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Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Susanna Clarke

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Jan 19, 2019 Angie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, aty19, tc19, ratb19, sfbingo19, stand19

I'll admit it. I put this off for a long time because it's a bit an undertaking. With footnotes (yes footnotes--more on that later), it weighs in at just over 1000 pages. But boy, is is worth it.

The books is set in an alternate version of early 19th-century England where magic is accepted as a matter of course. In fact, magic is an approved and highly respectable academic discipline. Theoretical magic, that is. While magic is perfectly well accepted, society also acknowledges that magic disappe I'll admit it. I put this off for a long time because it's a bit an undertaking. With footnotes (yes footnotes--more on that later), it weighs in at just over 1000 pages. But boy, is is worth it.

The books is set in an alternate version of early 19th-century England where magic is accepted as a matter of course. In fact, magic is an approved and highly respectable academic discipline. Theoretical magic, that is. While magic is perfectly well accepted, society also acknowledges that magic disappeared from England hundreds of years earlier, along with the fairy servants who aided them. By the early 1800s, the idea of a person who actually practices magic is pretty much a pipe dream, a story in books.

Enter Mr. Norrell, a mysterious recluse who reveals that he is, indeed, a practical magician. Not only that, but he's been buying up all the magic books in England so that no one else can read them. He moves from Yorkshire to London and turns English society on its ear by raising a recently deceased young woman, Lady Pole, from the dead. Norrell eventually takes another practical magician, Jonathan Strange, under his tutelage. The two use magic to help England's war effort against Napoleon and become the toast of the town.

Things become complicated though, by a number of factors: the fairy-aided magic Norrell used to revive Lady Pole has disastrous consequences; a street magicians rattles off a prophecy that will have its own impact throughout the story; and Strange and Norrell soon find themselves at odds over how magic should be practiced and who should be able to practice it.

The characterization throughout the book is beautifully done. Interestingly, both Strange and Norrell are pretty unlikable people, though consistent and interesting. The characters who are most endearing and relatable are Segundus, the simple magician who loves magic but is thwarted by his attempts to practice it, Stephen Black, the servant who gets thoroughly caught up in fairy intrigue, and Childermass, Norrell's trusted manservant. Childermass steals every scene he's in and turns out to be the book's most intriguing character. (view spoiler) I would easily read a book dedicated completely to his story. (I've heard Clarke wants to write one but for health reasons has not done so yet.)

The book itself is written as a piece of academic scholarship and features footnotes that relate to other fictional academic works and are integral to the narrative. I found myself really enjoying the footnotes, which often meandering into magical history and lore, especially concerning the Raven King, the long-absent magician-king. Seriously. Don't skip the footnotes, or you'll miss half the story.

In any case, this was a lot of fun. There were parts that grated--mostly the stuff with Strange off fighting with Napoleon. But the story has a definite pay-off and some solid characterization, world-building, and attention to detail.
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