The first time I read it I couldn’t make sense of it. The plot wanders around between different places and groups of characters and the whole thing is over-peopled (like the real world) with persons who seemingly don’t have much to do with the main action.You can tell it’s set in the past, in what appears to be Regency England; but it isn’t our Regency England. It’s one existing in some alternative universe where history took a very different turn. In this universe magic is real, and so are its most gifted practitioners, fairies. So this England was successfully invaded shortly after the Norman Conquest by a fairy army led by a magician, John Uskglass, who declared himself king and proceeded to rule successfully for 300 years. Then, mysteriously, he withdrew; and when he left the magic and the fairies went with him. The book starts centuries later when nobody in England even believes in doing magic anymore and it’s up to Norrell and Strange to reinvent it. They’re an ill-assorted pair. Norrell is scholarly and hyper-cautious : he wants to make magic modern, predictable and safe. Strange is whimsical, impulsive and reckless: he wants to push the boundaries. But neither man is anything like a match for the great magician-king who retreated long ago, somewhere behind the rain and the dark; and who may still be there.

Though she convincingly creates a world in which magic is real and sometimes chilling, Clarke doesn’t do raw-head-and-bloody-bones horror. There’s plenty of droll humour though and she is good at imitating the prose of the period. So, if you know Austen-speak puts you off maybe this is not one for you. Once you get your head round the plot though it is absolutely ingenious. If there’s a hole in it anywhere I haven’t found it yet. ( )

Despite the incredibly large page count, this book was incredibly intriguing throughout and never seemed to drag as so many novels of this size do.

Mr. Norrell is an old crotchety magician who wants magic in England to once again be respected and widespread, but doesn't think there's a single other person in England that could do magic as wonderfully as him. He spends a great deal of time buying up old magic books and putting magical scholars out of work while forcing "magical societies" to disband because they aren't real magicians.

After moving to London at the behest of his man servant/business manager, Mr. Norrell starts to assist the English parliament with their fight against the French. Everything seems to be going wonderfully until Jonathan Strange shows up, a charming young magician that seems to have a great aptitude for magic as well. Mr. Norrell hesitantly takes on Strange as a pupil, but refuses to allow Strange to actually work magic, only read about it.

There's a fight, their partnership breaks up, and Jonathan Strange goes to Spain to fight hands-on for the British. All the while there's a faerie king kidnapping pretty people at to dance for the rest of time in his magical kingdom. Despite the many different plot lines involved, everything weaves together quite nicely in the end. ( )

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell are two English magicians. Both aim to bring magic back to England and both have very different ideas about how that should be brought about. Though filled with magic and with adventures big and small, this massive book reads as more of a comedy of manners with fantasy mixed in. Those who dislike Jane Austen and other such classic writers of this vein may be put off by the style of writing. It did take me a little while to for me get completely into the story, but once I got there I loved it.

P.S. There are footnotes. I love footnotes in fiction. They amuse me, so that was a bonus. ( )

For centuries, the study of English magic has been entirely theoretical. Spells have not actually worked in three hundred years or more. Enter Mr. Norrell and later his apprentice Jonathan Strange, who work toward the return of practical English magic at the turn of the 19th century, with somewhat unexpected consequences. I loved this book, but I will be the first to admit it's not for everyone. You've got to be in it for the long haul. And I do mean long: almost 800 pages (though there are a fair number of poorly drawn illustrations thrown in for no discernable reason other than to add heft). It's also not the sort of story where you can grasp the gist of the plot from the first couple chapters. Rather, you have to simply enjoy what you are presently reading and trust the basic arc of the story will become clear in time. It does, but there are a lot of seemingly spurious asides that don't appear to have much to do with anything for quite a long time. It's written more like a history, complete with footnotes, with the author writing with the voice of a contemporary of most of the events described. I found this angle charming and quite convincing, to the point where I almost forgot that people like Martin Pale and John Uskglass never really existed. I will definitely be on the look-out for Clarke's future novels. ( )

This book truly got under my skin to the point where I would find myself reflecting on it during the day, anxiously awaiting the time I'd immerse myself in it. Truly a great read, touching, funny, insightful, and actually quite believable. Nearing the end of the book, I found myself intentionally reading slower because I didn't want it to end. Teared up quite a bit!

