Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

[HighWiredSith]

I am about three quarters of the way through this rather large novel. I typically start a book and then read until I am finished but I've found myself picking up, putting down, the picking back up again with this book. I love the language, particularly the way its written in an almost Victorian style. It's not the book drags but it does seem to meander a great deal.

Curious if anyone else has read this novel, what the overall opinion is. It received very high praise from a number of non-fantasy reviewers.

 

[hitmouse]

Read it. Found it interesting rather than thrilling. It was a mainstream bestseller a few years ago. I thought it was perfectly competent but overrated by the general public and press at the time.

 

[The Judge]

Loved it, loved it, loved it.

Extract from my book non-blog from last Saturday

I've finished Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell which I adored and wish I had written. I loved the writing, the narrator's voice, the characters, the mythology, the footnotes, the leisurely pace, everything about it. My one disappointment was over the smudgy drawings which I felt were wholly wrong for the period and atmosphere. Otherwise no cavils at all.

To me the style wasn't Victorian (though I think I recall reading some people used Dickens as a comparator) but Georgian, and particularly Austen for the dry wit.

I think it is one of those books in which the journey is more important than the journey's end, ie you read it for its prose and the engaging characters and its created history and wit, not so much for the story itself and wanting to know what happens.

 

[Grunkins]

This book has been sitting in my TBR stacks for a long time. Mixed reviews keep making me put it off.

 

[Randy M.]

Loved it, loved it, loved it.

Extract from my book non-blog from last Saturday To me the style wasn't Victorian (though I think I recall reading some people used Dickens as a comparator) but Georgian, and particularly Austen for the dry wit.

I think it is one of those books in which the journey is more important than the journey's end, ie you read it for its prose and the engaging characters and its created history and wit, not so much for the story itself and wanting to know what happens.

I agree with everything you say, though I did enjoy the story and in particular the subplot featuring the encounters of Stephen Black with "the man with the thistle-down hair," who comes from the realm of Faerie. I felt this subplot rounded off beautifully by the end of the novel, and I particularly loved one passage as indicative of the humor found throughout the novel. Stephen has been absconded with by the man with the thistle-down hair,

When [Stephen] awoke it was dawn. Or something like dawn. The light was watery, dim and incomparably sad. Vast, grey, gloomy hills rose up all around them and in between the hills there was a wide expanse of black bog. Stephen had never seen a landscape so calculated to reduce the onlooker to utter despair in an instant.

“This is one of your kingdoms, I suppose, sir?” he said.

“My kingdoms?” exclaimed the gentleman in surprise. “Oh, no! This is Scotland!”

But this is not a thrill-a-minute read. It's a leisurely novel of deliberate, but not trudging pace.

Randy M.

 

[HareBrain]

I really enjoyed it too when I read it several years ago, though one of its meanders (to Italy, I think) was perhaps a bit off-course. But the period and the faerie lore go so well together, and the invented mythology of the Raven King is superb. Definitely worth a go.

 

[Ursa major]

An excellent read, in my opinion, as I said here:

While the very high quality slipped a little here and there, I have to say that as I approached the end of the book, I found myself wishing that it was even longer. (And I speak as someone who prefers SF over F and isn't really into magic.) The footnotes gave its setting a richness that I wasn't expecting. Marvellous

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I agree with everything that has been said in favor of the book.

As for the style of the writing, though the period is Austen rather than Dickens, I would say that the style is somewhere in between. It's certain that Austen would never have written such a ponderous tome. But the 19th century style, however you look at it, is (I think) an important part of the experience.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

It's the only book where I've really enjoyed it, but had to stop half way simply because it was too long. In the end, enjoying it wasn't enough - I had to have stamina too...

 

[rune]

I personally didnt like this book. I didnt like the language,writing style and found it quite slow

 

[steve12553]

I bought it a few years ago because I happened to see it in a Barnes and Noble and the price was right but I have it in my long list of "intending to get around to."

 

[williamjm]

I thought it was excellent, one of my favourite books of the past decade. Perhaps the plot is a bit too slow-moving at times, particularly early in the book, but I did find it compelling from about the point where Strange was introduced into the story. I thought Clarke's writing was excellent and it probably has the best-ever use of footnotes in fiction.

I know Clarke writes very slowly, but hopefully one day the sequel will appear.

 

[The Procrastinator]

I too thought this book was excellent, quite superior in fact, and I actually found it a slower read the first time round. When I went back for a reread a year or two later I enjoyed it even more than I had the first time. A definite keeper.

 

[thatollie]

I read it in January after having it sat in my TBR pile for a year. I thought it was absolutely fantastic. Then again, I have more problems with books that move too quickly than ones that move too slowly.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Read and enjoyed the first half, but stopped - it was just too lengthy. Should have been a trilogy...?

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

It is possible however, that for every reader who thinks the book would have been improved with editing there is someone who who thinks it would have lost a great deal of its charm. Presumably, those who were tasked with editing the book fall into the latter category.

For me, there were times when I felt it was a big of a slog, and times when I looked at how much there was left to read and felt pleased that I could go on enjoying the book that much longer.

 

[Vladd67]

It does seem to be a bit of a marmite book

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

It does seem to be a bit of a marmite book

Explanation for an ignorant American, please?

For what it's worth, I enjoyed the leisurely pace and endless digressions of the book, as well as the many footnotes.

 

[Ursa major]

Explanation for an ignorant American, please?

Marmite, a spread made from yeast extract, is seen as a physical embodiment of the phrase, "you either love it or hate it."

 

[Vladd67]

Then of course there's Vegemite but that's just a colonial knock off.