Customer Reviews

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell: A Novel

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I truly did not expect to like this book--this big, this enormous, intimidating book. My friends in my book club voted to read it (I didn't), but they were right and I was wrong. And to accept defeat, I announce with a shout: This is one seductively brilliant, imaginative novel! Clarke resurrects nineteenth century England with meticulous skill, then casts over it a Harry Potter-like magical aura. It has to be read to be believed. It all sounds foolish, I know. I was where you are now, smirking, shaking my head, saying, Right, right! But if you have good liberal-minded friends like I do, then you'll see. You'll see.

Other recommended books from my book club: AMAGANSETT by Mill and A SECRET WORD by Paddock

First, let me start by saying that JONATHAN STRANGE is not an easy read; the novel is long, the book is heavy and not easy to carry around. But that is all the bad I can say about it. If you like history, like stories about magic, like to read, this book is for you. The story is so compelling, the way Clarke take history and blends it with her story, the intricacies of the characters, and the way it was written makes not want to put the book down. Having read other stories of Magic, including J.K. Rowlings Harry Potter Series with my kids (which I love, by the way), this book surprised me and made me think and say: finally somebody thought about us who like to read fantasy books and are adults. Finally something that can entertain us without to be thinking as kids. This book to me was wonderful! Must also recommend another great book, though it is MUCH shorter and compact-still, a great read, and that is Jackson T. McCrae's THE CHILDREN'S CORNER, which is a fantastic collection of stories that entertains and touches the soul.

I've read the first few chapters and this book and been quite unimpressed. After reading some reviews online and learning that the ending is generally found to be unsatisfying, I don't think I will bother reading any further. I don't have lots of time to read, and I don't want to waste time slogging through such a massive volume if it is ultimately going to end up being disappointing.

Although the premise for the book is interesting, I couldn't help but be annoyed with Clarke's style. She is trying so hard to sound like an author from the Regency period (in which the book takes place), but for me (someone who has read many books from the 1800's) she fails miserably. She simply sounds like a modern person who is trying very hard to sound like she was born and is writing in a different time. Her grammar and syntax are nowhere near rigid enough to truly sound like a writer from that time period. I would rather read an author with a very loose and experimental style than one who tries to copy the style of 200 years ago and ends up sounding like a mixture of modern and antique styles. Clarke does not sound like Jane Austen or anyone else from the very early 1800s, although she makes a valiant effort.

There is something else that annoys me, that is difficult to put my finger on. The voice of the narrator--it does not only sound like a modern person trying to sound old-fashioned, but...somehow I get the feeling that the narrator is making fun of people from this time period. All the characters seem so ridiculous and pompous. They are not like real people at all. It was not easy for me to be interested in these strange characters.

Now I know a lot of readers have said this book gets better towards the end, but after the first few chapters I am quite happy to give up. Such a large books requires a large input of time, and I am not willing to give it that. If I want a book reminiscent of a different time, I will happily pull a volume of Jane Austen or Charlotte Brontë off my shelf.

This is one masterpiece of modern fiction that I recommend young and old alike to read. It certainly exceeds anything the Harry Potter series has to say about the realm of ancient magic as it impinges on the affairs of the modern state. There is a virtual cornucopia of serious history interwoven with delightful, off-the-wall fiction to create a world that will certainly dazzle the senses and make you laugh at the other side of life. I started out listening to the audio rendition and ended up buying the book because it was so good. The story is both simple and complex in nature. It is the late eighteenth century England, and the magical power of sorcerers and the clandestine activities of fairies that once dominated the land centuries before have now fallen silent. Sure, there are thousands of books full of spells and enchantments stored away in dusty, cobwebbed old libraries throughout the kingdom, but who can understand them? The true practice of magic has fallen to a lot of charlatans and quacks who know little of the true power of the ancient formulas. That is until Mr. Norrell, an obscure magician from backwoods England steps forward to breathe new life into the profession and answer to an ancient prophecy that true magic would eventually return to save the kingdom. With the help of a young upstart named Jonathan Strange, Norrell undertakes an assignment to save the British Empire from that pestiferous Napoleon. This is where the story really takes off, and the reader gets to see the fabulous and not-so-fabulous goings-on in the world of magic happen before their very eyes. Norrell, the keeper of the secrets, is willing to take on Strange as his apprentice only if he obeys the master's instructions. While initially accepting these terms of employment, Strange quickly reinvents himself as a magician who is daring, innovative and risk-taking. The sorcerer's apprentice then quickly goes out to slay his dragons in a way that soon becomes a direct threat to Norrell. The reader should be prepared for anything as Strange roams the face of Europe putting a different complexion on the geopolitics of the times. Clarke's prose is so smooth that it might actually transport the reader into realms that he or she never thought possible, so beware of falling asleep with this book on your unconscious mind.

I normally shy away from the bestseller list as most of what's on it is rather plebian. Not so for JONATHAN STRANGE and a few others. Things are looking up.

STRANGE is, well, strange. But it's also wonderful. It's the tale of two magicians who are in the process of restoring magic's good name. All of this during the ninteenth century admist English history, Napoleon, books, and politics. Talk about your formulas for success.

