Review: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

“Can a magician kill a man by magic?” Lord Wellington asked Strange. Strange frowned. He seemed to dislike the question. “I suppose a magician might,” he admitted, “but a gentleman never would.” 

It is 1806, and most people believe English magic to be dead. Magicians may study magic, much like a historian studies the past, but the time of the practical magician is over. There is talk, however, that one true magician still remains; and when the reclusive Mr Norrell is called upon to display his alleged powers it soon becomes clear that magic is far from being a mere historical footnote (more on footnotes later!). Before long, and much to the indignation of Mr Norrell, another magician, the young and carefree Jonathan Strange, presents himself on the scene. Though opposing in character, the two magicians join forces to restore magic to England. Yet problems start to arise when it becomes clear that the two magicians have very different ideas about magic and the way it should be practiced in England today. 

First and foremost there's no escaping the fact that, standing in at a whopping 1,006 pages, this is by far the longest book I have ever tackled. At a glance, this hefty beast seemed more than slightly intimidating! And yet the writing style was so light and enjoyable that I found myself whizzing through this book in the time it would take me to read something half its length (not to mention the fact that a considerable chunk of this book is dedicated to lengthy and extraneous footnotes). Having said this, it wasn't a huge page-turner for the most part. Very rarely did I find myself finishing a chapter then immediately wanting to launch straight into the next one. The plot was incredibly slow to the extent that at regular periods throughout the book I was forced to question what the story actually was! The main problem I had was that I seemed to be forever waiting for the main plot to start and for everything to fall into place - it was only when I reached the 700-page mark that I finally conceded that the story I was waiting for was never going to happen! Overall, I found Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell had an engaging writing style with some entertaining plot lines, but it didn't turn out to be something I felt I could really get my teeth into and relish as I'd hoped!

RATING: ★★★☆☆

Lou x