Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrell with READING SCHEDULE

[Petra]

This is one of the things I really liked about the book. It got all tangled up into convoluted issues.
Keep reading, Meg & Sheila. I'm looking forward to your thoughts at the end.

[Meg]

OK one thing is bothering me, why didn't Strange resurrect his wife?

[Petra]

I think he realized that doing so required a deal with a faiy. Jonathan is not only a bit of a loner, he also believes in "clean" magic, without subterfuge or deals.
Cooperation and teamwork is looked at differently by Jonathan, I think, because he would have liked to work together with Mr. Norrell. Cooperation doesn't require deals and secrets.

[Sheila , Supporting Chick]

Meg wrote: "OK one thing is bothering me, why didn't Strange resurrect his wife?"

Like Petra, I think he knows that the only way to resurrect the dead is through evil things such as the fairies, and he knows how well that worked out (or didn't work out) for Lady Pole.

[Petra]

Sheila wrote: "..... and he knows how well that worked out (or didn't work out) for Lady Pole.
..."

I wonder......I've wondered about this myself. He never paid much attention to what Arabella said about Mrs. Pole and her condition or about the man that she kept seeing at the house. Did he really understand that Mrs. Pole's resurrection had anything to do with her health/mental condition? I kind of lean in the direction of Jonathan being too distracted and oblivious of the world's happenings to have been aware of such a thing.
It's very hard to say when Jonathan began to clue into things but I think it may have been later, after his wife's death.

[Meg]

Do you think he viewed her as a distraction?

[Petra]

No, I think he loved her with all his heart and with a solid faith that she would always be there; that she was a permanent & necessary part of his life.

[Sheila , Supporting Chick]

I'm a little further into this weeks reading now, and I see that Jonathon didn't know how to summons fairies and kept trying different things till he finally was successful. So now I'm not sure. I'm thinking now he was just so wrapped up in his magic that he was missing much of the big picture! (and I'm still wondering where this is going!)

I just got to a very interesting part last night where he ends up in the falling down house of the fairie where they are all dancing and having their ball, which I think is going to show how clueless he really was for awhile.

[Meg]

Unfortunately you are further than I am. I am trying to catch up

[Petra]

I think that was Jonathan's eye-opening scene where he starts to piece things together.

[Sheila , Supporting Chick]

I've read a little further now Petra, and I agree, that scene where he ends up in Lost Hope is a major event for this story! Now the scene with the faerie and Stephen in the bog makes more sense! Can't wait to see how this ends!

[Sheila , Supporting Chick]

Where are you at Meg? I don't want to say to much and give things away that you haven't got to yet. :-)

[Meg]

I read the part where he realizes how lonely he is and is admitting that the loss of his wife is devastating. All the magic books have disappeared
About page 800

[Petra]

Wasn't that a petty thing to make happen, do you think (the disappearance of the magic books)?
It was rather funny and still very, very petty.

[Meg]

It was pretty funny Adds new meaning to out of sight out of mind!

[Sheila , Supporting Chick]

I thought Mr Norrell must have been pretty insecure to have to do that to all the books!

[Petra]

He's been insecure since page 1, I think. First he buys up all the magic books, then he gets rid of the magician's club, then won't teach Jonathan very much and now this.
He's a bit of an oddity. He's quite pleasant, quiet and serene but he also seems to plot in the background....something like a cowardly bully (although I'm not convinced that this is what he is).

[Sheila , Supporting Chick]

I finished last night! SO now I will wait for Meg before making any comments. :-)

[Meg]

50 pages to go. I am almost there.

[Meg]

Finished!

[Sheila , Supporting Chick]

Meg wrote: "Finished!"

Yay! It was certainly a long one!

[Meg]

Not my genre. I struggled through this one. What did you think?

[Sheila , Supporting Chick]

I thought it was way to long for the story included. Could have been greatly shortened and still got the point of the story across.

The ending was strange. I wonder if the author is planning a sequel since Norrell and Strange are still trapped in the darkness. And what is up with Steven becoming King? Has this gone back to being a fairy world now, like in the time of the Raven King? Seems like a lot left hanging and open, which I am guessing is for a sequel.

[Meg]

Well I won't be reading the sequel!!!
I thought it was funny that He was Steven King but that is my humor. I agree that the author left a lot hanging so that could open the door for more.

[Sheila , Supporting Chick]

Weren't you the one to nominate this one, Meg? LOL ;-)

SO what did everyone think of the footnotes? I thought they were interesting at first, but in the end they seemed overdone and excessive, but maybe that is just because I was getting tired of the book in the end and just wanted to get it finished and the footnotes often made it seem like it was taking longer to read. :-)

[Meg]

I thought the footnotes after a while just made the book longer lol
Yes I admit to nominating this one