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    Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
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    Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
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    Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
    Ebook1,218 pages19 hours

    Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

    By Susanna Clarke

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    About this ebook

    OVER 4 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE

    Shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Guardian First Book Award;     longlisted for the Man Booker Prize

    'Unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years ... Funny, moving, scary, otherworldly, practical and magical' NEIL GAIMAN

    The year is 1806. centuries have passed since practical magicians faded into the nation's past. But scholars of this glorious history discover that one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell, whose displays of magic send a thrill through the country.

    Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very antithesis of Norrell.

    So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms that between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateFeb 24, 2009
    ISBN9781408803745
    Unavailable
    Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
    Author

    Susanna Clarke

    Susanna Clarke's debut novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell was first published in more than 34 countries and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Guardian First Book Award. It won British Book Awards Newcomer of the Year, the Hugo Award and the World Fantasy Award in 2005. The Ladies of Grace Adieu, a collection of short stories, some set in the world of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, was published by Bloomsbury in 2006. Piranesi was a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller, and shortlisted for the Costa Novel of the Year Award, the RSL Encore Award and the Women's Prize for Fiction. Susanna Clarke lives in Derbyshire.

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    Reviews for Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

    4/5

    354 ratings369 reviews

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    • 3/5
      The pacing killed me on this. Loved the atmospherics and the world but couldn't get past the molasses pacing.
    • 3/5
      3.5/5 I am so disappointed, and yet I wish there more books. The story and its world are unique and about half of the book is really engaging. The characters are a creative crew,

      BUT

      this book is too story driven. The number and length of scenes is overwhelming, but don't actually help to explain individual characters' motivations or roles. For example, we spend a lot of time following one character as they experience series of events tangentially related to the story line, but completely skip the episodes allowing a character to solve the entire main story line. Furthermore, characters are somewhat inconsistent and those weeks of events don't really help understand them. Paths cross for what seems like convenience.

