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Susanna Clarke
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Book
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Publisher | Bloomsbury | ||
ISBN | 9780747579885 | ||
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Reviewer
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Jo
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Synopsis
Two magicians shall appear in England. The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me The year is 1806. England is beleaguered by the long war with Napoleon, and centuries have passed since practical magicians faded into the nation's past. But scholars of this glorious history discover that one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell whose displays of magic send a thrill through the country. Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very opposite of Norrell. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms the one between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine.
Review
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
This is an absolute beast of a book to read and caused me to be the recipient of many sympathetic stares. The reason for these is that the hardback is a good 800 pages or so with very small type that covers the majority of the page, no respite to be found through wide margins!! And to add to that, in the interest of adding a layer of authenticity there are footnotes galore.
That said Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is good once you get into it. The story is about the bringing back of magic into Georgian England, where once it was prevalent with the most famous of all English Magicians being the Raven King who ruled in the North.
I am ashamed to say that I had to give up on the book temporarily, having gotten to p.370 or thereabouts. I will however most definately pick the Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell up again in the future and finish it.
So if you fancy an epic Georgian read that will build the muscles in your arms, this is absolutely the book for you!!!
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