Yes this is a chunkster! But it isn't a book to speed-read. I loved the imaginativeness of this historical novel-of-sorts which traces the restoration of magic in England. Fascinating characters in the mousy Mr Norrell, the passionate Jonathan Strange, and my favorite servant Mr Childermass.I enjoyed the sub-stories of Lady Pole and Stephan Black's enchantment by a Faerie, of cause-and-consequence in the world of magic. ( )

Originally I heard this book called "Harry Potter for Grown-ups." I think that is a fair assessment, but it is much, much more. There is indeed magic, and it is much more adult than anything Harry faces, but there is more to it than that. We see all aspects of human life: love, war, fear, jealousy. This book can seem overwhelming because of its length, but give it a try. Save it for a good snowstorm. ( )

I finished this and was angry that it ended. Then two friends finished it and told me they were angry when it ended. A weird, but consistent, response to a good book. ( )

I tried the book & then the audio book. I just couldn't work up any interest in the story or the characters. All of the main characters were worthless & the story was just LONG. After reading over 100 pages in the book, I tried the audio book & my thoughts kept wandering until I wasn't sure how much of it I had missed, but most of it.The footnotes were the most interesting parts, but they were very long, some taking several pages. Possibly the book could have been salvaged for me if they'd been more a part of the story. There's obviously a detailed world hidden behind all the wasted words & I hoped I'd come across it eventually. I have far too many other books that are more interesting & entertaining to continue this one, though. ( )

Poof! I'm finished with Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. At last! I kept waiting and waiting and waiting to care about any of the major or minor characters...but no one stepped through my looking glass. Well, maybe Viniculus, a minor sort of Dickensian grotesque...but not Jonathan Strange, Mr. Norrell, Arabella, Edward, Childermass, etc., etc. I was seduced and educed, like a greyhound chasing a mechanical rabbit, by the author's excellent prose, and by the suggestive and detailed scenario of an alternate Napoleonic Era - one wherein magic played a role in public events. Ultimately, I found the story of the tension between Norrell and Strange, no more sustaining than a documentary on the contrasting freeware vs. proprietary philosophies of Bill Gates and Linus Torvald - two real magicians of our own era. The book IS an impressive first novel in its scope and imagination. But I just didn't feel the magic. It reminded me of the Gormenghast trilogy in its scope and imagery, but in that work, the characters, though very odd, had a curious and compelling humanity. By contrast, Strange and Norrell just seemed obsessive workaholics surrounded by cardboard sycophants and one dimensional relations. Magic, itself, by association, seemed to devolve into a colorless feat...a sort of combination lock formula for opening reality, instead of, as I would have preferred, a semi-mystical act opening our eyes to reality's beauty,strangeness, and joyous possibilities. In short, hundreds of pages of snap and crackle, but the roads to Faery never popped open for me. ( )

Book about wizards...

Yes, I finally read it! ALL of it! It managed to pick up somewhere about page 300 – just about where most other books have already had the decency to end – but making one of her protagonists so very unpleasant, whilst no doubt a bold move, may not have been entirely wise. Also, I am left in much the same frame of mind as Woody Allen on finishing 'War and Peace': "It's about magic." ( )

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell by Susanna Clarke has to be one of my top-five favorite books of the last 10 years. Published in 2004, this novel presents an alternate history of the early 19th century, one in which two magicians restore magic to England. Strange and Norrell, the two magicians, use their magic to serve the English government, mostly in the Napoleonic Wars, and they are hailed as heroes. But their use of magic has led them to interact with faeries, and faeries have a moral code all their own, and it’s not clear that Strange and Norrell are ready to face down a faerie.

The story is much, much more complex than this simple outline reveals. Clarke has built a complete world whose borders expand beyond the covers of this book. She makes brilliant use of footnotes to build on the basic story. It’s incredibly well done and makes the novel feel authentic, almost convincing the reader that there really were once faeries in England and that scholars have been arguing about them for centuries.

