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)

An absolute period piece delight

While I fall short of Neil Gaiman’s effusive praise for Susanna Clarke’s gorgeous historical fantasy, it’s not by much. Maybe a millimeter or two. I am almost as thoroughly read in Regency era fiction as I am in Napoleonic era history, which may be a surprisingly rare combination, and I have that nit picker’s tendency to enjoy calling out an author on minor errors of fact or detail. But Ms. Clark defies my best efforts. She has produced a nearly flawless work of art that is not merely imitative of period writing styles but impressive in its capacity to convey the clash of Romantic and Enlightenment ideals. Her singular achievement will not be lost on students of the period. The touch of satire adds just the right amount of pepper to the plate. Others have complained of the pacing — there is some merit to these charges. But it’s a book, my friends. Books are journeys. One need not take all the author’s dizzy byways on the first read.

The audiobook read by Simon Prebble is something to be savored. His contrasting Northern and Southern accents lends so much color to Clarke’s narrative polarities and his characterization is superb. A note to impatient listeners—Clarke’s charming and exhaustive faux footnotes are read as they appear in the text, an experiment that mostly, but not always, succeeds, especially if the note is lengthy.

A must-read for lovers of Regency era literature, early 19th-Century history and/or the light magical fantasy tradition.

A beautiful, absorbing story, performed perfectly

A fantasy story of magic so evocatively written that feels like real history. The beautiful prose sounds as if it were written in the 19th century, and is reminiscent of Dickens and Austen. The plot itself builds slowly, but the individual incidents and the world building draw you in, as does the sense of mysterious forces working in the background, so that by the time plot does kick in you are already completely hooked. The narrator has an engaging voice perfectly suited to the period of history in which the story is set, and he does a masterful job of adopting different voices differentiate between the characters. One word of warning: if you have trouble with English accents, this is probably not the book for you. in fact, this is probably the most English story you will ever read or listen to.

A 8 hour book stretched into 32 hours

I must say that the main reason I purchased this one was because I had a 20+ hour drive and wanted be be entertained by just one purchase. The reader does a good job of giveing different voices to different charactors which helps as the author goes on many tangents mentioning dozens of charactors, most are not important to the story. I was 2/3 though before I started to grasp who all the charactors are. A great story line that is just stretched out to far from enternaining event to event. This one dragged on and on.

A tedious read for me

I'm having trouble reviewing this book. I'm halfway through listening to it and I'm giving up. I really, really wanted to like it. I thought it sounded like it would be exactly my sort of book, but it isn't. There are a great many books I want to read (or listen to) so I just can't justify keeping on with this one.

I tend to enjoy historical fantasy and I tend to read books that give me a feeling of escape, mostly from running my somewhat exhausting small business and very long work hours. I often listen to books while knitting, and get transported to new places and have literary adventures. I'm not sure exactly what it is about this book, but it just isn't taking me anywhere.

The writing itself is beautiful, which is why I give it 3 stars, and should maybe give it more, but on the other hand, the actual "story" itself is really not coming through for me, and it just meanders and perambulates along, leaving me rather unfulfilled. I can see that many readers absolutely adore this book, and others, like me, are not taken with it. Perhaps the TV adaptation would pull me in, although I don't watch TV and am not likely to start. If I were reading it in paper format, I'd probably be skipping over large sections and trying to get to the part where things really start happening.

It truly is a writing masterpiece-- I'm convinced of that--but it's not the sort that I enjoy. There are many literary classics that haven't exactly gripped me, and so while I recognize its greatness, it's still not the kind of book that brings me joy.

Fantastic

Wonderful story - clever, captivating, fun, original in its combination of historical and fantasy elements. The narration is delightful as well. I enjoyed every word of it!

19th-century style & imaginitive fantasy

This is a marvelous book--it's been one of my favorites since I first read it in 2010--but if 19th-century novels are not to your taste, then this story straight-up isn't for you. The plot builds slowly across many shorter episodes, in a way that feels familiar for novels published in the period where the story is set; its moments of excitement or humor may come off a little dry for someone who prefers a more modern style. However, the antiquated style is perfectly suited to the nature of this book, creating a richly immersive experience for the reader. In particular, I'm always taken with how beautiful and inventive Clarke's use of language is when describing magic; she captures the essence of the abstract and downright unknowable so elegantly. To be honest, JS&MN is the yardstick I've used to measure all other fantasy stories (and wizard stories, in particular), and I'm pleased to say that--upon revisiting it here--that impulse has not been misplaced.

This is the first audiobook I've ever listened to, and I was very impressed with the narration. Prebble has distinctive voices for all of the many characters, and I had no trouble telling each speaker apart from the others; and as an American reader, his use of the relevant regional accents was a very pleasant bit of texture that I didn't have when I read the print book.

Such a great listen!

I loved this book! The performance was amazing! The range of characters the reader could present was incredible.
Now, I know several folks have said the book was boring or slow or many things but you need to walk into it with the right expectations. It’s not an action packed, magical battles and warring magicians kind of book. Its dialogue heavy, filled with charming humor and, what it truly is, is a nod to classic English literature. It reads like Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, or Frankenstein. In fact the last third of the book feels like a nod to Mary Shelley in how it’s written.
That all said, it is exciting, the descriptions are enchanting, and the characters are wonderful. I found this book to be the cozy magical adventure and enjoyable read I needed for the month of October.

Possibly my favorite book

I have read this book several times and the audio version is often my go to bed listen.

It got better and better

Couldn’t wait to get back to it! Performance was superb. Multi layered and kept me wondering” is this historical?” Lol

excellent

be prepared for a Jane Austen-esque ponderance of a book. doesn't take off until the last 8 hours.