Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

De: Susanna Clarke

Narrado por: Simon Prebble

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

Reseñas de la Crítica

• 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)

Hang in there!

Both of the following are true: 1) This is a very good book; and 2) That fact is not obvious for about the first eight hours of the audio version. It starts very slowly, reading much like Jane Austen with magicians (though not as funny as Austen). But after a while, the plot really takes off, and it becomes an aborbing, even gripping, "read". Alas, it may have lost many listeners by that point; it nearly lost me! I don't think it's particularly well served by the audiobook format, since in text one can easily skim ahead if things are moving too slowly. I ended up doing something similar with the audiobook: I'd listen at night, with a sleep timer, and not worry too much about backing up if I fell asleep and missed fifteen or thirty minutes here or there.

My advice: Hang in there! There's a great novel in store, if you can make it through the opening.

Superb!

Loved sinking into the story, the twists and turns. Dickensian in some ways, fascinating! Read wonderfully well by Mr. Prebble.

Audiobook 10x better than reading the book

This is a great example of an audio book surpassing the actual thing. I'd had this book on my shelf for years, and continuously had trouble getting into it. But Simon Prebble is a genius. He brings not only the characters to life--he brings the brilliant writing and dry wit to life...and I think those of us who are Americans probably need his help. I seriously did not realize how hilarious the book was until listening to this. Overall, the book really is too long--but the audio never ceases to entertain. I found it enjoyable all the way through.

I'd recommend this book even to non-fantasy readers--it's not a typical fantasy and reads more like a cross between historical fiction and Jane Austen (that is, if Jane Austen wrote interesting plots).

Only complaint is that it ends.

Two hours left of listening and I am already missing this book. Samual Prebble (narrator) artfully manages 20 characters' voices. Susanna Clarke is a storyteller in every best sense of the word. If you like historical fiction (first two decades of 19th century), character-drvien plot (two main magicians and several well-formed ancillary characters), smart unselfconscious dialogue, all in a story long enough to become an environment that you can't wait to return to, listen to (or read) this book. My only compaint is that it ends.

Magical beginning to end

Torn between downloading this book or not, between the good and the bad reviews, I'm SO happy I choose to listen to this novel. I didn't even notice how long it was. The story is so well written and read that I must admit I was completely disappointed when it was over. I can't wait to see what the author will come up with in her next book.

Don't listen to the bad reviews. This is the best audible download ever.