The audiobook is well-done, with great narration by Simon Prebble, but it’s less effective than the print version, particularly, I think, for the first-time reader. The novel has so many twists that it’s hard to keep up with the story on audio. Also, the footnotes prove to be a problem in this format. Each footnote is inserted into the story where the footnote number appears in the text, and each has its own track. Although this is probably the best way to add these crucial supplements, it was hard to stay immersed in the story when the longer footnotes appeared. Often, when the narrator returned to the main text, I had forgotten where he had left off. Still, I’d rather have the footnotes than not, and I can’t think of a better way to add them to the audiobook.

Overall, I highly recommend Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell to anyone who loves books about magic, faeries, and England. It’s a treasure. But the audio version is perhaps best reserved for the most focused listeners, or for a second or third reading.

See my complete review at my blog. ( )

I greatly enjoyed listening to this book. The author did a lovely job creating many distinct characters, each of whom played important (though more or less prominent) roles in the story. The plot is a thing of beauty, all the threads woven together in a seamless (but entertaining) manner. Her prose (those long, rambling, tongue-in-cheek sentences) is lovely. In the end,everything made sense at the end--though not everything was "resolved"--there was a lovely resonance to it. ( )

Set in an alternative nineteeth century England where magic is real but forgotten. A long novel that sucks you in to its reality. Uses archaic word forms that I found a bit pretentious and irritating at times, but pretty decent overall ( )

Tried reading this 4 times and just could not get into it at all ( )

This is advertised as a cross between Harry Potter and Jane Austen, which isn't a bad description. I fell in love with it when I first read it over the Christmas-New Year's break in 2004 and I wanted to recreate that all consuming experience again this year. If anything the book was better the second time around. WARNING: This is a big book and your wrist will be sore. ( )

Clarke slowly lures you in to her world, a version of early 19th-century England where the art of magic is real but lost, and where the struggle to bring it back again has unexpected consequences. She has a wonderful way with descriptive words - the novel is a slow one, but if you are the kind of reader who can lose yourself in the world of a novel without needing a high-speed plot to keep you turning pages, this is definitely the book for you.

Perhaps what I liked most about Clarke's writing is that her characters are wonderfully human (at least, those that actually are human). The reader will feel moments of genuine pity even for the most despised characters, and many moments of profound irritation and disgust for the story's protagonists. This is a book where no one is entirely good or evil, and where Good and Evil themselves are slippery concepts.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is often billed as "Harry Potter for grownups" and while it's absolutely possible to thoroughly enjoy both (as I did), this is a very different book. I suggest approaching it on its own terms; you will ultimately enjoy it more. ( )

This book was not at all what I expected, but that's often a good thing. One of the most unusual things about it is its unusual genre-bending style, sort of like historical fiction meets fantasy. (I suppose you could reduce that to alternate history, but this reads unlike any other alternate history I've ever read.)

Anyway, it's a good book and an interesting read that seems to meander but comes together in the end. ( )

This is probably my favorite book of all time, and may remain so forever. The characters are lovable and unforgettable. The plot does not drag (though some have told me they thought it did, I wholeheartedly disagree). I have heard talk of a movie version in the works, though I'm not sure how they could make this into a movie. I still will see it on opening day if it becomes reality. Susanna Clarke is extremely talented and genuinely intelligent to invent such a masterpiece.

I know, I know, you're thinking 'ANOTHER novel about magic in London? Please, give it a rest.' I assure you, it is not to be judged based on that premise that is well-used. It starts off with a group of magicians who study magic, but do not practice it. That part is hilarious in itself. Then there is Mr. Norrell, the only practical magician that does not perform parlor tricks for change out in the street. He becomes an instant celebrity when nineteenth-century England discovers his abilities. he helps England defeat Napoleon in a very thrilling section of the book. Then enter Jonathan Strange, an apprentice and opposing personality to Mr. Norrell. I don't want to spoil too many details about the story, but it is way more complex than I have written in this review. Regardless of what anyone says, I could not put this book down at all, and despite the 800+ pages, I felt it should have been longer. The ending also left me excited for a sequel, and I have no doubt it will be as perfect as this book was. I do believe Clarke is the only one who could make this story concept beautiful instead of disastrous. ( )

Interesting alternative history with magic. Maybe over-long. Got bored by the end ( )

