clementine
Written on May 31, 2019
Two magicians shall appear in England. The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me The year is 1806. England is beleaguered by the long war with Napoleon, and centuries have passed since practical magicians faded into the nation's past. But scholars of this glorious history discover that one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell whose displays of magic send a thrill through the country. Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very opposite of Norrell. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms the one between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine.
- ISBN10 0747579881
- ISBN13 9780747579885
- Publish Date 5 September 2005 (first published 20 September 2004)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
- Edition New edition
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 1024
- Language English
- URL http://bloomsbury.com/Trade/
Reviews
brokentune
Written on Oct 12, 2013
http://brokentune.booklikes.com/post/595552/jonathan-strange-mr-norrell
ladygrey
Written on Jul 27, 2012
And you know what? It almost was except [spoilers removed]
Despite my rant on how unbearably long it is, it is a good book. On the awesome/short scale (name pending) it rates a 6.something on good and a 1 on short putting it below the Twilight divide - which means if I wasn't reading it for a friend I totally would have left it unfinished. But I'm glad I did finish it because the ending was even better than I was hoping for.
The strength of the book is really her writing style which is almost archaic and completely dry - its a very British book. That may not sound like a compliment but it reads like it was written 100 years ago, easily. I actually had to check the publication date because I didn't believe 2004 was really the first printing. I haven't read a ton of Jane Austen or the Brontes but it has that sort if old world sound to it.
Which is actually a strength because it lends authenticity to the historical nature of the story. It's excellent and really pulls you immediately into the world.
The parallel weakness to the length, though, is that it isn't surprising. I think I wouldn't have minded how long it was if I didn't know pretty early on how it was going to play out. Instead of feeling any sort of anticipation I was just waiting. [spoilers removed]. And it was so long, I really lost track of some of the threads. It probably didn't help that I read 4 other books in the midst of this one. But even though I had my initial impressions from the prophecy, I really didn't remember it so I felt like I lost track of it and if this was a part of it or that. Not that it really mattered [spoilers removed].
The magic was sort of interesting, but described in such practical ways it wasn't really fantastic (in the original use of that word not as a synonym for good). Her descriptions and imaginings were definitely unique, which was fun. It's not a flashy book or an especially emotional one (again, British). But it's well written and if it were 200 pages shorter I probably would have enjoyed it quite a bit.
If you don't mind long books, I'd definitely recommend it.
violetpeanut
Written on Jul 3, 2007
adastra
Written on Jan 1, 2005