Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell: A Novel (edition 2006)

Considering its epic length, I was a little disappointed that so little actually happened. I could have forgiven that shortcoming, though, since the flavor of the story and eventual moral of the tale were so unique, except that I also couldn't bring myself to like any of the characters. All in all, an interesting read, but not one of my favorites. ( )

Ever wonder what would have happened if magicians fought Napoleon? What if an author chose to write about this subject, semi-ironically, in the style of William Thackeray? Well, read this novel and WONDER NO MORE.

This is one of those novels that I can’t pitch well. Magic has gone extinct in England and two dudes in the early 19th century try to bring it back, which, in addition to getting them some sweet government appointments, also gets them into deadly trouble with fairies. I thought the premise sounded too “Young Adult” to be enjoyable. Anglophilia? Check. Magic? Check. Fairies.



BUT YOU ALL KNOW WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT JUDGING A BOOK BY ITS DUST JACKET DESCRIPTION.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a mature book that doesn't take itself too seriously. We big kids get to enjoy magic and fairies and England without being blinded by sparkles and rainbows and special snowflakes. The book has a deeply enjoyable dry sense of humor, establishes engaging lore, and really had me interested (though I wouldn't say invested in) the fates of the titular Misters Strange and Norrell. Clarke’s sense of humor and whimsy is intensified by the fact everyone in the book takes everything so seriously. The magicians and the English generals discuss the possibility of summoning up unicorns to ride into battle so that they might impale Napoleon’s men upon their horns.



If we have any Vanity Fair fans in the house, Clarke emulates Thackeray’s comedy stylings in an enjoyable manner: that lovely Victorian prose and irony we love so well without the obsession with furniture and weather we see in VIRTUALLY ALL Victorian novels. However, like the Dickensian serials from which it takes its inspiration, this book is long. I mean loooooong. Unnecessarily long. There are points at which I respected Clarke for running with the lol-people-used-to-get-paid-by-word style, and there are points where I was like



Same goes for the numerous footnotes. While they do add authenticity to the whole “magical history book” vibe Clarke is working for, they quickly become tedious and add little to nothing to the story.

All in all, I found this book highly enjoyable. It’s not groundbreaking by any means, but it is a fun read with an amazing and amusing prose style.

4/5 Vanity Fairs ( )

http://speculiction.blogspot.com/2013/05/review-of-jonathan-strange-mr-norrell.h... ( )

Third time having a go at the thousand-plus page Strange and Norrell for me, and this time I made it through to the end. A massive book, not just in length but in scope, with the attention to detail and the impressive consideration of the history of the world Clarke has created making it a slow read. Clarke excels at the creation of atmosphere and at pulling off the perfect extended scene. Her characters are fully formed and intriguing, though perhaps always held at just a bit of a distance from the reader. I am glad I read the book and I enjoyed it quite a bit, though I can't say that I loved every second of it--which I rather expected to given what I have heard about it. But there may be just a little too much here, just a little too much to wade through. And for a book that creates a fair amount of suspense and a good deal of urgency, curiously little happens, curiously little, ultimately, seems to be at stake. At the turning of the last page, rather than feeling enormously satisfied by the story (as I am, for instance, when I finish the similarly long and detailed The Lord of the Rings), I felt satisfied that I had finished it, that I had accomplished the read. Not a sense of relief, exactly, not "thank god that's over" (though I do confess to being super excited to be able to move on to other reads). More "Ha HA, I did it" when, really, shouldn't it be "Oh, wow, look what Clarke did"? A flawed work, for sure, but one I still heartily recommend. Strange and Norrell is both like other things and unlike anything else I've ever read. The imagination on display here, that scope, and those perfectly rendered scenes all make it a must-read. This will long be a touchstone of literary fantasy fiction, despite its flaws. ( )

One of my all-time favorites, a «Harry Potter» for adults, magicandy where prestidigitators battle it out in the realm of good and evil, and where Napoleon's armies are powerless to follow. I haven't seen mirrors in the same light ever since.

The footnotes add to the plausibility of the story's verisimilitude, as if the book were an historical treatise. Thank the publisher for not having placed them in the appendix. ( )