      P.S. I just read that the author is inspired by Jane Austen, and so I understand, because Jane Austen also completely omits pivotal parts of the storyline - they are just summed up in conversation later.
    • 4/5
      Four and a half stars, because I did truly enjoy it. It dragged a little in places, but it really wrung almost every passionate emotion out of me along the way. The plotting and characterization are both clever as all hell.
    • 5/5
      A bookseller's book. If you've ever wanted to stumble into a dusty old book shop and discover a cache of very old magic books, this is the book for you. Magicians in England think magic is dead until two new magicians come to light, Mr. Strange and Mr. Norrell. Mr. Norrell has gone around England hoarding all the magic books into his library. Two schools of thought spring up around them. Norrellites are cautious and believe in long years of study before any actual magic is performed. Strangites believe in taking more risks. The problem is that there are other realms that can be reached by magic: Faery and Hell. Perhaps Mr. Strange is out of his league without Mr. Norrell's help? Great book.
    • 1/5
      Good concept, but a tough slog. Too long and just didn't draw me in. I struggled to finish, but felt compelled to since I had already invested so much time giving it the opportunity to entice me.
    • 4/5
      So...many...words...but it ended well.
    • 5/5
      An excellent book that really makes you believe in its setting. The characters come with their own personalities, and the faeries are as English mythology would have them - a pretty nasty and untrustworthy bunch who steal people away.I particularly love the footnotes. They give that necessary dry academic flavour which adds conviction to any alternative history.
    • 5/5
      Susanna Clarke's "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" is an immensely enjoyable and addictive tale of the early 19th century rebirth of practical magic in England after centuries of dormancy. While the book's length (782 pages) and sometimes slow pace may be a deterrent to some readers, those diligent and patient will be rewarded with an immersive experience into a magical world, well-drawn Dickensian characters, richly flowing prose, and a wry wit that delivers many laugh-out-loud moments. An additional joy is the wealth of scholarly and remarkably detailed footnotes that serve to further add to the authenticity of the fantasy and its alternate history elements. And Portia Rosenberg's shadowy and mysterious illustrations perfectly capture the book's dark, haunting spirit.
    • 3/5
      An ok book. It is written in an old fashion style. Shew for Show. I knew Mr. Norrell's not specifying which half of Emma's life the fairy would have would come back to bite him.Favorite quote:"Can a magician kill a man by magic?" Lord Wellington asked Strange. Strange frowned. He seemed to dislike the question. "I suppose a magician might," he admitted, "but a gentleman never could."
    • 5/5
      Ooof, I loved this one. The story was excellent, the characters were fabulously drawn (even the one I loved to hate, I felt kindly toward in the end), and although quite chunky, I was still so sad to see it end. A bit in love with Jonathan Strange, now, of course, and not ashamed to admit it. I highly recommend this one.
    • 4/5
      Book on CD performed by Simon Prebble3.5**** From the book jacket: In the year 1806, with the Napoleonic Wars raging on land and sea, most people believe magic to be long dead in England--until the reclusive Mr Norrell reveals his powers, and becomes a celebrity overnight. Soon, another practicing magician comes forth: the young, handsome, and daring Jonathan Strange. He becomes Norrell's student, and they join forces in the war against France. But Strange is increasingly drawn to the wildest, most perilous forms of magic, straining his partnership with Norrell, and putting at risk everything else he holds dear.My ReactionsFantasy is really not my thing, but I did enjoy this book. I liked the play / counter play between the two magicians, and particularly enjoyed the scenes where they are influencing the Napoleonic Wars ... an armada of ghost ships made of rain! Or moving an entire city to the United States! I also really liked the subplot involving Stephen.I thought Clarke did a fine job of creating this magical world, peopled with a host of interesting characters. Her writing is very atmospheric and I could almost hear the eerie strains of music at a ball, or the caw of ravens. That being said, however, this was just way too long. I found my mind wandering as much as the plot did. And by hour 29 (out of 36 hours of audio) I was ready for it to culminate. I certainly understand the popularity of the novel, but as I said at the beginning, it's really not my thing, and I wouldn't go out of my way to read another novel by Clarke.I listened to the audio ... I think I would listen to Simon Prebble read his grocery list! He does a marvelous job. 5***** for his performance.
    • 4/5
      Mr Norrell declares to the Society of Magicians in York (who are theoretical practitioners only) that he can perform actual magic. No one has seen actual magic for hundreds of years, but Mr Norrell makes good on his claim. At this point I was hooked, mainly by the beautiful writing and by the gentle tone and dry humour.Then Mr Norrell goes to London and seeks to become famous by assisting the government with his magic, but only on his own terms and only by practising limited, "safe" magic. Things become more complicated when he brings Lady Pole back to life and then accepts Jonathan Strange as his pupil. Overall, I enjoyed this novel, which is a very long, but not a difficult read. However, I almost never read fantasy novels and found the arbitrariness of the "rules" governing the magic and the general moving of the goal posts whenever it suited the plot frustrating. The sections devoted to the defeat of Bonaparte went on so long I began to feel as if I were experiencing the Napoleonic Wars in real time.I would however love to read another novel by this author if she switched genres.
