Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
by Susanna Clarke
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Description
In nineteenth-century England, all is going well for rich, reclusive Mr Norell, who has regained some of the power of England's magicians from the past, until a rival magician, Jonathan Strange, appears and becomes Mr Norrell's pupil.Tags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
GreenVelvet Both Stardust and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell are detailed, well-written and riveting explorations of the world of fairie.
Also recommended by GreenVelvet, GreenVelvet
361
BookshelfMonstrosity Magical rivalries are at the heart of these unconventional Fantasy novels, which play out over decades and against elaborate, atmospheric 19th-century backdrops. Their initially relaxed pacing gains momentum as the various narrative threads dramatically converge.
Also recommended by -Eva-
242
billiecat Clarke's descriptions of Faerie share the dreamlike qualities of Dunsany's novel.
192
saltmanz Both extrememly atmospheric books, with vivid visuals and memorable characters.
236
TheSpecialistsCat Both Clarke and Mirrlees lived briefly in Spain, then returned home to write about fairies and also, ostensibly, what it means to be English.
171
majkia both books evoked the same sort of feeling for me.
183
fyrefly98 Both have the same "Jane-Austen-meets-Harry-Potter" vibe to them; "Jonathan Strange" is denser and more grown-up, while "Sorcery & Cecelia" is funnier and more of a romp.
141
ErlendSkjelten I don't remember making this recommendation, much less why I did; they are very different books. I think I felt that they both conjured up the same mystic mood, and they are both concerned with a very British magic.
197
Aerrin99 Books which focus on a fascinating historical Britain, but with added fun like magicians and more.
70
61
aethercowboy Woland and the gentleman with thistle-down hair are very similar.
51
paradoxosalpha Similar elements of droll metafiction and period style, historical characters, and tension between two protagonists with professional and personal ties. Both are beefy volumes that demand real reader investment and pay dividends in rich characters and curious stories.
30
paradoxosalpha Both are bulky, character-oriented novels rooted in the socio-political frames of particular periods; both are self-consciously English; both have emotional depth; both mix in some real historical persons as characters; both introduce their central supernatural elements in a gradual manner; and in both cases those elements are anchored in archaic intelligences and their complex relations with humanity. I would even compare the narrative role that Powers assigns to T.E. Lawrence ("of Arabia") to that occupied by the Raven King in Clarke's book. And both Powers and Clarke are performing a certain level of transcendent pastiche: adding magic to the LeCarre spy thriller on the one hand and to the Austen saga of realist satire on the other. Powers gets more points for fidelity to history, Clarke for verisimilitude of magic.
63
themulhern Books set in an historical English and evoking the writers of that time.
30
anonymous user Magic is real in worlds we recognize--Napoleonic England and contemporary New York.
86
Jannes Not that smilar as novels, but both uses similar tropes and subjects. Both features an academic and scientific approach to te supernatural, including footnotes and citations of references. There's also a lot of faerie lore, particularly about fairy court politics.
20
themulhern This short biography is helpful background reading for this novel.
themulhern Both are an imaginative wallow in literary Englishness and corresponding wild adventure. "Mothstorm" is lighter, shorter, and has more illustrations, of course.
anonymous user Much darker and set further in the past, this excellent short historical novel features dark magic and witchcraft.
10
themulhern I believe that "Rings, Swords, and Monsters" predates "Jonathan Strange"; nonetheless, the lectures allude to stories or legends about scary fairies who take people away forever, and surround their castles with corpses.
12
beyondthefourthwall Stunning fantasy featuring newcomers to magic up against interesting, complex, dangerous magical antagonists.
SiSarah While Anathem is science fiction and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is historical fantasy, they share many themes in common (the nature and value of knowledge and study, the responsibilities of those who possess such knowledge, contact with a strange yet familiar "other" civilization). They both stretch the bounds of their genres and have deceptively simple plots that unfold slowly, and have great depth to the writing.
910
unlucky Both have magic hidden in a historical setting, and both have the same kind of atmosphere.
