In the Hugo-award winning, epic New York Times Bestseller and basis for the BBC miniseries, two men change England’s history when they bring magic back into the world.In the midst of the Napoleonic Wars in 1806, most people believe magic to have long since disappeared from England – until the reclusive Mr. Norrell reveals his powers and becomes an overnight celebrity.Another practicing magician … celebrity.
Another practicing magician then emerges: the young and daring Jonathan Strange. He becomes Norrell’s pupil, and the two join forces in the war against France.
But Strange is increasingly drawn to the wild, most perilous forms of magic, and he soon risks sacrificing his partnership with Norrell and everything else he holds dear.
Susanna Clarke’s brilliant first novel is an utterly compelling epic tale of nineteenth-century England and the two magicians who, first as teacher and pupil and then as rivals, emerge to change its history.
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Read the book after watching the BBC series. I am still hoping for a sequel as I was not happy with the ending.
This book took a while to get into, but I persisted and ended up enjoying it.
I really liked the premise, but this book dragged in many spots.
One of my all-time favorite novels
Way better than the TV series!
The revival of English magic set in the Regency era is a briiliant concept. The clarity of the writing, with interesting characters, makes it a delightful read.
This book made me laugh out loud–the footnotes are priceless. A book of absolute intelligence, absurdity, and incomparable descriptions, this is one of those books that after reading it, you wish there were more like it. As someone who is dealing with issues of war 24/7/365, this definitely took me out of my current “headspace” and made me inordinately happy. Truly memorable: the insanity of George III (which was right on), the dream world of one of the characters, and the mysterious Raven King, whom I hope will appear in his own book in the future.
It’s not often I like a book’s narrator better than its characters. But that was my experience for much of Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Clarke—or the persona she adopts to tell her story about the return of magic to early 19th century England—is whimsical and wry, frequently inserting herself into her tale with asides that begin with apologies like “It would tire my reader’s patience…” and “But in case you should imagine that this chapter will treat of none but disagreeable persons…” Her descriptions are similarly droll; my favorite was “the silence of half a hundred cats is a peculiar thing, like fifty individual silences all piled one on top of another.” She even censors her characters: at one point, Ned, a soldier who wants new boots, explains his need by saying “It is these d—d Portuguese roads.”
This charming style sustained my interest through the book’s meandering early stages, which start with the latest uncharitable act of Gilbert Norrell, an anxious little curmudgeon who’s spent much of his life ruining other practitioners of magic and appropriating their books on the subject. After the spells he uses to carry out his latest theft cause a sensation, Norrell capitalizes on his notoriety by moving to London and gaining employment with the government. Meanwhile, as Norrell’s station rises, Jonathan Strange, a heretofore hopeless dilettante, settles on magic as his true passion. Hearing of Norrell’s exploits, Strange seeks and secures the older man’s approval to become his first and only student.
Strange proves to be a prodigy, but he takes a leave of absence from his studies to help the (soon-to-be) Duke of Wellington fight through Portugal and Spain on his way to besting Napoleon. But this isn’t a Richard Sharpe novel; there are no blow-by-blow combat scenes or linear plot lines that drive us briskly from one bullet point on an outline to the next. Instead, Clark lights a cheerful little spark and lets it burn slowly where it will, with frequent stops for detours and digressions—until the last third of the book, when the story’s disparate threads reveal themselves to be fuses whose charges erupt simultaneously.
The change of pace was perfectly timed, recalling my attention as it started to wander. But even when I set the book down during some of the slower bits, I never doubted I’d pick it back up; Clarke’s stewardship was too amusing, too inventive, and ultimately too trustworthy—I always had faith she was shepherding me to a satisfying conclusion. And she did: in the end, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell proved itself worthy of the time it took to read. I just hope the forthcoming BBC adaptation retains some of Clarke’s character along with her characters.
(For more reviews like this one, see http://www.nickwisseman.com/)
Phenomenal world building and an unpredictable story line. This is a new world that you’ll want to explore. In the vein of Tolkein, this fantasy epic is that great.