    • 4/5
      Mr. Norrell is a book-hoarding magician who wants to bring magic back to England, but only as practiced by himself. Jonathan Strange becomes his only pupil. The men part ways after the Napoleonic Wars, in which Strange has served as magician for the Duke of Wellington. Strange also wants to bring magic back to England, and he wants to establish a school for magicians to perpetuate the reclaimed knowledge of magic. Sir Walter Pole is a patron, first to Norrell and then to Strange. Unbeknownst to any of them, Lady Pole is suffering under an enchantment that leads to tragedy. Norrell and Strange are driven further and further apart, until a great danger reunites them. Can they together defeat the other-worldly forces that threaten all they hold dear?The story is slow to build. Norrell isn't a particularly likeable character. It finally gains momentum when Strange and his wife take center stage. It became a page-turner for me somewhere around the halfway point. The suspense is well-paced and builds nicely to the climax of the book. However, some threads are left hanging at the end, and that shouldn't happen in a book this long.
    • 1/5
      Too dry. Too epic. Not funny.
    • 4/5
      Fantastic book and enormous fun. Very English in its dialogue and philosophy and the reader does a great job with the various accents and makes the characters and settings come alive.
    • 5/5
      I really liked this book by Susanna Clarke and narrated by Simon Prebble. A story about practical magic set in the early 1800's including the Napoleonic wars. This was a debut novel for the author. She started writing it in 1993 but it wasn't published as a novel until 2004. The style is 19th century writing style like Dickens and Austen. I was a little concerned about doing this book in audio format because of the over 200 footnotes which create the back story. It worked! and the narrator was excellent. There are illustrations in the book that I was not able to enjoy. The story is about practical magic in England. Mr Norrell is a magician who wants to control all magic in England. Jonathan Strange is a rival and eventual student and partner of Mr Norrell. In this novel, northern England is contrasted with the South. Something Gaskell did in her novels only in reverse. The north is full of magic. The south is full of reason. Besides practical magic, the book is full of Faeries. So the book is about two friends but competitors of magic and a sly fairy. I began to speculate why Practical Magic. Wasn't that the thing of Harry Potter and this book was published in 2004 so who came up with the idea of practical magic first. Rowling or Clarke. Clarke began her story in 1993 so she wasn't copying Harry Potter and Hogwarts. Gaiman, another author with a lot of magic, said early on that Ms Clarke would be an author to watch. Potter books led the way because they were published first. This book is fantasy, alternate history, and historical fiction though it is fantasy, it reads like realistic fiction and so the alternate/historical fiction might be the stronger element. An excellent book, deserving of the Hugo it won in 2005.
    • 5/5
      A lot of people have complained that this book is a bit of a slog, and it's true that it's VERY long and not always totally gripping... but in retrospect, I'm not at all sure I'd want to cut anything. I love how richly imagined this world is, how cynical the narration is about the usefulness of magic. I've spent years wishing for a more grown up, sophisticated version of Harry Potter, and this really scratched that itch.
    • 2/5
      Could not finish the novel. Very uneventful story line, neither rich in action or rich in stimulating the mind. Just continues on, and on, and on, with little to offer along the way. There is a bit of very dry humor in the novel, but not enough for me to enjoy it.
    • 3/5
      Fun. One of the cover blurbs describes it as "Jane Austen meets J.R.R. Tolkien" but that's a little too much - more like a minor novelist of manners meets a minor fantasy novelist - perhaps Mrs. Gaskell meets Lord Dunsany? The basic premise is that the English lost the ability to do magic sometime in the 15th or 16th century until rediscovered by Mr. Norrell in the early 1800s. Mr. Norrell's magic is not all that much even by Harry Potter standards, but is enough to be of minor use against Napoleon. Enter Jonathan Strange, who discovers his magic appitude more or less by chance, becomes Mr. Norrell's star pupil, then his archrival. What I like is that the magic and fantasy, although fun (the land of Faerie and its inhabitants are wonderfully creepy), is really minor compared to the character development - the story would be just as engaging if the protagonists were rival brewers instead of rival magicians.
    • 2/5
      Interesting concept, intriguing characters but not an easy read. Chapters were too long, too much describing of what people said. It didn't flow well. Couldn't get past 8%. x
    • 5/5
      A fantasy historical novel set in nineteenth century England, filled with many interesting characters, incredible world building, and a plot that keeps growing and changing. It is a very long book, but held my attention the entire time. It is dry, especially the humor. Outside of the end, there is not much exciting moments. But it makes up for it with fantastic writing, dialogue, and character development. Absolutely loved the book.
    • 5/5
      This is one of the finest novels ever written. I'm baffled that it did not achieve the status it deserved, but cheered to see it gaining ardent followers here. I blame it on the marketing guy who called it a Harry Potter for adults. One, that is wrong and two, adults read Harry Potter.
    • 4/5
      an astonishing book
    • 2/5
      You know that awful feeling when you've gone so far in a book and committed yourself to finishing it, knowing all along that you dislike it, but keep hoping it might get get better, and knowing deep down that it won't? You can tell where I'm going with this right?

