Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell April 2015

[Donna]

Oops, quite a bit late on opening this discussion.

I read this several years ago and I don't remember the details but I do remember not particularly liking it so I decided not to re-read it this time around. I'm ready to hear how much you loved it and why.

[Brenda]

What I particularly enjoyed was the pace. It was not a modern bang-bang start off with an explosion kind of a novel. It harked back, to older and more leisurely writers.

[[deleted user]]

Actually my biggest complaint is about the pace. It is too slow; even compared to British classics, like Charles Dickens and Jane Austen.

So yes, I am fascinated by the world and the writing style, but not the plot pace.

[Brenda]

Or compare it to the Gormenghast trilogy -- another not-plot-driven fantasy.

[[deleted user]]

Brenda wrote: "Or compare it to the Gormenghast trilogy -- another not-plot-driven fantasy."

Another one I have on my to-read shelf.

[[deleted user]]

I listened to the unabridged audio a few years ago - I loved it. The so called slow pace didn't bother me a bit. It was a captivating world and story. But I prefer the non-action books, so it was a good fit for me. The details have faded with time. I might reread someday - but not now.

[Michael]

I read this when it came out and really enjoyed it. Just getting stuck back into it now, but it is long.

One thing you might be interested in is that Tor have just done a re-read which seems to have a lot of good stuff in it.


http://www.tor.com/features/series/jo...

[[deleted user]]

I thought about slow-moving plot. If I complain about it, does it mean I expect an instant gratification of seeing something happening all the time?

It is probably not me as I can read classics - including Victorian classics - just fine, but this one is slow. While I appreciate the language and the writing style (the latter does not make you feel like you do hard work while reading at any point) I do not appreciate the pace.

Does anybody else here read this book for the first time?

[Linda]

I am also reading this book for the first time, but stopped and started reading something else. I agree fully, the writing style is great and it's not hard work to read this book, but the pace is too slow.

Can anybody advise whether it will be worth it to carry on reading this book?

[Andreea]

I have the book as a hard copy, it weighs a ton and looks like a big brick. But as I started it right after finishing the Wheel of Time, I thought I should try it. The first 200 pages...I wanted to throw away the book. I re-read about the author and the fact that it had won a prestigious award, so I plowed on. It gets rewarding in the second half; I understood then the slow pace and the need for details. This book is about the atmosphere and about the two main characters, who might as well be our next door neighbors. You get drawn into it and before you know it, you are living in the story. It was worth the read and the effort, but I totally understand your frustration :)

[[deleted user]]

The plot seems to be speeding up somewhat right by the end of chapter 2. People say it is really exciting in the last 200 pages.

I also have a feeling that Mr. Norrell does not have any personality at all; it changes according to the current plot needs. Example from the beginning: one moment he is a sly guy who manages to destroy the Magician Society of York, and another he is a shy guy completely lost in a ball. This goes on through the whole book. Jonathan Strange does seem to be a decent character.

[Jonathan]

I love this book ONLY because of how much it annoys my wife. It took me almost 4 months to read up to the last 40 pages, before I finally gave up on it. She poked fun at me for a good year, saying I was the slowest reader ever. I'm not, it was just hard to get through. Really hard.

This is a book that toes the line of goodness, but never steps over it. I thought I would turn the page, the boring scene would be ever, and the setup capitalized on.

Never happened.

It's like the entire book is a setup for a climax that never happens.

[Amy]

As I joked with my husband, after the first 300 pages, it really takes off! :D

Seriously, I read this a while ago, and feel no need to go back and read it again, but it's a very good book. The main reason I loved it was because of the tonal change between what was left of the Age of Reason/Regency period and the more wild and natural Romantic/Victorian period. It shows the emptiness of getting experience strictly from books and how that's actually a danger when it comes to dealing with the real thing: you think you know more than you do.

The second half of the book more than made up for the lack of speed in the beginning. My only real complaint is that the ending was highly unsatisfactory and there's no sign of a sequel from the author with these characters that will resolve what was left undone.

[Andreas]

This just came to my attention: BBC starts a mini-series next month.

[Carole-Ann]

Andreas wrote: "This just came to my attention: BBC starts a mini-series next month."

And this is why I'm not holding my breath any longer over this book - that the BBC have chosen this book to broadcast beggars belief.

I read this as a new HB in 2004. It took me a month to plough through it; and I actually GAVE it away soon after to a charity shop. Then, as now, I couldn't understand the reasons for its popularity.

I picked it up as an Alternate Fantasy world, but inclusive of the History involved at the beginning of the 19th century, as well as the 4 ages mentioned by Amy above. So, I looked for magic in a changing (aka enlightening) world, with precepts and tenets to take into account as well as an unfolding change in society.

What I got was a laborious unfolding of straightforward jealousy between two arrogant, authoritative men who thought they knew better than anyone else. The pace is stultifying, stuttering, and on occasion, non-existent. There are TOO MANY words: descriptions running to pages when paragraphs would have been better; and too many characters who are no better than cardboard cut-outs for any emotion they may engender.

As for the "Fantasy" tag, where in hell was the magic?? None really, just sleight-of-hand which any good 'magician' could fool one into believing - and which BOTH of the MCs did!

So no, this is the one book I ever regret reading.

[Brenda]

But. Necessarily the film version will be much more brisk. They -can't- have it be draggy or wordy. All the description will be handed off to scene designers and costumers, who will do all the heavy lifting. Pared down for the screen, it might move along much more fast. A good comparison might be MASTER & COMMANDER, by Patrick O'Brian. A long, long series of books, 20 novels or so. But the movie skipped along over the first 3 or 4, cherry picking all the good bits.

[[deleted user]]

Why bother with film or mini-series? My memory my be faulty after so many years, but what I recall being good isn't the same kind of good that translates well to moving picture stories. What can be good in a book may be bad on film. I love descriptions and pacing that takes its time.

As for the gripe that it's only a struggle between arrogant men - isn't that the way of conflict in the real world? Stories of a good heroes battling against the machinations of wicked, bad, naughty, EVIL villains are just kid stuff.

Every now and then I look for new books by the author, but have seen nothing.

[Brenda]

She is clearly not a book-a-year kind of writer.

[John]

I read this book some time back and when it was turned into a BBC series I was filled with joy and not disappointed whatsoever.

If you haven't read the book or seen the series. Do both.

It's really worth the read and the viewing.

John

[John]

I thought the book was okay. It wasn't particularly exciting but it wasn't boring either. It's a long book and episodic in nature, but it provides a good atmosphere.