As if premise isn't enough, the author has taken writing to an entire new level. His portraits of the characters are three, four, and five deminisional. Truly magical, and I mean that in more than the obvious sense of the word.

Would also recommend several other books, though they're completely different from this one (why would you want to read the same thing twice?) "The Five People You Meet in Heaven," "Secret Life of Bees" and "Bark of the Dogwood." All are good and worth a shot.

Two elements stood out for me in this strange and compelling tale. The first was the complex psychological aspects of the characters and the way they related to each other. The second aspect was the even-handed approach that the author took in describing magic--both fascinating and tedious (the element of performing, not the writing in the book). At times I was reminded of THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY, though that book is set in a totally different locale and doesn't have the same feel to it. Still, there was an element of danger, magic, and other factors that bring this book to mind. Both are well-written and captivating.

Also recommended: THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD

This novel fits into the "fantasy" genre but the sort of expectations that sets won't help you very much. There's definitely some flashback to Victorian novel here. The plot is sprawling, twisting and turning - not so much a finely constructed thing as a intricate design where every event triggers another unforeseen event which triggers another and so on. Each character is drawn with complexity including those that are fairies rather than human. The work serves as a sort of alternate magical history, set in the period of the Napoleonic Wars.

Mr Norrell is the first magician to appear - a conservative type who doesn't want any competition, but on the other hand feels very lonely without another magician to talk to. Enter Jonathan Strange who feels that too many secrets are being kept, he wants to share information with the whole world and would also like to learn more about fairies (despite this being a dangerous subject). The "man with the thistle down hair" provides the villainy, double crossing Mr Norrell at an early stage and manipulating Strange. There's also the butler, Stephen Black, who may be more important than what first appears.

Some of my other favourite books are "The Catcher in the Rye", "The Lord of the Rings" and "Lord of the Flies". I only say that to let you know what sort of books I'm comparing this to and that it trumps - for me anyway.

First of all I HAVE to say: DON'T BE DAUNTED BY THE LENGTH OF THE BOOK! I put off reading it for almost a year because of the length but I'm so glad that I was encouraged to finally tackle it by a review on here. It is long but it is not difficult or a drudgery to read. I found every ounce of it enthralling from beginning to end.

(That being said it fulfilled a very specific niche that I'd been searching for for years. It combined a realistic take on magic with the quaint and mystical air that I associated with 1800's England.)

Now to talk about what makes this book my favourite. It approaches magic as a hallowed, mystical, realistic, scholarly pursuit - in a way that no other book I've ever come across has. It contains and develops a history of magic so real that you can't help but think that this is how it would be if magic did exist. If you've ever thought of Magic as an exotic, interesting, enticing, wonderful subject you will LOVE the treatment it gets in this book. It even presents a plausible origin of magic and traces it's development through the ages. Magic is also approached as a scholarly pursuit, something that practitioners have to coax out of dusty tomes written centuries ago. A field of study that requires hard work and serious academic dedication to figure out, create and apply.

It's worlds apart from Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. I don't necessarily say 'better', but it treats magic in a way that those books don't.

If anything you've read got you the slightest bit excited or giddy - get the book!

This is a very enjoyable novel as it provides a very innovative view on magic. The author conceived a tale where two individuals undertake to bring magic back to England in the 19th century. The imagination of the author appears boundless as she makes reference to a multitude of (made-up) historical facts and anecdotes on how magic was used by the magicians of the past and how it is now used by these two new magicians.

I am not entirely enthusiastic about this novel mainly because of the style used by the author to present us the story. It takes the form of a serial story with no apparent plot in the first half of the book. For over 500 pages, I was under the impression that the idea followed by the author was to present us short tales that evolve around the same characters, mostly with the purpose of elaborating her original take on magic with an emphasis put on the English social life in the early 19th century. It is only later that we are presented with a plot that generates more development between the characters. That is an interesting approach, but I cannot help having the feeling that the story was sometime dragging, hence the four stars.

On a side note, I would recommend the Lyonesse trilogy, written by Jack Vance, to anyone that has enjoyed how Susanna Clarke has developed the fairy characters in this book. I am not a specialist in "fairy litterature", but the approach of both authors on this aspect is very similar and immensely entertaining.

I hesitate to review this book because I do not have the capacity with words that Clarke has to do justice in describing one of the best book I have read in possibly a decade. When I try to tell people it is about two magicians in 19th century England, I can't help but make it sound silly, when in fact the author writes about it in such a matter-of-fact manner that magic is almost banal. It makes you want to go back and study the Napoleonic wars to check to see if England did use magicians! These magicians are not of the Merlin or Gandalf type; they are at times rather boring English gentlemen with their own human foibles that give the novel an ironic kind of humour that is pervasive.

I actually study 19th century England for my doctorate and in doing so I have to read works from that period. What I find amazing is that Clarke is able to skilfully mimic the diction and way of speaking that was common at the time. Its as if she cam from some kind of parallel universe to give us a report on what events occurred in her world. And the footnotes add a delightful sense of verisimilitude!

Read and Enjoy!