Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

[The Grumpy Celt]

I got this book as a Christmas gift and I finished reading it Monday. It was a lot of fun. The first few chapters, where the narrative just follows the fuddy-duddy Norrell around and before Strange arrives on the scene, move rather slowly. However, after that it picks up and is a good read. Clarke has done her research and the book follows the standards of a 19th century novel well and magic in a plausable way. It is very Brittish, but has some funny moments, including one character talking about how a man once deneyed the existance of America, France and Scottland.

In any event, I give the book a thumbs up. Have you read it?

 

[Numion]

Yes, and I thought it was a great book. A bit slow at places, but all in all it delivered. It captured the 'magic' in magic. Or was it magick?

 

[PhoenixDarkDirk]

"Not all Englishmen have the same size feet."

I like the book.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I liked it, for the most part, but found the ending immensely unsatisfying, especially for so long a book. It seemed rather forced and perfunctory to me.

 

[EricNoah]

I thought it was wonderful. I'm going to let it age a bit and read it again sometime this year I think.

 

[Brogarn]

I couldn't get past the first few chapters. I might try again later.

 

[Wombat]

I absolutely adore this book, but I am puzzled to find it popular; I supposed from quite some time that it fell into the same category as A Brief History of Time and The Name of the Rose -- bestsellers that vast numbers of people bought but never really read.

I am fascinated by history, mythology, and folklore. I love truly Gothic novels (Mrs Radcliffe, Walpole, Lewis, etc). I have read the Aubrey-Maturin series through twice. I really like Jane Austen. I have a fascination with the Peninsular War aspect of the Napoleonic Wars. I have read Barrett's The Magus. With all that going in, I found JS&MN a nearly perfect book, exactly according to my tastes! But for the larger section of the reading public? Certainly it would seem slow, pedantic, and fusty.

I don't think I'm "elitist" on this point -- I just think I happen to have the specific background in tastes that would lead to liking this book, a trail that not a lot of people would necessarily have. I think, in many ways, this book was written for a very tiny group of people...

...and yet now there are rumours of making a movie of it.

Well, I am simply quite happy with the book. I look forward to reading the not-quite-sequel

 

[sniffles]

I'm still struggling to finish it, but that's partly because I have a hard-cover copy that isn't convenient for transportation, and I tend to do most of my reading on the bus on my way to work. I've been enjoying it though. It's very well done as a pastiche of early 19th-century literature, although I wish it would progress a little faster. A bit of judicious editing wouldn't have hurt.

 

[Banshee16]

I loved the line when Jonathan Strange was talking to some compatriots in the army during the spanish campaign.

"Can a magician kill a man with magic?"

"I suppose so, but a gentleman never would"

That really kind of clinched the "feel" of the novel for me.

It's one of the better fantasy novels I've read in the last few years.

Banshee

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

I believe Clarke is writting a sequel. I've not read her short story colelction, Ladies of Grace Adieu, which is on the shelves currently. I wonder about a movie - the book is both long and much of it in material (like the footnotes) that could not be easily put in a movie.

Ah well. I liked it. It would make an interesting d20 setting, and the Raven Kings Kingdom would be an interesting setting for a more traditional DnD game.