12
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes
themulhern Isn't Jonathan Strange just Humphry Davy if he had been a magician not a chemist? Possibly Mr. Norrel is Henry Cavendish.
02
timspalding Okay, this is a weird recommendation, but I'll defend it. I love books that discuss imaginary books—that create a believable "world" of books, much as Tolkien (or Clarke) creates a believable world.
25
themulhern Both authors took years to write their outstanding first novel and then were prevented, by ill health and other things, from truly following up their first success.
urania1 Both books concern academics who are involved in research about magic or fae.
Member Reviews
Very much a novel about the journey rather than the destination. It does help that this particular journey involves a rule-of-cool flurry of magic that is endlessly engrossing. It's the kind of magic of symbols and archetypes, a magic of images and ideas that made me fall in love with the poetry of Robert Chambers in his The King in Yellow.
I don't know quite how Clarke managed it—especially as a first novel; it is fully genius.
I don't know quite how Clarke managed it—especially as a first novel; it is fully genius.
Simply put: Most other modern fantasy after Tolkien crashes humiliatingly in comparison with this jewel.
Two rival magicians battle Napoleon & each other in a cruelly exquisite mock-Austen Regency England, with roots deeply buried in an even more complex & magical medieval silver age that reveals itself only partially & through intricate footnotes. Massively ambitious in scope, this book rejuvenates fantasy & alternate history.
The author is explicitly a devotee of Jane Austen, & being myself a fan of the latter, I spotted no stylistic inferiority of disciple to mentor. A rare exception among current fantasy authors, Clarke's prose has abandoned the lower denominators of "fiction". It's fully, spectacularly, literary.
A sequel was show more intended, but the author fell quite ill, & what little I know of her subsequent works seems to bear only partial comparison to the incandescent genius of this first endeavour, itself 10 years in the making. I suspect that's one reason it's now not vastly renowned. But a happy few KNOW. Throughout our lives, we’ll be grateful for the memories & inspiration from this book, & re-read it. show less
Two rival magicians battle Napoleon & each other in a cruelly exquisite mock-Austen Regency England, with roots deeply buried in an even more complex & magical medieval silver age that reveals itself only partially & through intricate footnotes. Massively ambitious in scope, this book rejuvenates fantasy & alternate history.
The author is explicitly a devotee of Jane Austen, & being myself a fan of the latter, I spotted no stylistic inferiority of disciple to mentor. A rare exception among current fantasy authors, Clarke's prose has abandoned the lower denominators of "fiction". It's fully, spectacularly, literary.
A sequel was show more intended, but the author fell quite ill, & what little I know of her subsequent works seems to bear only partial comparison to the incandescent genius of this first endeavour, itself 10 years in the making. I suspect that's one reason it's now not vastly renowned. But a happy few KNOW. Throughout our lives, we’ll be grateful for the memories & inspiration from this book, & re-read it. show less
Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is an immensely enjoyable and addictive tale of the early 19th century rebirth of practical magic in England after centuries of dormancy. While the book's length (782 pages) and sometimes slow pace may be a deterrent to some readers, those diligent and patient will be rewarded with an immersive experience into a magical world, well-drawn Dickensian characters, richly flowing prose, and a wry wit that delivers many laugh-out-loud moments. An additional joy is the wealth of scholarly and remarkably detailed footnotes that serve to further add to the authenticity of the fantasy and its alternate history elements. And Portia Rosenberg's shadowy and mysterious illustrations perfectly capture show more the book's dark, haunting spirit. show less
Congratulations, Susanna Clarke! You have cracked my Top 10 Favorite Authors! *confetti explosion* I couldn't believe that this epic masterpiece was a debut novel. However, it makes sense when you discover that Clarke has a history in the publishing world and most likely has had time to learn the ins and outs of the business and craft her work accordingly. The book had such a great reception that it was recently made into a 7 part BBC miniseries (I've started it and it's also amazing). The book focuses on two English magicians who are trying to bring practical magic back to England. The two men couldn't be more different. Where Strange is looking to test the boundaries of what magic can do, Norrell is trying to lay his hands on every show more magical book in existence (and keep himself cooped up in his library doing the same spells over and over). The book reads as a nonfiction historical piece with footnotes detailing the history of magic as if the reader should be aware of the general history but just in case here are the particulars. (I LOVE footnotes, guys.) The characters, the language, the settings, the magic. It's all SO GOOD. AND I've discovered she's written a collection of "fairy tales" from the land of Faerie itself titled The Ladies of Grace Adieu (and Jonathan Strange makes an appearance!). You know I'm adding that one to the TRL. show less
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: show more 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/) show less
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/) show less
An elegantly structured novel and one that I enjoyed thoroughly, but also one that's difficult to classify. One could classify it as fantasy but it could just as easily be labelled as alternative history fiction. The book takes place over roughly a decade (1806-1817) and follows the careers of the first two practical magicians in England to appear in several hundred years: Mr Norrell and Jonathan Strange.
