jonathan strange and mr norrell goodreads

Her accounts of the Raven King or Martin Pale were so well written that I had to remind myself every so often that actually there were no magicians in English history – aureate or otherwise – and that there was no such book as “The Language of Birds”. I have never read any kind of fantasy with the kind of folklore found in Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell it is all encompassing, fascinating and – strangely – very believable. This is actually a rather apt way to describe it because the extensive mythology Susanna Clarke has invented to create the background of the book is honestly amazing. This gave the book the feel of a very well-researched history book, or a work of documentation. This length is probably due to the footnotes, which could be seen at the bottom of every few pages and included little stories related to but separate from the narrative or explanations, not necessary to the reader’s understanding but greatly enriching it. So for me the size was not really an issue since it was continually enjoyable to read. You read this book because you want to, not because you feel you should or to prove that you can. But don’t be daunted by its length, because this book is not one of those much-revered literary epics that break the soul. This book is long – 1006 pages in my copy – and I’m not going to hide the fact that it took me a long time to read it. Together they will throw parliament and the country into chaos with their rivalries, successes and failures, agreements and disagreements, and all other kinds of antics. Then, his soon to be apprentice, Jonathan Strange – a restless, equally irrational but slightly more amiable magician. Enter first Mr Norrell, a grumpy, jealous irrational man who hoards books like a dragon does treasure, and is determined to bring magic back to respectable English society… at some point, after he’s finished reading this book. It is all but lost, having deteriorated since the time of the mystical Raven King, who once ruled over the north of England, and all magicians are merely respectable theoretical magicians, who wouldn’t possibly attempt to do any magic themselves. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell imagines an 18 th century England in which magic exists, but as something people did once, long ago, like pagan rituals and mammoth-hunting.

Her novel feels unduly classical and nostalgic and yet timeless at the very same time and it has, at the heart of it, that thing which every truly great novel needs: a brilliant story.

With all of the whimsy, spark and imagination of Harry Potter and the dry, well-observed wit of Neil Gaiman, Susanna Clark perfectly conveys all that can be brilliant about British literature and manages to be refreshingly different from either.

Jonathan strange and mr norrell goodreads