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I don't really know how to describe the special magic that this book has. It just flows so beautifully. Oh and if you want to know what people mean by "British humour", it's this. They mean this. Right here.
Not for me. Extremely slow and written like an academic textbook.
4,5 stars for enchanting me to the strange and dark magic world and i really enjoying myself in that particular worldthis book is about magic , politic , dark gloomy scenes , enchanted spell and prophecy full of long interesting footnote that reminds me of Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus Trilogy the soft humor made me chuckle a lot Just a suggestion : buy the whole set already because once you finished the first book you probably want to go to second book as soon as possible
I just read the last page of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, a goal that for some time I doubted I would achieve. I would like to write something about it while the experience of reading it is still fresh.I borrowed this book from a friend because the hint of the story written on its back intrigued me. For one-hundred-fifty pages or so, I wondered in what sort of mess I had put myself, since I could not recall such a heavy reading in years and I am not used to put a book down unless it's finished...
My only question is... but why? What was the point? I didn't feel like this book accomplished anything... which is quite the feat seeing as it's over 1000 pages. I felt like I didn't really get anything from it. It wasn't necessarily laborious to get through, but it literally had no point.I appreciated the way it was written- kind of in a biography-type way- and the footnotes were entertaining, but again... why? I feel like I didn't learn anything additional about magic or the world through the
Finally, I finished reading this novel.It was so boring.It has any interesting characters.The plot is flat and slow.No handsome gentlemen.Ggggrrrrhhhhh
Really enjoyed this one! I find footnotes in novels slightly annoying, but that was the only part I didn't like.
The thing that drew me to this book was it's opening describing the meeting of the York magicians who had never harmed anyone by magic nor even done any! It is was followed by the question that sets the ball rolling "Why is the no more magic done in England?" What drew me in was partially the style, reminiscient of early 19th century literature but also that magic was treated seriously. Not as a secret thing but something that had been done in the past and studied to death in the most dry accade...
What an incredible book this is. A longer review is up on my blog (see link below), but suffice to say that I get why this book has so many accolades. Susanna Clarke has set a high bar for historical fantasy here. But word of warning - this book is a slow build. Take your time and don't expect fireworks at the beginning. Just settle into the world that the author so carefully constructs and enjoy meeting the characters as they come to life. I don't give five stars very often, but this one deserv...
The first volume of this novel was brilliant. While some parts felt a little unnecessary or perhaps a little slow, overall this was an interesting introduction that I am excited to continue in the next volume.The idea that actual magic used to be common practice but slowly faded away into just a theoretical scholarship was very unique perspective. It made me think about other scholarly subjects and what they might could be if just taken outside of the university. Specifically theological or phil...
I feel I've been under some sort of spell. Why haven't I read this highly imaginative, compelling and oh-so-long novel before now. It came out in 2004 and there's even a BBC series. I had heard of it vaguely, and perhaps was put off by its length or the effort of suspending disbelief for an extended period of time. Hardly necessary. The novel is fantastical, yet grounded in verisimilitude, in compelling descriptions of people and places (even when statues begin to speak), of heroic deeds and dee...
I had high hopes for this book, as a NYT bestseller and Time "book of the year." But good lord, hire an editor! 1000-plus pages could have easily been 400. There were some clever sections, and the footnote gimmick trying to make it seem a scholarly tome rather than an elaborately tedious novel is effective in parts.To be honest, I should have abandoned this book halfway through, but I can be stubborn. The kudos gave me hope that the dark and tedious journey would be worth the ending, It was not....
I really loved this novel. It took me quite a long time to read and eventually I checked out the audiobook. There are very few audiobook recordings that I consider top notch in terms of the performance of the narrator. This is one of them. It was awesome and wonderful and so enjoyable. Very highly recommend it!
I was really hoping to enjoy this more than I did, but it was just meh in too many places. Mr Norrell is just really unlikeable, but it did pick up when Strange’s parts popped up. I have high hopes for the second volume.
This is a very enjoyable book perfect to summer reading. Here you'll read about magic, of course, but from other point of view different to Harry Potter. The book tells the story of two men: one of them Mr Norrell is a "classic wizard" who does "classic magic". He studies lots of magic books about the theory of Magic and speels in general. Indeed, he is the last wizard that does real magic, but there is a black side which you'll figure out along the story. On the other hand, we have the second m...
