Books I Loathed discussion
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Strange and Morrell (Jonathan Strange and Dr. Norrell)
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ScottK
(last edited Aug 25, 2016 11:57AM)
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Aug 12, 2007 05:34PM

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Sarah: I read it and I liked it an awful bunch, but it certainly helps that I'm a giant nerd. Clarke reportedly spent 10 years researching for this novel and it shows. JS & MN intersects beautifully with British history and her portayal of the Napoleonic wars and the Duke of Wellington was nothing short of fantastic.
It's kind of a funky comparison to Harry. Aside from the "magic in Britain" angle, they're pretty different. I'd probably suggest the Bartimeus trilogy if you're looking for something more akin to HP.
It's kind of a funky comparison to Harry. Aside from the "magic in Britain" angle, they're pretty different. I'd probably suggest the Bartimeus trilogy if you're looking for something more akin to HP.

And it's a real shame that the marketing early on for it was "the Harry Potter for adults," since that really attracted the wrong group of people to it. It's way closer to being Charles Dickens than anything Harry Potter. Like Steve said, the only real resemblance between HP and this is the "magic in Britain" bit. So people that would have enjoyed a Dickens-style narrative with magic didn't really hear about it, and people that wanted something like Harry Potter for adults were disappointed.

I also agree that it's not for everyone, and it starts off slowly.

It wasn't enough. I gave up. I apologize--I love being the person who enjoyed books others dismissed, but . . .
I loved "The Sound and the Fury" and in fact, flipped back to page 1 to reread after I finished this one. Completely off-topic, but I thought I'd offer it in my defense. (c;


The on-again/off-again friendship/antagonism between the title characters was good enough to keep me going, but the book really relies on asides. Strange takes an extended break to travel with the British Army against the French on the continent, for example. That kind of plotting turns a lot of people off.
Also, the book could easily have been broken up into several complete, well-structured noves almost by cutting it at chapter breaks. It would have ruined--well, altered--the flow and "Victorian" feel, though. I'm glad Clarke didn't try that. But again, modern readers (including me) appreciate a shorter paragraph, single subject novel most of the time.
The main thing that saved the book for me, though, was some truly pyrotechnic writing. Whether you like the book, hate the book, stopped on page 3, or never tried it, take another look at chapter 3, The Stones of York. It is central to the plot, but it reads perfectly well as a short story and the writing and it reads beautifully and evocatively. It is smooth and breezy in the right places, clumsy in the right places, and rushes just fast enough to leave the reader as distracted as the characters. And it's description of the magic--subtle and disturbing at first, then growing to profound and epic while still staying local and personal--is as good a description of how magic feels and affects characters as any in fantasy.
One way to try the book might be to stop when you come to one of these and take a break. They don't need to be read all at once and as long as you remember the four or five major characters (Strange, Norrel, a woman who appears in a later chapter, a few special manservants, and maybe a general) you don't need to keep it all in your head.
Then again, it isn't essential reading. It's just well-written fun for those who like the style.

I truly enjoyed Chapter 3 and just finished the chapter about the cunning manservant. I do hope the pace picks up a bit, because I don't want to find myself asking "what's the point."
Seth, I may take your advice and put it aside when it gets plodding again. I hate to have any book unfinished (except for Confessions of a Shopaholic).



I agree that it isn't essential reading, though. It's fun for some, not for others. Let it go if you don't like it.
If you want a doorstop well worth reading, pick up the Zimiamvia books (E.R. Eddison--but again not to many's taste) or the Malazan series (Stephen Erikson--amazingly good big messy fantasy).
I've never talked anyone into reading all three of the Zimiamvia books (1940s writing emulating 1890s writing and a story combining out-of-date virtues with Spinozian philosophy is a bit of a turn-off for some), but I've never had someone who likes big fantasy dislike the Erikson.
Book 4 (or 3? Memories of Ice) of Malazan is a little big Eye of Argon-ish in the beginning but gets much better before the first third finishes. Book 5 stands alone well and book 7 blew me away. Books 1-3 are what Thieves World tried to be.
JS&MN was a fun read for me, though. If you still aren't having fun by the time the love story and the fairies pop up, you'll be bored to tears by the rest.