#Mr Norrell

[occasional-owl]

[inky-sun]

“There is nothing else in magic but the wild thought of the bird as it casts itself into the void. There is no creature upon the earth with such potential for magic. Even the least of them may fly straight out of this world and come by chance to the Other Lands. Where does the wind come from that blows upon your face, that fans the pages of your book? Where the harum-scarum magic of small wild creatures meets the magic of Man, where the language of the wind and the rain and the trees can be understood, there we will find the Raven King.”

Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

[penbeatssword]

It's very fitting that I finally found a copy of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell in a little secondhand bookshop after a lengthy search, and that my copy of Piranesi has survived water damage

[amberkendslacy]

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell Memes for Volume 3.

What a trip lads.

I'm working on a non-meme post for this book but it may take time. Needless to say this story is still rotting my brain, it just happens to have finished telling it.

Volume 1 Volume 2

[floradelisstuff]

Mr. Norrell from Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke... If you have not tried this wonderful novel and the associated BBC series, I would highly recommend it...

All illustrations have been created by photo manipulation with Adobe Photoshop and BeFunky filters...

[burnsopale]

From JSMN - The Cinque Dragownes

Mr Norrell doesn't remember Segundus' name but he remembers him as "little"??

How teeny tiny do you have to be for Gilbert Norrell to call you little? Is it because he was standing next to tall Mr Honeyfoot at the time?

[el-peredhel]

“where have they gone?" "wherever magicians used to go. behind the sky. on the other side of the rain.” ‑ jonathan strange and mr norrell by susanna clarke

jonathan strange & mr norrell: a playlist.

[scorbleeo]

Book Review: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

by Susanna Clarke

Source: Amazon

At the dawn of the nineteenth century, two very different magicians emerge to change England's history. In the year 1806, with the Napoleonic Wars raging on land and sea, most people believe magic to be long dead in England--until the reclusive Mr Norrell reveals his powers, and becomes a celebrity overnight.

Soon, another practicing magician comes forth: the young, handsome, and daring Jonathan Strange. He becomes Norrell's student, and they join forces in the war against France. But Strange is increasingly drawn to the wildest, most perilous forms of magic, straining his partnership with Norrell, and putting at risk everything else he holds dear.

ISBN: 9781408891469 (2017) | Source: Goodreads

This Reading Journey Took An Interesting Turn

There are a lot of factors Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell has that are usually book turnoffs for me. Many will assume the thickness being one of them but when it comes to fantasy novels, it's not one. So, what turnoffs was I referring to then? Well, I really dislike historical fiction, especially if we're talking about it taking place in the 19th century. I love myself a medieval time but the victorian ages to the 19th century is not my favourite period. The 19th century writing style is also something I don't really like, narration is fine but formal speech, I hate it. And last but not least, slow pacing bores me easily and most of the time, it plays into why I refuse to give a book a higher rating.

With that being said, this would have never been a novel I would pick up if not for the fact that it was recommended to me by an author, and the TV show. I did not expect to pull through this book till the end. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell was written into three main parts and unfortunately, part one was a horrible experience. I was either ready to DNF this book, or give it a 2 or 3 star rating. Honestly, I believed even if I finished it, it was going to be a book I hated. So, why was part one such a horrible experience for me?

Well, remember the three turnoffs I mentioned earlier on? Part one was all that, plus no plot and just all about Mr Norrell which yes, I do get it. Part one was about Mr Norrell so what was I expecting? But goodness gracious, Mr Norrell was not a pleasant main character to read about. I was barely hanging in there being frustrated by that man. Fortunately, I told myself time and time again, I need to at least get a few chapters of part two in before I decide if I should DNF the book. I did, and things took the most interesting turn.

In my opinion, as much as I hated it, I appreciated that Clarke made all those chapters focusing on Mr Norrell before Jonathan Strange came into the picture. He really was unbearable but then the reading experience made it feel as if I was getting to know Mr Norrell myself, from start to end. Because of that horrid first part, I understood the relationship between our two English magicians and why Mr Norrell was the way he was. Ironically, going into part two and then three were the reasons I finished this book forgoing my distaste for Mr Norrell.

