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Susanna Clarke: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

I absolutely loved Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel and think it was the best fantasy novel since perhaps China Mieville's Perdido Street Station. I reviewed it, and I would lvoe some feedback if anyone is interested Here

I just thought it was incredible.

fanatsybookspot.com
 
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

Has anyone else read this book? I just finished it yesterday. I thought the first half of it was pretty slow but towards the end it got better. I liked the writing style a lot--the old-fashioned writing style. I thought the characters were fun but not very endearing. What did you think?
 
The best work of specualtive fiction last year, and one of the greatest fantasy debut's ever. As I noted in my review, what fantasy is and should be at the highest levels. For my opinions, I have a detailed review HERE

Please read and we can discus here:)
 
I loved it, personally. Loved the language and the footnotes littered through the story. Thought the characters were wonderfully done and very Dickensian. And the imagination behind it all was just superb.
 
After a couple of years of sporadic reading, I bought this on a whim having never heard of it (middle of last year sometime), went to a park and sat under a tree and started.

By the end of the book, I was completely enthused about reading again, and since that been varocious in my appetite for words. It's just a shame there isn't another book out there that has the same effect on me as this book.

As for it's size, yes it's a bulky book, but really I think people are fooled more by it's physical size than the number of words. It's a breeze compared to something like Quicksilver (Neil Stephenson).

Easily my favourite read for a number of years.
 
Great story! It's wonderful that the book got you into reading! :)

You might like the book I am currently reading. It's called Crimson Petal in the White and is by Micheal Faber! Her prose is ( love the style ) really wonderful as is the story and characters.

The story is set in Victorian London and follows a young lady ( a prostitute ) who is dertermined to make her life better.

Here is an example of her writing

Here is a sample of his work! You can read the rest by following the link!

"Watch your step. Keep your wits about you; you will need them.

This city I am bringing you to is vast and intricate, and you have not been here before. You may imagine, from other stories you've read, that you know it well, but those stories flattered you, welcoming you as a friend, treating you as if you belonged. The truth is that you are an alien from another time and place altogether.

When I first caught your eye and you decided to come with me, you were probably thinking you would simply arrive and make yourself at home. Now that you're actually here, the air is bitterly cold, and you find yourself being led along in complete darkness, stumbling on uneven ground, recognising nothing. Looking left and right, blinking against an icy wind, you realize you have entered an unknown street of unlit houses full of unknown people.

And yet you did not choose me blindly. Certain expectations were aroused. Let's not be coy: You were hoping I would satisfy all the desires you're too shy to name, or at least show you a good time. Now you hesitate, still holding on to me, but tempted to let me go. When you first picked me up, you didn't fully appreciate the size of me, nor did you expect I would grip you so tightly, so fast. Sleet stings your cheeks, sharp little spits of it so cold they feel hot, like fiery cinders in the wind. Your ears begin to hurt. But you've allowed yourself to be led astray, and it's too late to turn back now.

It's an ashen hour of night, blackish-grey and almost-readable, like undisturbed pages of burnt manuscript. You blunder forward into the haze of your own spent breath, still following me. The cobblestones beneath your feet are wet and mucky, the air is frigid and smells of sour spirits and slowly dissolving dung. You hear muffled drunken voices from somewhere nearby, but what little you can understand doesn't sound like the carefully-chosen opening speeches of a grand romantic drama; instead, you find yourself hoping to God that the voices come no closer.

The main characters in this story, with whom you want to become intimate, are nowhere near here. They aren't expecting you; you mean nothing to them. If you think they're going to get out of their warm beds and travel miles to meet you, you are mistaken.

You may wonder, then: why did I bring you here? Why this delay in meeting the people you thought you were going to meet? The answer is simple: their servants wouldn't have let you in the door."
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I did read this and thought it was dire. Very few books actually get that description off me :(
 
Thanks Wabbit (I do hope you take no offence at my abbreviation), I'll definitely add that to my seek and read list.
 
I read it not too long ago, and thought that the novel was well written, but too slow in the beginning. The seconds half, like you, I found to be much better. I thought it was worth persevering to the end, though it did feel a little hard going at times.

I love the way she writes. Funny and extremely witty, with plenty of memorable quotes. I can't remember any of them of course, but I did think while I was reading it that it was be cool if I jot this down, or jot that down.

ds
 
Although I can see what some of you mean about the book being a bit slow, I thought it was a very nice change. She was so good at creating a melancholy, magical mood and building up the world. Reminded me so much of Dickens, which is never a bad thing!
 
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

I recently purchased this book which is written by Susanna Clarken on a "reccomdation" :rolleyes: . I was expecting, due to the brief summary at the online shop where I bought it, a tale of magic in England. This is indeed what I got.

