Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

By: Susanna Clarke

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

Length: 32 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

English magicians were once the wonder of the known world, with fairy servants at their beck and call; they could command winds, mountains, and woods. But by the early 1800s they have long since lost the ability to perform magic. They can only write long, dull papers about it, while fairy servants are nothing but a fading memory.

But at Hurtfew Abbey in Yorkshire, the rich, reclusive Mr. Norrell has assembled a wonderful library of lost and forgotten books from England's magical past and regained some of the powers of England's magicians. He goes to London and raises a beautiful young woman from the dead. Soon he is lending his help to the government in the war against Napoleon Bonaparte, creating ghostly fleets of rain-ships to confuse and alarm the French.

All goes well until a rival magician appears. Jonathan Strange is handsome, charming, and talkative, the very opposite of Mr. Norrell. Strange thinks nothing of enduring the rigors of campaigning with Wellington's army and doing magic on battlefields. Astonished to find another practicing magician, Mr. Norrell accepts Strange as a pupil. But it soon becomes clear that their ideas of what English magic ought to be are very different. For Mr. Norrell, their power is something to be cautiously controlled, while Jonathan Strange will always be attracted to the wildest, most perilous forms of magic. He becomes fascinated by the ancient, shadowy figure of the Raven King, a child taken by fairies who became king of both England and Faerie, and the most legendary magician of all. Eventually Strange's heedless pursuit of long-forgotten magic threatens to destroy not only his partnership with Norrell, but everything that he holds dear.

Sophisticated, witty, and ingeniously convincing, Susanna Clarke's magisterial novel weaves magic into a flawlessly detailed vision of historical England. She has created a world so thoroughly enchanting that 32 hours leave readers longing for more.

©2004 Susanna Clarke (P)2004 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC, and Bloomsbury Publishing

Critic reviews

• Hugo Award Winner, Best Novel, 2005

• World Fantasy Award Winner, 2005

• Audie Award Finalist, Literary Fiction, 2005

"A smashing success....An exceptionally compelling, brilliantly creative, and historically fine-tuned piece of work." (Booklist)
"Extraordinary....Immersion in the mesmerizing story reveals its intimacy, humor, and insight, and will enchant readers of fantasy and literary fiction alike." (Publishers Weekly)
"Ravishing...superb...combines the dark mythology of fantasy with the delicious social comedy of Jane Austen into a masterpiece of the genre that rivals Tolkien." (Time)
"Clarke welcomes herself into an exalted company of British writers - not only, some might argue, Dickens and Austen, but also the fantasy legends Kenneth Grahame and George MacDonald - as well as contemporary writers like Susan Cooper and Philip Pullman." (The New York Times Book Review)

Proper Magic

I absolutely enjoyed the narrator especially when he read the character of the gentleman with the thistle-down hair. I will definitely listen to this again... and again, most likely.

What a long story

Liked the book, but it was a little long winded. I was hoping for more. The reader is fantastic though.

Fun and a little grim

I enjoyed the book, especially the dark whimsical nature of the story. I loved the perfect, proper Englishness of the narration by Simon Prebble. The footnotes were especially fun to listen to. I love a good dark fairy tail and this combined the dark fairy tail with rivalry of geniuses (like Amadeus) and the quaintness of nineteenth century English society stories.

I wish the narrator would butt out a little more often and allow the characters to take over more often.

A rare experience

This is a book of wonders that, for those with ears to hear, makes magic feel as real and fun and terrifying as it ought to feel. It gives a glimpse of another path we might have taken had we made alliances with rocks and trees and sky and stars instead of factories, plastic, smart phones, and 24 hour news.

The reader is perfect.

I absolutely LOVED this book!!!!

If you enjoy magical mystical fantasies, then you will enjoy this book. So well-written and the writer has such an amazing imagination!! 5 Stars ☆☆☆☆☆

A Modern Classic

One of my all-time favorites, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, while written in the modern era, is nevertheless written in the style of the Regency period. The fake history of the Napoleonic period will delight fans of magical stories. The book is a masterpiece, which took the author many years to write. It is very unique in its style and story. I never tire of listening to it. And part of this is due to the fact that the audio recording is of a superb performance. I truly hope that Susanna Clark will provide us with another novel in this universe.

should be a movie

this was very visual for me. the people with hollowed out heads with candles in them...I enjoyed this so much. thankyou Susan!!!!

boring

I just couldn't get into it. Very slow moving and after 4 hours I gave up

Imaginative story and colorful characters

Though arguably over-long, the story and characters are worth the time. Don't hurry the audio. Savor it. There's much humor, but it's sly, so be attentive to the narrative and choice of words: the author often pokes fun at the characters and occupations, including politicians, lawyers, the wealthy and even writers. It's a brilliant tale and brilliantly read by Simon Prebble. Good listen for long commutes and car travels!

Finally made it through

So the book is incredibly long… most of the middle stuff about war and blah blah blah just fills lots and lots of time and space for you to do your dishes or laundry or whatever else you do while half listening to the narration. The beginning and end were the most exciting and what I personally was most interested in. The narrator was very enjoyable to listen to and he tried very, very hard to distinguish the characters by their manner of speaking, which I appreciated. Female voices were not overdone or annoying, which was also appreciated! Overall… I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy, faerie’s, magic, enjoys classic literature, and has the willpower to listen to the end. For me, it was fun and worth a listen.