Moving on, I think some people would have disliked Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell for its snail pace. I did not enjoy it at first but then I ended up loving the pacing of this book. It was kind of cathartic that the entirety of the book was at a constant slow pace. Even at the plot's climax, it felt melancholy. If you know, you know.

Also, the prophecy. How do I even begin articulating my feelings for the prophecy? Initially, I did not care about it but then I soon realised this was not the kind of book where one character will tie everything together and reiterate for the readers. Therefore, half way through the book, I decided to write it down and decipher it as I went along. It was almost like solving a mystery crime as I slowly discovered what each line of the prophecy meant. And by the end of it all, it was absolutely liberating.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a reading experience I have never actually encountered despite having read so many books. The journey was magical and I am aware this is not a book for everyone but if you think you can tackle it, I say go ahead.

Rating: ★★★★★

[tempest-melody]

Book Review: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

Title: Jonathan Strange & Mr NorrellAuthor: Susanna ClarkePublication Date: 2004Publishing House: Bloomsbury USA Back in January I read Nail Gaiman’s The View from the Cheap Seats. And in addition to Gaiman suggesting some great bands, he also talks about other books. Some of those books are ones he read and some, like this one, he read once he was already an established author. This is a book…

[time2memedrjones]

Love that part

JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORRELL (2015)

[someblueyearning]

*Me shaking my friend*

You don’t understand they are not meant for each other at all yet they’ve spent a significant part of their life together. Norrell places so much of his trust in Childermass yet he still doesn’t view him as a friend because he pays Childermass’s wage. In the end they will never be together!

The same goes for Childermass as he is using Norrell in his goal to bring English magic back to life. He WANTS his King to come back yet the man he pledge a part of his loyalty to is actively slandering his King’s name. He would always separate from Norrell in the end even if he deeply cares for the fussy man.

It’s clear that Strange and Norrell are the soulmates of each other and that’s why it hurts so bad! If Childermass was of gentlemen status Norrell possibly would have made him an apprentice and realized that Childermass was the closest he ever had as a best friend. I only think Childermass would succeed in a way that Strange does not is because they would definitely clash in the beginning but there is a reason he was able to be in service of Norrell for so long. Norrell would warm up to him and the apprenticeship is approved

[jsamn-20th-anniversary-readalong]

It has been an astonishing 20 YEARS since Susanna Clarke first published her debut novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell on 8th September 2004.

To celebrate, we have planned a Readalong for old fans, those who have had it on their TBR pile for a while and haven't managed to get round to it, and for those who maybe haven't even heard of it yet.

The Readalong will start off on 2nd September 2024, with discussions taking place on the official discord for the chapters being each week. We also have groups on StoryGraph and Goodreads for those who would like to keep track in those places, which will be linked to closer to September.

We have broken the book down into chunks of roughly 70 pages per week, in the hopes that this is a fairly gentle reading pace to fit into your lives, as the book is a bit of a beast.

Please follow this blog for more information as we keep you updated!

[see-arcane]

Every time I blink there's some new Jon, John, or Johannes taking up space in my head. I plan to add to it by finally sitting down and reading through Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell in the coming year. Still missing a Johanna, though.

[uskglass-mirror-house]

I've always interpreted it as Norrell being paranoid about the harm done through magic and very little else: fairy servants can do great harm via magic and know more than him, ergo dangerous; human servants/ associates are not on his level in terms of magical abilities, ergo they are beneath him and not as dangerous. I think that what illustrates this best is his attitude towards Childermass: he lets him do basically whatever but flips tables when he suspects/ is made aware that he is performing magic and this paranoia is what leads him to choose Lascelles over him in the end.

My theory is that this attitude is connected to the fear of being bested in the one thing he excels at but also to the fact that he relied on Childermass for so long that it doesn't even occur to him that human can harm him in any way.

A thought: Though Mr Norrell is highly aware of the dangers of having fairy-servants, he seems to completely discount the dangers posed by the human beings he chooses to work with (i.e. Drawlight and Lascelles).

[occasional-owl]

[beetleandfox]

Casper David Fredrich is THE Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell vibes artist