Clarke's work is brilliant and so well-crafted. She quietly builds a world that mixes history and imagination so smoothly. The overall plot, while building slowly over the 782 pages, reaches a captivating climax and satisfying conclusion resolving the multiple plotlines and character arcs that the reader has encountered.
Among all of the show more things I enjoyed about this novel, a few stick out. First, is Clarke's fantastic use of footnotes. In some ways the novel is set up as a factual accounting of the events concerning Norrell and Strange during 1806-1817 and so footnotes refer to publications by these two gentlemen. However, they also include wonderful folk tales Clarke has created in building the mythology of her world. Second, is how masterfully she includes real historical events and figures into her novel such as the Napoleonic wars, the Duke of Wellington and Lord Byron. Finally, Clarke employs a wonderfully understated wit that is thoroughly amusing. My favourite interchange is between the Duke of Wellington and Jonathan Strange about a Prussian General:
"Unfortunately, he is also mad. He believes he is pregnant."
"Ah!"
"With a baby elephant."
"Ah!"
However, while I thoroughly appreciated the cerebral enjoyment the novel provided, I had no extreme emotional connection to the book. I didn't love it. I didn't hate it. I enjoyed it. I'm not indifferent to the book by any means and definitely recommend it as a good read, but there's no overwhelming passion where I feel the desperate need to tell everyone I know that they MUST read this book. Rather, it's one I suggest you give a try. It's a lovely read. show less
Clarke's work is brilliant and so well-crafted. She quietly builds a world that mixes history and imagination so smoothly. The overall plot, while building slowly over the 782 pages, reaches a captivating climax and satisfying conclusion resolving the multiple plotlines and character arcs that the reader has encountered.
Among all of the show more things I enjoyed about this novel, a few stick out. First, is Clarke's fantastic use of footnotes. In some ways the novel is set up as a factual accounting of the events concerning Norrell and Strange during 1806-1817 and so footnotes refer to publications by these two gentlemen. However, they also include wonderful folk tales Clarke has created in building the mythology of her world. Second, is how masterfully she includes real historical events and figures into her novel such as the Napoleonic wars, the Duke of Wellington and Lord Byron. Finally, Clarke employs a wonderfully understated wit that is thoroughly amusing. My favourite interchange is between the Duke of Wellington and Jonathan Strange about a Prussian General:
"Unfortunately, he is also mad. He believes he is pregnant."
"Ah!"
"With a baby elephant."
"Ah!"
However, while I thoroughly appreciated the cerebral enjoyment the novel provided, I had no extreme emotional connection to the book. I didn't love it. I didn't hate it. I enjoyed it. I'm not indifferent to the book by any means and definitely recommend it as a good read, but there's no overwhelming passion where I feel the desperate need to tell everyone I know that they MUST read this book. Rather, it's one I suggest you give a try. It's a lovely read. show less
If Jane Austen wrote fantasy this is pretty much what you would have gotten. Painfully English. Sublimely funny. Wonderfully written.
