From the Bookshelf of Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy…

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Susanna Clarke

Start date: June 21, 2015

Finish date: July 14, 2015

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Discussion leader: Andreas

Why we're reading this: Hugo Award Winner 2005
#64 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (2011 poll) http://www.npr.org/2011/08 …more
[close] Hugo Award Winner 2005
#64 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (2011 poll) http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/1390858...
#2 on Locus Magazines Best Fantasy novels of the 21th century http://www.locusmag.com/2012/AllCentu...

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What Members Thought

Nov 03, 2011 Brenda Clough rated it really liked it

The sort of fantasy novel that you can just fall into and not surface for days. Reminiscent of Dickens or even the Gormenghast novels, this book is not of the breakneck pace and hairpin turns of plot type.

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Sep 23, 2011 Miss rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed, hugo-novels

This book is not a light read. This book is not a quick read. This book is not an easy read. This book doesn't have a true beginning and doesn’t follow the familiar formula of rising action, climax and resolution. This book is a commitment.

Clocking in at 780 pages in the version I read, it spans twenty years of the true history of England intertwined with the author’s imagined history of English magic. Battles with the French, mad Kings and the personalities of famous Ministers of government ar This book is not a light read. This book is not a quick read. This book is not an easy read. This book doesn't have a true beginning and doesn’t follow the familiar formula of rising action, climax and resolution. This book is a commitment.

Clocking in at 780 pages in the version I read, it spans twenty years of the true history of England intertwined with the author’s imagined history of English magic. Battles with the French, mad Kings and the personalities of famous Ministers of government are all told through the main characters perceptions while they’re performing fantastic acts of magic to defeat the French, keep rivers in check, change the weather and bring back the dead. This book is an epic, though not so much in the grand tradition of epics. It’s rather….well, it’s epic in the restrained, polite, Jane Austen spirit of England, with just enough of Oscar Wilde’s cheeky snark thrown in to keep you laughing.

The book opens immediately with the premise that magic is alive, though not necessarily well in England. Mr. Novell is fastidiously attempting to quash any and all other magical competition leaving him as the premier, and only, magician in England. The first third of the book is devoted to his story and involvement in English magic. I was completely enthralled with the characters, the history and the storyline in this first part. A subplot that comes to the forefront in the final third of the book starts here when Mr. Novell performs a piece of magic that brings him to the very heights of fame and fortune.

The second third is devoted to Jonathon Strange, the man who becomes Mr. Norvell’s apprentice. This part I found a bit tedious. After his apprenticeship, Mr. Strange takes a more active role in English government and becomes the English battle magician. There aren’t nearly as many interesting characters being introduced or as much interesting history or development of magic. Mr. Strange is more active in the making of what is now recognized English history. It is interesting sometimes, such as some of Mr. Strange’s battle techniques, but at times it felt downright pedantic.

Speaking of pedantic, there is one tool that Ms. Clarke uses often: footnotes. I don’t think you can review this book without mentioning the footnotes. There are sometimes pages and pages of footnotes, with only one paragraph on the page furthering the story. I had a love/hate relationship with these. I would say ninety percent of the time they were interesting, explaining myths, magic spells and history that definitely added to my enjoyment of the story. The other ten percent of the time they were completely and utterly ridiculous. Having a footnote to explain a citation of a book that doesn’t exist is just silly. Eventually, Ms. Clark backs off using these which was a welcome relief.

The final third is not what I expected at all. The subplot of Mr. Novell’s magic act and its consequences appears front and center. Mr. Strange becomes ensnared by Mr. Novell’s actions more than Mr. Novell did and is pretty much alone in attempting to solve the problem. He does and eventually with Mr. Novell’s help. It is also the only part to not take place in England, freeing the book from the constraints of English society and history. This part is far more focused on the faerie world and history and it’s confluence with the real world.

Most of the reviews I read before reading this book compared Ms. Clarke’s writing to Jane Austen. I suppose with the country and time period Ms. Clarke is writing about, it’s inevitable. But I think Ms. Austen’s writing is far more prim-and-proper than Ms. Clarke’s lovely, vivid, elegant, and, as noted previously, snarky style more in the vein of Mr. Oscar Wilde. My most favorite example, regarding a mermaid figurehead of a captured French ship, brought to life by Mr. Novell:

"…though the mermaid could be made to speak she could not at first be brought to answer any questions. She considered herself the implacable enemy of the British and was highly delighted to be given power of speech so that she could express her hatred of them. Having passed all her existence among sailors she knew a great many insults and bestowed them very readily on anyone who came near her in a voice that sounded like the creaking of masts and timbers in a high wind. Not did she confine herself to abusing Englishmen with words. There were three seamen that had work to do about the ship, but the moment that they got within reach of the mermaid’s wooden arms she picked them up in her great wooden hands and threw them in the water."

Overall, I very much enjoyed this book. I gave it four stars because there were times when it was tedious and I felt like I would never get through a particular section. However, I wouldn’t recommend any part of it being edited out, it’s all absolutely necessary and most of it is highly enjoyable. I don’t think I’ll ever read it again though. I’d like to think I would, but I far prefer lighter and quicker reading most of the time.
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