jamiethekeener's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
wormfood's review against another edition
2.0
Two years and two months later, and I have finished this damn book.
A story of such magnitude is a feat I can’t imagine having the skill let alone motivation to pursue. She captures perfectly the wonder and absurdity of magic. Hats off to Susanna. But goddamn can it be boring.
I can sense its genius practically glowing around its pages and it pisses me off that I’m clearly not clever enough to grasp it the way I want to. Like eating a pint of ice cream past the point of true enjoyment when your mouth is too cold to taste it. But you really like the flavor of the ice cream and you really enjoy the experience of eating ice cream. So you keep eating it anyway, bitterly wishing you would enjoy it the way you know you could.
One day, I will reread and annotate this incredible history with patience and a purer intent. Today, I give it 2 stars for encouraging me to suffer and wipe my hands of it.
A story of such magnitude is a feat I can’t imagine having the skill let alone motivation to pursue. She captures perfectly the wonder and absurdity of magic. Hats off to Susanna. But goddamn can it be boring.
I can sense its genius practically glowing around its pages and it pisses me off that I’m clearly not clever enough to grasp it the way I want to. Like eating a pint of ice cream past the point of true enjoyment when your mouth is too cold to taste it. But you really like the flavor of the ice cream and you really enjoy the experience of eating ice cream. So you keep eating it anyway, bitterly wishing you would enjoy it the way you know you could.
One day, I will reread and annotate this incredible history with patience and a purer intent. Today, I give it 2 stars for encouraging me to suffer and wipe my hands of it.
oneesk's review against another edition
4.0
It took a while to come into its own, but it was well worth sticking in there. Love the way Clarke envisioned magic.
regnarenol's review against another edition
5.0
A shade under 5 for me.
The rich Austenesque language with its sarcastic authorial voice might not be for everyone, but I only realised how much I missed this in modern writing when I started with this book. Adverbs and adjectives abound, and the dry wit, and the unapologetic verbosity had me smiling at how a turn of phrase could delight me so. Paradoxically - and this makes me sad - the fact that such language can only be found in a novel set in the Victorian era might mean that it is well and truly dead in modern writing.
Back to the writing though: there are passages which are so well done, that I had to pause, despite being completely immersed, just to savour them better. A certain experimental phase that Jonathan Strange goes through towards the end of the book, for instance.
As for the characters, even the most annoying ones, and Norrell is right up at the top of that list, are sympathetic. You might scorn their choices, but their motivations are human. The Gentleman with the thistledown hair isn't human at all, but his inhumanity is exquisitely detailed - you can't relate, you can never relate, but you just might understand. Susanna Clarke brings fantasy England to life with 'the supporting cast' though - the women, the men of the working classes, and the men of colour, who would in their own era perhaps not even make the pages of a novel. Not only are they real and rounded, but often much more likeable than the stuffy gentlemen and ladies, and if you get attached to one (or more as I did), do not worry. Their stories more often reach a satisfactory resolution than not.
I wonder though, how it would have been to read this book without reading through all the footnotes, as I might have done if I had actually read it, and not listened to the audiobook. And that is why I don't give this five stars. The book meanders, and might even seem plot-less at times, and if you're less enamoured of the language than I am, you might give it up. I very quickly accepted that this book wasn't going to be a page turner, and was never meant to be, and that all the enjoyment to be had was in the moment - in the words on the current page, in the current footnote, and I found the ride exhilarating.
The rich Austenesque language with its sarcastic authorial voice might not be for everyone, but I only realised how much I missed this in modern writing when I started with this book. Adverbs and adjectives abound, and the dry wit, and the unapologetic verbosity had me smiling at how a turn of phrase could delight me so. Paradoxically - and this makes me sad - the fact that such language can only be found in a novel set in the Victorian era might mean that it is well and truly dead in modern writing.
Back to the writing though: there are passages which are so well done, that I had to pause, despite being completely immersed, just to savour them better. A certain experimental phase that Jonathan Strange goes through towards the end of the book, for instance.
As for the characters, even the most annoying ones, and Norrell is right up at the top of that list, are sympathetic. You might scorn their choices, but their motivations are human. The Gentleman with the thistledown hair isn't human at all, but his inhumanity is exquisitely detailed - you can't relate, you can never relate, but you just might understand. Susanna Clarke brings fantasy England to life with 'the supporting cast' though - the women, the men of the working classes, and the men of colour, who would in their own era perhaps not even make the pages of a novel. Not only are they real and rounded, but often much more likeable than the stuffy gentlemen and ladies, and if you get attached to one (or more as I did), do not worry. Their stories more often reach a satisfactory resolution than not.
I wonder though, how it would have been to read this book without reading through all the footnotes, as I might have done if I had actually read it, and not listened to the audiobook. And that is why I don't give this five stars. The book meanders, and might even seem plot-less at times, and if you're less enamoured of the language than I am, you might give it up. I very quickly accepted that this book wasn't going to be a page turner, and was never meant to be, and that all the enjoyment to be had was in the moment - in the words on the current page, in the current footnote, and I found the ride exhilarating.
rmlrogers's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
andropunk's review against another edition
i love susanna clarke so much but i just couldn’t get into this book right now. maybe another time :(
nturner76's review against another edition
Slow, unlikeable characters, too long for the pace
jkwriting24's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
sofstriestoread's review against another edition
challenging
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0