Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell: A Novel
by Susanna Clarke
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Book Reviews of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell: A Novel
Book Review: Wonderfully Clever Book
Summary: 5 Stars
Pros: Immerses the reader in the nineteenth century, but still manages the fantasy elements very well. Pulls off the writing style perfectly. Has well drawn characters.
Cons: The pacing is a little off. Begins very slow, but has a rushed ending.
If you are a reader who has to love a book from page one, then you may have a bit of trouble with Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. It is certainly never bad, but one is left with the feeling that the story hasn't quite picked up yet for the first 300 - 400 pages. If you are willing to stick it out, however, then this book is certainly worth the trouble.
Once Clarke manages to get all the interlinked plots and subplots going, the story is full of interest. Magic, done up in a polite nineteenth century style, abounds. Clarke creates a rich alternate history complete with stories of magicians that stretch back to the middle ages. The scholarly Norrell is set on bringing magic back to England in his own very modern way. Norrell is a fascinating character, especially when juxtaposed against the much more vibrant Strange. The characters in general are very well drawn and even side characters like Stephen provide a good deal of interest.
Somehow, Clarke has found the perfect balance between writing in a nineteenth century style and writing in a way that will please modern audiences. One gets the feeling that her book could be read by people from either time.
Though the ending is a tad bit rushed, it creates a high degree of excitement. This book is recommended to anyone looking for something different in the world of fantasy. 5+ stars.
Book Review: Improves Like a Fine Wine
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all, I have to admit that my mind has been mixed on this book. Actually, I started it a year or so ago and put it down. It is SOOO long and I was losing interest. Images, however, kept coming back to me and something drew me in with the resolve to slog through it from beginning to end. From that persepective, I have been reluctant to recommend this book to friends as it is a great investment of time. Therefore, I cannot discuss my thoughts with anyone but you, dear reader.
I am not a fantasy fan but got entirely engrossed in this novel as it did not appear to be fantasy but history with an otherwordly air. I found the plot to be complex and even (do I dare admit it) plausible. Because of the length, the protagonists keep changing but everything gets woven into the end.
The language was beautiful and the spells and prophesies sheer poetry. I thought the footnotes were some of the best parts of the book. They speak so vividly of other sources that I was actually Googling the reference works to see if they were available. Sadly, all were fiction.
The lasting impression I have is that there are other worlds with which we only sometimes intersect. Faeries are definately more than the cute little statues in my garden and if I ever meet one, I will head the opposite way! Beware of men with thistledown hair and if you see a flock of crows/ravens, lock your doors as the king may be lurking about. Beware of any bargain that seems too good to be true, as the price exacted can be enormous - and those ancients can be so tempting and alluring!
Book Review: Totally unfulfilling, completely forgetable.
Summary: 2 Stars
Seeing that the book won a Hugo, I was excited to read it. Unfortunately, the cover would be the only time I would be excited over the course of 1000 pages. The prose of the book is very relaxing-- the read really is faster than you'd expect. It's a thousand pages but reads like 500, this is due to the smooth, conversational nature of the writing. The book has a very good nack for the "proper Brit" of the 1800s. Unfortunately that's all the book has. And the book is hurt by what it doesn't have-- conflict and tension. I don't need action scenes to enjoy a book, but I do need to care, and over the course of the book you're given no reason to care. The "villian" is hardly villanous, and he has his own plot which doesn't actually meet up with Norrell and Strange till the last 100 pages or so, and even then there is no real fight, just a lot of talking, and not even arguing. The conflict between Strange and Norrell is similarly underwhelming. At some point in time the book becomes Strange's book, no conflict, no sense that Strange's magic is actually "perilous" the author just forgets about Norrell. Over the course of a thousand pages these simple problems are magnified. There is no pay-off, no tension, no suspense, no real reason to read. The book is uncompelling and below average. It reads smoothly and takes itself very seriously so it gets rated highly. It's nothing new in the book world. If you're looking for a nice fantasy fix, I'd look somewhere else, to Jim Butcher, or to Laurell K Hamilton.Book Review: Great fun
Summary: 4 Stars
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is Clarke's first novel, and what a doozy it is. The novel is focused on the two title characters and their interactions in early 19th century England, and Clarke makes them wonderfully fleshed out and flawed characters, who we cheer for, want to yell at, and laugh with. The story is complex, and the fact that this is a fantasy novel should not deter anyone. It contains some great writing, reminiscent of Jane Austen, with a dark and pervasive sense of fear that the magic evokes. This isn't Harry Potter's magic, this is some dark and dangerous stuff, and this sets the book apart from most fantasy (for the record, I refuse to read most fantasy, and that which I have read is rather shoddily written and cliched).
The only major flaw with the book is that it ends. While the end works, I would have preferred to spend more time with the characters and the world, which captures the early 19th century English attitude towards science and knowledge and portrays accurately how it would react to magic instead.
The book isn't for everyone. Her style hearkens back to the 19th century, and again Jane Austen is a suitable comparison. Her comedic sense is also here, but above all her style dominates. While some will find this to be tedious and boring, many will enjoy it and the rather comic descriptions of English high society, and for those, this book is written. All we can hope for is that Clarke writes another book as good as Jonathan Strange.
Book Review: I wanted to love it... but I didn't
Summary: 2 Stars
I was very excited to read this book -- I had heard many rave reviews of it, and I was intrigued by the premise. Also, I love a good long book I can sink my teeth into. Sadly, this was not the book for me.
It is clearly very well researched, and I did enjoy it, for the first 200 pages or so. I started off really liking the footnotes, which maybe don't add to the story so much as make bibliophiles like me feel cool for reading them. At some point, though, I got tired of them and simply stopped reading them.
There were parts of the book I really liked. I particularly enjoyed reading about Stephen Black's interactions with the Fairie who would never take no for an answer. I enjoyed almost all of their scenes together -- the Fairie wants to give Stephen Black the world, and Black, sighing, continuously tries to give it all back. What a great dynamic.
In the end, however, there is just too much going on in this book. I was constantly confused by secondary (and tertiary) characters. I never really felt for either Jonathan Strange or Mr. Norrell (good or bad), and that's what destroyed this book for me. I felt much more for Stephen Black than I ever did for either of the magicians, who really felt flat to me. Now, Black is a significant character, but he is one of many, and finally, my interest in his story doesn't make up for my lack of interest in the rest of it.