Half a star taken for having to wade through footnotes that really didn't add anything to the story, but sometimes gave really cool backstory.
Half a star taken for having to wade through footnotes that really didn't add anything to the story, but sometimes gave really cool backstory.
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ThingScore 95
Her deftly assumed faux-19th century point of view will beguile cynical adult readers into losing themselves in this entertaining and sophisticated fantasy.
added by DieFledermaus
Many charmed readers will feel, as I do, that Susanna Clarke has wasted neither her energies nor our many reading hours.
added by conceptDawg
Susanna Clarke, who resides in Cambridge, England, has spent the past decade writing the 700-plus pages of this remarkable book. She's a great admirer of Charles Dickens and has produced a work every bit as enjoyable as The Pickwick Papers, with more than a touch of the early Anne Rice thrown in for good measure.
added by timspalding
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Author Information
21+ Works 44,649 Members
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Awards
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Contains
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Jonathan Strange & herra Norrell
- Original title
- Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
- Original publication date
- 2004
- People/Characters
- Jonathan Strange; Gilbert Norrell; The Gentleman with Thistle-down Hair; Stephen Black; Lady Emma Pole (Wintertowne); John Childermass (show all 131); Christopher Drawlight; John Segundus; Mr. Honeyfoot; Dr. Foxcastle; Hettie Pleasance; Mr. Thorpe; Mrs. Godesdone; Henry Lascelles; Vinculus; John Uskglass (The Raven King); Arabella Strange (Woodhope); Sir Walter Pole; Mrs. Wintertowne; Napoleon Bonaparte; Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington; George III, King of the United Kingdom; Flora Greysteel; Signor Tosetti; The old lady of Cannaregio; Lord Portishead (John Waterbury); Lancelot Greysteel; Aunt Louisa Greysteel; Admiral Desmoulins; Admiral Paycocke; Alfred; Bonifazia; Captain Gilbey; Captain Harcourt-Bruce; Captain John Ayrton; Captain Jumeau; Captain Whyte; Colonel De Lancey; Colonel George Murray (Quartermaster-General); Colonel Manningham; Colonel Wenzel von Ottenfeld; Dalziel; Davey; Dr. John Willis; Dr. Robert Darling Willis; Duke of Cambridge; Duke of Clarence; Duke of Devonshire; Duke of Kent; Duke of Sussex; Duke of York; Fitzroy Somerset; Frederick Marston; General Alava; General Charles Stewart (Adjutant-General); General Perponcher; General Rebecq; Geoffrey; Georgiana Erquistoune; Henry Purfois; Henry Woodhope; Janet Hughes; Jeremy Johns; Jeronimo Saornil; John Hyde; John Longridge; John Murray; John Upchurch; Johnson; Lady Wellington; Lady Winsell; Laurence Strange; Lord Byron; Lord Castlereagh; Lord Chatham; Lord Hawkesbury (Robert Banks Jenkinson, also, Lord Liverpool); Lord Mulgrave; Lord Sidmouth; Lucas; Colquhoun Grant; Major Norcott; Margaret Erquistoune; Maria Bullworth; Maria Erquistoune; Marianna Segati; Minichello; Miss Redruth; Monsieur Forcalquier; Monsieur Minervois; Mr. Baillie; Mr. Briscall (Chaplain); Mr. Bullbridge; Mr. Canning; Mr. Erquistoune; Mr. Gatcombe; Mr. Green; Mr. Hart (Hunt); Mr. Holland; Mr. Horrocks; Mr. Lister; Mr. Moorcock; Mr. Newton; Mr. Perceval; Mr. Prideaux; Mr. Redmond [Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell]; Mr. Redruth; Mr. Robinson; Mr. Shackleton; Mr. Tantony; Mr. Taylor; Mrs. Ayrton; Mrs. Blake; Mrs. Brandy; Mrs. Delgado; Mrs. Erquistoune; Mrs. Lennox; Mrs. Littleworth; Mrs. Redmond; Mrs. Strange (Miss Erquistoune); Ned; Owen Bullbridge; Perroquet; Prince Blücher; Robert Edwards; Robert; Sir Charles Alten; Sir Henry Clinton; Toby Smith; Tom Levy; William Hadley-Bright; George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron
- Important places
