Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell â€� Reader Q&A

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Answered Questions (37)

Needing some help here. I'm at p. 122 and not encouraged. Beyond the twee period spellings, formally aping Jane Austen without her keen insights, sly humor and character development so far makes this seem like a rather tedious children's book. Wondering whether to keep going. Tell me â€� does it gets better â€� does the depth of the narrative and of the characters, and the magic itself, shift into something a-MAZ-ing?

John There is some slowness at the beginning, after Norrell arrives in London, and before Strange is on the scene. Then the story picks up again. I found tâ€¦m´Ç°ù±ðThere is some slowness at the beginning, after Norrell arrives in London, and before Strange is on the scene. Then the story picks up again. I found the last 300 pages unstoppable.

However: if you haven't enjoyed it so far, you may not enjoy the rest. You don't seem to enjoy the voice, which structures the whole narrative, and that may be a deal-breaker.(less)

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I'm watching the BBC1 tv series based on this book, how does the story in the book compare to the tv series?

Rita Lamb The plot in the book is very ingenious but also very intricate, so for TV it has been simplified and some locations conflated. I felt Stephen Black isâ€¦m´Ç°ù±ðThe plot in the book is very ingenious but also very intricate, so for TV it has been simplified and some locations conflated. I felt Stephen Black is less morally complex in the series than in the book, while Lady Pole gained a feminist dimension. Several enjoyable minor characters are dropped and Lascelles meets a somewhat different fate. It's still a remarkable adaptation though, and keeps more of the original than it loses.(less)

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Can anyone recommend a fantasy that they enjoyed as much as this book? Hard to believe there are any others as wonderful as this, but does anyone have a recommendation? Thanks,

Elizabeth Grieve The Golem and the Djinni - similar but different, if you know what I mean. I enjoyed it (almost) as much as I did Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Alsâ€¦m´Ç°ù±ðThe Golem and the Djinni - similar but different, if you know what I mean. I enjoyed it (almost) as much as I did Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Also, of course, there is the second book from this author, and containing similar characters, The Ladies of Grace Adieu.(less)

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Is there ever, ever going to be a sequel? It's been more than ten years now and I'm beggining to doubt it.

Ryan It's my understanding that she is in fact writing a sequel. Additionally, this is being made into a mini-series by the BBC.

"She is working on a book tâ€¦m´Ç°ù±ðIt's my understanding that she is in fact writing a sequel. Additionally, this is being made into a mini-series by the BBC.

"She is working on a book that begins a few years after Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell ends and which will centre around characters who, as Clarke says, are "a bit lower down the social scale".(less)

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How crucial are the footnotes? I find myself skipping over them as I read. Is that a bad idea?

Benjamin Susanna Clarke actually didn't originally intend for the footnotes to be published:

I expected the publisher of this book to leave the footnotes out...

â€¦m´Ç°ù±ðSusanna Clarke actually didn't originally intend for the footnotes to be published:

I expected the publisher of this book to leave the footnotes out...I thought this is like a dummy run. Let's see what happens if I write a short story with footnotes. I wrote it and I sent it off...and eventually you hear from Patrick, and he says "Yes, I'm buying it." I think now I'll wait to hear from him about the footnotes. I didn't hear anything, and I didn't hear anything, and eventually he just published it with the footnotes. When I saw him, I said, "You never said anything about the footnotes." He said, "Oh, I just thought that was the typesetter's problem." So I thought that's good. Bloomsbury never said anything about them either.

I enjoyed them, but they are not important to the story. Feel free to skip them, and come back to read them later if you feel like it.(less)

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