      I did not like this book, but still give it a 2 star rating because otherwise I would really hate myself for reading this enormous tome for no good reason and wasting so much of my reading time. It's long winded, with little or no plot movement, and I'm astounded that it was ever published without further edits.

    • 3/5
      This book is authentic for the period it proposes to imitate in at least one way: it reads like Clarke was paid by the word.

      There was a lot to like in the book. Some of her turns of phrase are wonderful. I liked Arabella, Stephen, and Lady Pole. Mostly I liked Jonathan Strange. Childermass too. It was enjoyable enough, and I'm glad I read it to the end.

      But the pacing. AUGH, the pacing. It was TERRIBLE. I read the book in the three-volume edition. Nothing happened in the second book until the last thirty pages. Not a single thing worth noting. This book could easily have been condensed into 500-550 pages without losing anything of any worth. Length isn't generally an issue for me (heh) - in fact, I do love a good long book, because I always tend to want MORE - but this was stretched. And the irritating thing is, plenty of different routes could have been taken to fill up that space. As someone else mentioned, I wanted to know more about Norrell. Without knowing more, he's just a malicious git. Strange could have used some more filling out too - why do we only meet him 270 odd pages into it?

      The end felt... convoluted. I don't want to say too much, but it seemed rushed, and with the middle of the book dragging so much, it made no sense to suddenly go BAM! ENDING!

      Overall, if you have some spare time and get a chance to read this, I would. It's a decent faux-Victorian study of a relationship between two vastly different men, with some commendable pieces of writing, and some intriguing moments, but ultimately, I wouldn't strongly recommend it.
    • 3/5
      Musty magicians fighting can be fun, but it did go on a bit, taking an awfully long time for the setup. The language and the characters truly are fun, but because the story took so long to get going...
    • 4/5
      Ok, I really loved the premise of this book. I think I read somewhere that it was like Harry Potter meets Jane Austen. The only problem is that it is SO long. It took me two months to finish it - I usually finish books in a week or less, maybe two if I'm especially busy. Again, the story is wonderful, and I was amazed at how well the author wove historical events into the plot. Just be aware that reading this book is quite the undertaking.
    • 4/5
      This novel is written as a history of what occurred when Mr. Gilbert Norrell decided that magic needed to return to England. It had been several hundred years since magic could be felt in the earth, sky, and animals and no contact had been made with Fairie, the other world inhabited by magical beings. His problems, however, started with a severe inability to share his knowledge with others who have the ability to do magic. Jonathan Strange is his first student who is nothing but enthusiastic and wants to please Mr. Norrell but is frustrated that he is not given all the books on magic to read that Mr. Norrell had been collecting throughout the country and is hoarding in his library. One last volume written by the last great magician, The Raven King, is illusive, however, and Norrell and Strange would like nothing more than to get their hands on it first.As they study and become adept at magic, a man with "thistle down hair" comes on the scene and takes a couple of people to his place, Lady Pole (wife of London's mayor) and Stephen Black (mayor's black butler), where dancing went all night. His place is known as Lost-hope. Stephen is able to party all night and maintain his duties during the day but Lady Pole suffers from exhaustion. They are both under spells which makes it impossible to explain to others what they are doing.When Strange becomes sufficiently able to cast spells, he is called to duty with Lord Wellington to help fight Napoleon's forces using magic. He does this by improving roads for the British forces and moving rivers and bridges to thwart the enemy. It got to the point where locals lied to the invading forces and hinted that certain roads were imbued with magic making them undesirable to the French.I found the book slow but not so slow that I gave up. I did interrupt my reading with the arrival of another book which may have made it easier to continue. Like a marathoner being able to see the finish line, there came a point where the action took off and there was no thought of giving up.
    • 3/5
      At first I was delighted, feeling I was in for a rare treat. The voice is perfect and I respect all the research, the characters do seem to come to life, but it got tedious all this waiting for things to happen, the very slow pace of it all and the language like a lid on everything. I understand why it is praised, I just didn't have the energy to keep at it, or found not enough reward for the effort. Perhaps I'll finish it another time. I hate to put a book down, but other more exciting ones called.
    • 5/5
      Congratulations, Susanna Clarke! You have cracked my Top 10 Favorite Authors! *confetti explosion* I couldn't believe that this epic masterpiece was a debut novel. However, it makes sense when you discover that Clarke has a history in the publishing world and most likely has had time to learn the ins and outs of the business and craft her work accordingly. The book had such a great reception that it was recently made into a 7 part BBC miniseries (I've started it and it's also amazing). The book focuses on two English magicians who are trying to bring practical magic back to England. The two men couldn't be more different. Where Strange is looking to test the boundaries of what magic can do, Norrell is trying to lay his hands on every magical book in existence (and keep himself cooped up in his library doing the same spells over and over). The book reads as a nonfiction historical piece with footnotes detailing the history of magic as if the reader should be aware of the general history but just in case here are the particulars. (I LOVE footnotes, guys.) The characters, the language, the settings, the magic. It's all SO GOOD. AND I've discovered she's written a collection of "fairy tales" from the land of Faerie itself titled The Ladies of Grace Adieu (and Jonathan Strange makes an appearance!). You know I'm adding that one to the TRL.