Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
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4.3 • 253 Ratings
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
In the Hugo-award winning, epic New York Times Bestseller and basis for the BBC miniseries, two men change England's history when they bring magic back into the world.
In the midst of the Napoleonic Wars in 1806, most people believe magic to have long since disappeared from England - until the reclusive Mr. Norrell reveals his powers and becomes an overnight celebrity.
Another practicing magician then emerges: the young and daring Jonathan Strange. He becomes Norrell's pupil, and the two join forces in the war against France.
But Strange is increasingly drawn to the wild, most perilous forms of magic, and he soon risks sacrificing his partnership with Norrell and everything else he holds dear.
Susanna Clarke's brilliant first novel is an utterly compelling epic tale of nineteenth-century England and the two magicians who, first as teacher and pupil and then as rivals, emerge to change its history.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This absolute delight of a novel will speak to fans of classic British fiction and modern fantasy. In the first decades of the 1800s, after centuries during which the otherworldly arts have been extinct, two men bring real, practical magic back to England. Gilbert Norrell is an intensely private man, while the showboating Jonathan Strange is so eager to be loved by the public that he uses magic to help the Duke of Wellington in his war against Napoleon. Author Susanna Clarke combines Jane Austen’s dry wit, Charles Dickens’ love of outrageous minor characters, and Henry James’ mastery of unsettling suspense. (Not to mention a David Foster Wallace–like fondness for footnotes, which she uses to create an entire faux history of British magic!) Don’t be daunted by its epic length—Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is so enthralling that you’ll wonder how you finished it so quickly.
Customer Reviews
wonderful
but long and sometimes dry
What a ride
Incredibly imaginative
Incredible world, lackluster end
The world building is incredible, and the use of old language definitely puts you deep into that world. However…. Reading a thousand pages for the story to just kind of end was deeply disappointing. If you are someone who enjoys “the journey” then this is a good book for you. If you are someone who who is looking for the destination, then I would let this book be enjoyed by others.