Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion
Buddy Reads: Current & Upcoming
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Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell Informal Buddy Read Starting 5 Nov
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I was going to read this for Wheel anyway so I'll join in. I probably won't start it until at least sunday though.
I probably won't either, but I thought I would give an early start date in case anyone wants to begin before the next Wheel round.
I have started. I am reading on ibooks as I think I must have given my son my copy. I have started this so many times and not gone beyond the first couple of chapters. I am not sure why I struggled but I am enjoying it so far. There is so much detail and maybe this is what put me off before although the footnotes might also have been a problem. I am not down with the footnote fraternity why not either put it into the narrative or put references into a bibliography. The e reader does at least allow me to switch between text and footnotes easily.I liked Mr Norell's magic in York thought it was well told and very evocative of the place.
I have decided on 100 pages give or take a day, hopefully that will work for me
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I'm enjoying the narration - the footnotes are ok so far, though when they get really extensive later on in the book I wonder if it will be so easy.
Anyway, I've just finished volume 1, and am enjoying it very much. Like Marie says, the detail of the alternate world is excellent - for me it's this side of being overwhelming - and I like the authorial voice, which is resonant of 18th C novels without being too much. The York Minster magic was brilliantly done, and I loved how evocative of character the reference to Mr Norrell's recounting of it turning it dull and commonplace. He's a fussy old stick!
The writing reminds me of the classics in style - although the story is fantastical the author does not complicate the style too much (so far anyway). I find some fantasy / magical realism mind boggling. I am enjoying it much more than expected although it is not a fast read I am still not through volume 1
I just started listening to this this morning, and I love the narrator."Mr Norrell is the sort of man that was old at 17." teehee.
They are little old fusspots aren't they?
I love that none of them thought to look at the titles of the books in his library (or they did and magically forgot), but one of them remembered that he saw a book title that started with "the.'
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I'm glad! And I only whizzed through as I had a massively quiet day and also work that was mindless so I could listen and do it and not miss out stuff
I'll give this one another go. Wasn't overly impressed when I read it 2 years ago, but I was probably just not in the right frame of mind.That and I have a limited amount of chunky books, so beggars and choosers spring to mind, lol.
I am just about half way through. (view spoiler) The author is extremely inventive in creating the narrative and some of the spells - liked the one when he was with the King. I shan't be able to read or watch Shakespeare ant more without inserting a magician onto the stage
I'm a third of the way. Enjoying it more than last time, though I doubt it'll ever end up in any of my "favourites" lists.Kudos to the author's ability to make this read very much like a Victorian novel. The language and syntax match extremely well.
Hopefully this book will come in for me the next couple of days. I'm looking forward to reading it!
I loved it when the ersatz "magicians" kept trying to think of who would be the best candidates for (view spoiler). I am about 2/3 of the way in, but I have to rewind a bot as I keep getting interrupted. Stupid customers wanting me to do my job and all.
Jenny wrote: "I loved it when the ersatz "magicians" kept trying to think of who would be the best candidates for [spoilers removed]. I am about 2/3 of the way in, but I have to rewind a bot as I keep getting ..."
Jeesh... Tell them to go away. don't they know there's a challenge going on?
Jenny wrote: "I loved it when the ersatz "magicians" kept trying to think of who would be the best candidates for [spoilers removed]. I am about 2/3 of the way in, but I have to rewind a bot as I keep getting ..."
I can recommend retirement
My brain says "yes! yes!" but my bank account says "who are you kidding?"
I have reached Volume 3 there is a lot happening at the end of Volume 2
OK, I was listening again today, and I fleetingly heard a great quote, and then a customer came in, and I forgot to stop the book, and I had to rewind, and I didn't quite rewind far enough, and I got frustrated and stopped trying to find the quote again on audio. But, Yay to Amazon's Look Inside feature...
"Whoever heard of cats doing anything useful!"
"Except for staring at one in a supercilious manner," said Strange. "That has a sort of moral usefulness, I suppose, in making one feel uncomfortable and encouraging sober reflection upon one's imperfections."
And, I have a siamese cat looking at me right now, as I am typing, and not petting him. I need to self reflect a bit tonight I think.
Mod
Cat wrote: "have you two got to Italy yet? the mouse! *shudders*"I'm just there now!
Cat wrote: "have you two got to Italy yet? the mouse! *shudders*"not quite there yet maybe later today
As far as big books for this challenge I have just picked up 3 from the library - needed steroids to lift them. When hubby is in hospital having his knee done next week i might get round to them
Cat wrote: "have you two got to Italy yet? the mouse! *shudders*"Yuck indeed. BUT it is very inventive writing. I am down to the last couple of hundred pages. I might finish today. I feel as if i am struggling to keep the bigger picture in mind because of the detail and creativity. I am glad my arm was twisted to give this a go
I finished this one last night. Enjoyed it more this time around, but still only average for me. Still, I may give Piranesi a go some time...
I finished this, apart from the footnotes which did annoy me particularly the ones that referenced you back to a previous footnote (impossible to find quickly on an e reader) I enjoyed it.I thought the narrative was very inventive and .the humour was very well done. I don't think there was a point in the book where i thought oh just get on with it which i often do with big books. The style was very british classics to my mind and I generally love those books. I think I will read this one again as I am sure there is lots of detail that i missed
I agree about the footnotes. They didn't bother me, except for a couple of times. Since I was listening to this, if I missed the introduction of a footnote, I would get a bit confused as to where in the story I was. Yay for being able to rewind. I liked it way more than I thought I would, and I will listen to it again in the future.
Nothing But Reading Challenges
Books mentioned in this topic
Piranesi (other topics)Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (other topics)
Sophisticated, witty, and ingeniously convincing, Susanna Clarke's magisterial novel weaves magic into a flawlessly detailed vision of historical England. She has created a world so thoroughly enchanting that eight hundred pages leave readers longing for more.
English magicians were once the wonder of the known world, with fairy servants at their beck and call; they could command winds, mountains, and woods. But by the early 1800s they have long since lost the ability to perform magic. They can only write long, dull papers about it, while fairy servants are nothing but a fading memory.
But at Hurtfew Abbey in Yorkshire, the rich, reclusive Mr Norrell has assembled a wonderful library of lost and forgotten books from England's magical past and regained some of the powers of England's magicians. He goes to London and raises a beautiful young woman from the dead. Soon he is lending his help to the government in the war against Napoleon Bonaparte, creating ghostly fleets of rain-ships to confuse and alarm the French.
All goes well until a rival magician appears. Jonathan Strange is handsome, charming, and talkative-the very opposite of Mr Norrell. Strange thinks nothing of enduring the rigors of campaigning with Wellington's army and doing magic on battlefields. Astonished to find another practicing magician, Mr Norrell accepts Strange as a pupil. But it soon becomes clear that their ideas of what English magic ought to be are very different. For Mr Norrell, their power is something to be cautiously controlled, while Jonathan Strange will always be attracted to the wildest, most perilous forms of magic. He becomes fascinated by the ancient, shadowy figure of the Raven King, a child taken by fairies who became king of both England and Faerie, and the most legendary magician of all. Eventually Strange's heedless pursuit of long-forgotten magic threatens to destroy not only his partnership with Norrell, but everything that he holds dear.