However, what I did not expect was the matter in which it was written or what the actual story it was about. It was very well written, however not in the usual style, about half of the book is almost in narritive form, combine that with the type of language used. I would not describe this as modern day or old english, but somewhere in the middle between those extremes.

Another thing that surprised me while I continued reading it, was that it felt more like a history book, not as much as a fantasy novel. This extended the credibility of the story, by incorporating actual people and events into the story.

The negative side, for me at least, where that on occasions, it actualy read like a history book. Which in my mind equals studying, this made my mind automaticly re-adjust to feeling as if forced to read it, not because I wanted to.

Story wise I had little to complain, a great backsetting in the early 1800's during the war with the french magic is rediscovered by a grumpy book "collecter", who later finds himself, unwillingly at first, with an aprentice. The story covers about 15 years or so, from the start til the end of the war and a little beyond.

Another small note is that the references to other books and persons set in the universe are explained in the same way as the rest of the novel is written. Usualy I don't bother to read these, this time however I found no reluctance to read them before moving on with the main story.
 
This to me, along with M. John Harrison's Light and Zoran Zivkovic's Fourth Circle was the best novel released last year.


We have talked about this here before, so I'm just going to point out my review Here. This is one of the most stunning debuts in a long time IMHO>


I can't wait for the sequel :)
 
I just finished this Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and loved it.

I didn't find the story slow in any place at all. I know many found it slow to start, but I didn't. Maybe it's because I really enjoyed her narrative voice and usage of language. The archaic spellings were a great touch as were the footnotes!

The story moved at just the right pace and was populated by a wonderful cast of complex characters. None of them were cardboard cut outs and each had a set of complex motivations. Some of their character were good and some were bad, just as real people.

The fairy were great. They were just how I personally envision them to be. They were beautiful and magical yet also alien, twisted, and dark beings.

Toward the end of the book things just got better! I was reading in bed till 3AM last night as I could not stop! I finally succumbed to sleep but finished off the last 50 or so pages today.

Great stuff and I would highly recommend it!
 
I have been thinking of reading this, it sounds like my kind of book. I've heard so many mixed reviews on it but if Wabbit likes it :) I will have to check into it.
 
Great to hear you've enjoyed it Wabbit. I remember you were see-sawing about whether to read it a long time ago.

But the question to ask is: Did you laugh out loud when reading it? I know I did, and thanks to no small part to the footnotes. :)

ds
 
Just borrowed this behemoth from the library, and while I've not had a chance to really get going with it yet, I am very excited! The language is so different to what I've been reading of late, and it's a welcome change.

The footnotes irritated me at the start, but now I'm starting to enjoy them. But I'm not quite sure why she's employed them in some instances, for example right at the very start (this is so near the beginning and of such little consequence that I don't consider it a spoiler) she mentions in the footnote that Honeysomething finds two books on
Mr Norrel's bookshelf
which contain extraordinary information. Why not put this in the text? It seems to be merely anecdotal information to compliment the story, but I would have thought that one of the skills of being a writer was being able to include anecdotal information such as this, thus developing story and characters, and still continue with the flow of the book. Are these footnotes 'cheating' in a way?
 
Ronny said:
I have been thinking of reading this, it sounds like my kind of book. I've heard so many mixed reviews on it but if Wabbit likes it :) I will have to check into it.
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I hope you like it :)


direstraits said:
Great to hear you've enjoyed it Wabbit. I remember you were see-sawing about whether to read it a long time ago.

But the question to ask is: Did you laugh out loud when reading it? I know I did, and thanks to no small part to the footnotes.

ds
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Yes, I was see-sawing before as to reading it or not. I am so glad that I took the plunge!

I didn't laugh out loud, but I did smile lots. It's actually a funny book. The humour is there. It's dry and suble but it's there!


kookamoor said:
The footnotes irritated me at the start, but now I'm starting to enjoy them. But I'm not quite sure why she's employed them in some instances, for example right at the very start (this is so near the beginning and of such little consequence that I don't consider it a spoiler) she mentions in the footnote that Honeysomething finds two books on SPOILER: Mr Norrel's bookshelf which contain extraordinary information. Why not put this in the text? It seems to be merely anecdotal information to compliment the story, but I would have thought that one of the skills of being a writer was being able to include anecdotal information such as this, thus developing story and characters, and still continue with the flow of the book. Are these footnotes 'cheating' in a way?
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The footnotes are used to give the illusion that the novel and the history is "real" so that's they they reference books as if those books were real and you could go and look them up!
 
I've just found a second hand copy (with the ribbon!) for £1/$1.80/C$2.20.

I'm almost scared to start it as I can see its probably going to take me so long to read it and I have a pile of other books waiting so patiently to be picked up. Off I go... wish me luck!! :)
 
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