This is a large novel, over 800 pages in an oversize paperback format. It must have taken her years to write, less because of the size, but because the story is dense and extremely self-referential, far more so than the entire Harry Potter series taken together. The story was very slow at the beginning and not very gripping, in large part because Mr. Norrell is so very unlikeable. This was fine by me, because it made it easy to put it down after meals and move on to other things without losing any sleep. The other reason that it was so very slow was the plot itself. Unlike most novels today that rely on action (sex, violence, suspense, etc.) and fast pacing, with multiple subplots and many, many characters to keep the reader engaged and jumping, this book really only had a handful of characters, many of whom were extremely anticharismatic, not just the first of the two eponymous protagonists. So for the first third, maybe even half, of the book, it wasn't clear where the story was going and when it might get there.

However, it certainly became much more interesting with the introduction of Jonathan Strange, the second protagonist, and his new wife. In personality and appearance and approach, he is the antithesis of Mr. Norrell. Once he enters the story, the pacing picks up and it slowly becomes much more action-oriented. I finished the last quarter of the book with a couple of very late nights.

This is one of those pieces of historical fantasy that takes pretty much real, well-documented events and people and inserts an element of magic into them. Judith Tarr would be a prime example of this approach, as would the Regency-era novels by Patricia C. Wrede. In fact, Clarke's Hugo winner is also set in the Regency era. And I must say, it was quite disorienting to read her version of the battle of Waterloo, being far more familiar with other versions from the Regency romance genre, most notably An Infamous Army by Georgette Heyer. I felt a similar sort of disorientation provoked by such a tangential approach upon reading Wallace Stegner's Angle of Repose, which is in part the story of a mining engineer and his wife on the western frontier. However, I grew up reading Louis L'Amour westerns, including those revolving around mines and boomtowns, and Stegner's characters and attitudes and plot elements were so vastly different from the typical western that it just caused a certain amount of cognitive dissonance. Likewise for Jonathan Strange, set in the drawing rooms and battlefields of the romances, but from the very, very different perspective of social outsiders.

Now the genius of this book has to be the footnotes. It is listed in Wikipedia under "Footnotes as Literary Device" (which was very interesting, BTW, and has added to my TBR list). Clarke includes footnotes whenever the characters mention/visit a particular book (entirely fictional, I assume, since they are all on magic) or historical figure (whether real or fictional) or landmark location or anecdote/folk tale. Many of the footnotes are very brief and just add a richness of depth and complexity to her story, but some are quite extensive, sharing long anecdotes that are barely mentioned in dialogue. Many of the footnotes reference the biography or writings of Jonathan Strange, which are at least as entertaining as anything else in the book.

I think this book is a keeper, too bad I have to return it to my friend. While it was quite unengaging at the beginning, it was quite interesting by the end, with the climax and resolution having a sense of inevitability that was saved from a feeling of predictability by the lyrical quality of the prose in the final section. The writing itself was generally quite good and added to the story rather than distracting. The imagery was quite vivid. Also, her portrayals of magic and how it has worked and developed are very interesting and not quite run of the mill.

The only real flaw was how annoyingly long it took Jonathan Strange to figure things out. I really wanted to kick him in the middle of the book to miss all of the signs, which should have raised some suspicions, and not just from my perspective as omniscient reader (thanks to the shifting POV of the narration we know a lot more than any of the individual characters). I suppose this denseness on his part was essential to the flow of the plot, but I still didn't like it. I even developed an appreciation for most of the unlikeable characters (and they outnumber the nice), who turn out to have their strengths.

So as you can see, I've managed to produce another lengthly review, this time without actually providing any plot information. That's okay, though, as I am sure the information is available elsewhere. The book achieved adequate resolution, though it has certainly set the stage for a sequel. I am not sure whether one is planned or even if I would like to read it. This book is quite monumental and I suppose I fear something ineffably unique and charming might be lost in any sort of continuation.

ETA grammar corrections ( )

Fantastic ( )

interesting characters; a satisfying ending. this could have been a very good (or even better) book if it was told in 200 to 250 pages. the 782 pages that i read were too often fluff and filler. i do not know if clarke was being paid by the word or by the pound, but she drowned a good idea in an ocean of words. i hate to pan any book, but in the end, it just wasn't worth the time. ( )

An outstanding book. In a class of its own.