- London, England, UK; York, North Yorkshire, England, UK; Faerie; France; Portugal; Venice, Veneto, Italy (show all 34); York Minster, York, North Yorkshire, England, UK; Shropshire, England, UK; Lost-Hope, Faerie; Padua, Veneto, Italy; Eternal Night; Hurtfew Abbey, York, North Yorkshire, England, UK; North Yorkshire, England, UK; England, UK; Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK; East Sussex, England, UK; Paris, France; Wiltshire, England, UK; Brest, Brittany, France; Edinburgh, Scotland, UK; Scotland, UK; Gloucestershire, England, UK; Lisbon, Portugal; Lousão, Centro, Portugal; Alba de Tormes, Castile and León, Spain; Flores de Ávila, Castile and León, Spain; Pamplona, Navarre, Spain; Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France; Brussels, Belgium; Belgium; Ath, Hainaut, Belgium; Waterloo, Walloon Brabant, Belgium; Spain; Italy
- Important events
- Peninsular War (1807 | 1814); Napoleonic Wars (1803 | 1815); Battle of Waterloo ( [1815])
- Related movies
- Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (2015 | IMDb)
- Epigraph
- He hardly ever spoke of magic, and when he did it was like a history lesson and no one could bear to listen to him.
- Dedication
- In memory of my brother, Paul Frederick Gunn Clarke, 1961-2000
- First words
- Some years ago there was in the city of York a society of magicians.
- Quotations
- At sixteen she spoke -- not only French, Italian & German -- which are part of any lady's commonplace accomplishments -- but all the languages of the civilized (and uncivilized) world. She spoke the language of the Scotti... (show all)sh Highlands (which is like singing). She spoke Basque, which is a language which rarely makes any impression upon the brains of any other race, so that a man may hear it as often and as long as he likes, but never afterwards be able to recall a single syllable of it. She even learnt the language of a strange country which, Signor Tosetti had been told, some people believed still existed, although no one in the world could say where it was. (The name of the country was Wales.)
It is also true that this hair had a reddish tinge and, as everybody knows, no one with red hair can ever truly be said to be handsome.
"Soldiers, I am sorry to say, steal everything." He thought for a moment and then added, "Or at least ours do."
"Can a magician kill a man by magic?" Lord Wellington asked Strange. Strange frowned. He seemed to dislike the question. "I suppose a magician might," he admitted "but a gentleman never could."
It may be laid down as a general rule that if a man begins to sing, no one will take any notice of his song except his fellow human beings. This is true even if his song is surpassingly beautiful. Other men may be in raptures... (show all) at his skill, but the rest of creation is, by and large, unmoved. Perhaps a cat or a dog may look at him; his horse, if it is an exceptionally intelligent beast, may pause in cropping the grass, but that is the extent of it. But when the fairy sang, the whole world listened to him. Stephen felt clouds pause in their passing; he felt sleeping hills shift and murmur; he felt cold mists dance. He understood for the first time that the world is not dumb at all, but merely waiting for someone to speak to it in a language it understands. In the fairy's song the earth recognized the names by which it called itself. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Then he turned upon his heel and disappeared into the Darkness.
- Publisher's editor
- Nielsen Hayden, Patrick
- Blurbers
- Gaiman, Neil; Palliser, Charles
- Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 823.08768
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fantasy, Fiction and Literature, General Fiction, Historical Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 823.08768 — Literature & rhetoric English & Old English literatures English fiction By type Genre fiction Adventure fiction Speculative fiction Alternate history
- LCC
- PR6103 .L375 .J65 — Language and Literature English English Literature 2001-
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 29,722
- Popularity
- 119
- Reviews
- 837
- Rating
- (3.94)
- Languages
- 22 — Catalan, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Croatian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 112
- ASINs
- 75