Customer Reviews

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell [UNABRIDGED CD] (Audiobook)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Let me say two things about Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell:

1. This is one of the finest novels I have ever read. Ever.
2. You might hate it.

Okay, let me say more. I listened to this book on audio and, because of the language and humor, I was delighted from the very start. I listened for 32 hours and approximately 25 of those hours are rather slow. Interesting stuff happens, but nothing that's going to put you on the edge of your seat. It's leisurely and teasing. It's not clear how all of the characters and plots relate to each other. If you're ready for action, it's a bit frustrating. But the action finally does arrive and all of the characters and plots finally come together in an unexpected and satisfying way. Looking back, you realize that the plot was clever and quite tight all along.

What kept me going was that the writing is absolutely glorious. Susanna Clarke writes like Charles Dickens or Jane Austen or one of those other 19th century English novelists who we love because of the insightful and subtly witty social commentary and the plain but elegant writing style. She's right up there with the best. In fact, I can't think of anyone who writes better than Susanna Clarke. Not Tolkien, not Le Guin, not Bujold. And for this reason, I must give the book 5 stars. It is a superb novel.

Particularly fun were a few devices that I really enjoyed such as the intrusive narrator somewhat reminiscent of Thackeray's Vanity Fair, fictional characters interacting with real historical figures (Lord Byron was my favorite), and a few little alternate explanations of how some historical events in arts and literature came to be (I won't give you any examples because discovering them is the fun part).

The audiobook is also superb. The reader, Simon Prebble, is English (in case you couldn't tell by his name), and his diction, pace, and voices are perfect. I love the voice he uses for the more uncouth characters -- it just sounds slimy. This was a great novel to listen to--Mr. Prebble's voices add to the dry humor--but keep in mind that it will take you 32 hours. It's quite a time investment, but well worth it.

So, I recommend that you read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell when you have the time to be patient and when you're in the mood to be delighted by a long elegant English novel. If you're in a hurry, or if you're in the mood for quests, orphan boys, sword-fighting, or dragons, don't bother.

This is the perfect book for the right reader. I can't wait to see what Susanna Clarke does next -- she's brilliant!
~ FantasyLiterature.net

I absolutely loved this book. The only way I could "read" it was during my commute.

It is not for everyone, (see comments by D. Miller), who clearly knows nothing about English literature - this is for people who enjoy reading without rushing to the end. Clarke is a masterful genius with her descriptions, satire, the alternate history is hilarious. It all flows for Clarke with subtlety, the characters are lively, the British are portrayed with so much humor, as are the French. It is a fine piece of literature, and it you can't appreciate the richness of the language, you need to go back to reading Harlequin novel (talking to you, D. Miller).

Highly recommended for true literature buffs.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is now one of my favorite books of all time but let me preface that with saying that I didn't even think I'd finish it while I was trudging through the first 400 -- yes 400! -- pages. Not that they were so bad. They were witty and eloquent in that long-winded British kind of way. But where was this story going? Character after character was introduced until I could scarcely keep track of why Stephen Black the butler and this "man with thistle down hair" and Jonathan Segundus and many others were even in the book at all. "Just get on with Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell already," I began saying to my book.

And then something happened. Somewhere around P. 400 -- yes 400 -- these random characters that had been methodically built up independently suddenly began to collide in a way that made me realize Clarke herself is a magician as mighty as the ones she writes about. How delightful to watch a puzzle that you have been dumbfounded by come together piece by piece. I read the second 400 pages in two days and was sad to see the book end. It's a masterpiece.

By Jaimal Yogis, author of Saltwater Buddha

Yes, I said it: there are enough needless words and pointless side stories/footnotes in this book to create 4 more novels. Now, some books are detailed, and account for the details later, but in the book, the author goes rambling on about the most needless things that do not come back around in the story. You could easy cut this book down to 1/4 it's original length and still have a great story, maybe even better.

Seriously, much longer than it needed to be. If the story were amazing (which it is not), then we could overlook this word-packing.

Now, as for the CDs, another personal pet peeve: the CDs do not alert you that you have come to the end of the disc. My CD player just returns to the beginning, so I have to drive another 5 minutes before I realize it is replaying itself. Some of the better CD sets tell you the disc has ended and to "continue on disc __", which helps a great deal while dodging traffic on the freeway.

If you must: get this from the library, but DO NOT pay money for it.

I was utterly alarmed at the only review for this audiobook. Five stars? Susanna Clarke, is that you?

This audiobook (or book if you read the print version) will break your heart. 32 hours of rambling tedium. Very little character development, not much internal consistency, and perhaps most damning of all, no action whatsover. Even the greatest "reveal" of the story is an offhand mention - no understanding of how it even happened.

It was essentially a 100 page story spread out over 700 or so pages (over 30 hours). Go ahead and listen to it. I dare you.