting. Which is why I now want to read it again. So tempting. ...more

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Feb 27, 2012 Leah added it

I stopped reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell on page 82. It's definitely a slow-paced story with lots of exposition and footnotes, but my interest was piqued. It's just that, there are others I want to read more in 2011.

[As of February 27, 2012 this one's more "on hold" than completely abandoned.] ...more

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Jan 15, 2013 J.W. Griebel rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy-reads, read-in-2013

I decided I am going to start writing reviews about the books I read rather than just rate them. And what better way to start off than with Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.

Rating? 4.59999999999--you get the point.

This book sat on my bookshelf for two years, mocking me silently with its absolute girth and, each time I cared to open it, small font size and foot-notes. A combination of these characteristics made me constantly say to myself, "I'll get to it Some Day."

Well, Some Day happened to be las ...more

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