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)

fantastic

What did you love best about Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell?

the complexity of characters and the detail with which they were described and brought to life by the author and the narrator.

What other book might you compare Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell to and why?

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

What does Simon Prebble bring to the story that you wouldn???t experience if you just read the book?

the drama that a professional brings. I hear the different voices in my head as I read, as most do, but hearing it done by a professional, with the specific tone and inflection intended by the author makes the book that much more enjoyable.

Any additional comments?

Sequel!

Very Enjoyable

I really enjoyed this book. I was scared to listen to it because it is so long. But, it never felt long. It is well written from start to finish.

Both the story and the character development are excellent.

The narrator is outstanding as well.

Lengthy but ...enchanting

Those who enjoy the art of writing and expression will find themselves thoroughly delighted. The story, though complicated, presents a different view of what we commonly understand as “magic.” The narration is first rate and entertaining. Simon Prebble is a master at his craft. The tale seems to drag in spots but resolves itself well at the end.

In The End I Enjoyed This Book

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is the first of Susanna Clarke's novels that I have listened to and I doubt that I will purchase another. The book is 32 & 1/2 hours long. Unsurprisingly the story line takes a long tedious time to develop. During all those hours none, I mean none of the main characters are likeable. They are self absorbed, mean, selfish, small people who I would not want to know. For all but Jonathan Strange, who begins to turn sooner, It is only at the very end that they begin to step out of their selfish view point and take others needs and points of view into consideration. I found the ending unexpected & Intriguing and was glad I'd taken the time to listen, still that sense was a long time coming and I spent the majority of the book wishing that the main characters didn't feel so entitled and above everyone else.

A lovely, rich, (ahem) enchanting tale

Most excellent. Warm, complex, and charming. Definitely worth the listen. Performance was most excellent as well.

One of the best stories ever written. Seriously.

I've had this book for years on CD, and loved it so much I bought the hardcover just to have a more "tangible" copy of such a masterpiece (that has a few charcoal drawings as well). I bought it again on audible just for the convenience of enjoying it again on my phone. Simon Prebble's reading is one of those that is so good, and each character voiced so well that I hope in the upcoming BBC America mini-series the actors sounds as good as Simon Prebble's impersonation of them. Especially The Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair, where his acting takes one of the most interesting characters in literature to an entirely new level.
The story itself I have listened to 3 or 4 times, and there is so much density to it I get something new out of it every time. The world Susanna Clarke has set up, through fantastic backstory and detours via lengthy footnotes (which work surprisingly well on audio), is a stunning alternate history so real feeling it almost seems it should be true. It's not quite George RR Martin or Tolkien in its complexity, but that level of quality.

For anyone that might enjoy a story of magicians in an England that didn't quite exist, I highly recommend this.

Excellent story!

Do not be fooled--If you do not enjoy slow moving, character driven plots, then this book is not for you! The narrative of this story is very nicely done and fits excellently with the tone of the book and characters. Ms. Clarke has done a remarkable job of creating a world you can lose yourself in. Though lacking in action, the story of "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell" is so intricately woven that it is more like a detective novel with historical/magical elements. Fantastic read for those who will be patient with it.

Classic Period Drama Meets Fantasy!

The alternate-England in this story is created so artfully, I almost forgot for a moment that Wellington didn’t actually have a magician assisting him in the war. The blend of history and fantasy is uniquely brilliant! Simon Prebble’s reading is very enjoyable. My only reason for 4/5 is that I speak Irish (Gaeilge) and Mr Prebble pronounces “daoine sídhe” incorrectly several times. Other than that, his voices for each individual character, and his animated reading really brings the story to life!

Epic

I love this book. I have read all 800+ pages a few times and also thoroughly enjoyed the audio version, maybe - in some ways - more than the experience of reading it. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is probably not for everyone; it seems dry and old, but that is exactly why it is so charming.

Boring

Some like this book, some hate it. I am leaning towards hate just because it feels like a waste of time. The story is as bland as the cuisine of the country in which it's based.

One of the most jarring things in the books is the beginning. You're quickly introduced to two characters whom the author spends a lot of time on, then mentions that they are not the chosen ones, and throws them in a closet. They're brought out whenever something needs to be done and it might as well be done by a familiar name. I feel this is the case with every character besides one and as time goes on, one character that was initially interesting is turned into a milquetoast for no other reason than to ensure the reader doesn't wish the book was instead about him.

The plot plods along with the characters just doing whatever comes naturally to them in the face of absolutely nothing going on otherwise. The only characters that do have something actually happen to them are tertiary characters. My reaction is "great, now if only the book was titled after them, and they had more chapters of their story."

I'm not the type of person who needs every character to be likeable in a story, but if they are not likeable they at least need to be interesting. Mr. Norrell is neither likable or interesting. We establish the negative aspects of his personality pretty quickly and every scene he's in after that just rehashes these traits. He doesn't do anything new or interesting. In contrast, Strange is interesting, he grows and changes as the book goes on and has real human reactions to what is done to him.