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  • Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

  • By: Susanna Clarke
  • Narrated by: Simon Prebble
  • Length: 32 hrs and 30 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (5,799 ratings)
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Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell cover art

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

By: Susanna Clarke
Narrated by: Simon Prebble
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Summary

OVER 4 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE

Shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Guardian First Book Award; longlisted for the Man Booker Prize

‘Unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years ... Funny, moving, scary, otherworldly, practical and magical' NEIL GAIMAN

The year is 1806. 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 antithesis of Norrell.

So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms that 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.

©2004 Susanna Clarke (P)2004 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC, and Bloomsbury Publishing

Critic reviews

"Unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years...Funny, moving, scary, otherworldly, practical and magical." (Neil Gaiman) 

What listeners say about Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
    744
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    208
  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
    59
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Pleasingly long

Just like a previous reviewer, I have resisted reading this book for a while now, though mainly due to lack of time. So when I saw that it was available on Audible, I jumped at the chance.

I truly can not fault this audiobook. The author's incredible talent for recreating the atmosphere of Georgian London is impressive, all the more as the story is woven with such loving attention to detail that even someone with some scholarly knowledge in English and Metropolitan history is soon enticed to suspend disbelief and 'enjoy the ride'.

The story itself is deeply compelling, containing all the essential elements of a good fantasy novel without any of the pitfalls and clich?s that genre is often plagued by.
Without giving too much away, the arduous re-discovery of the long lost knowledge of English magic, once the foundation of the North of England under the fabled Raven King, two feuding magicians, Faeries, madness and love that refuses to lose hope, combined with a first-class narrator who understands how to bring the individual characters to life with real passion, make this one of the most enjoyable audiobooks I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. And its length (4 parts of around 8 hours each) ensure that the pleasure lasts for some time.

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176 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

My first purchase

This was my first purchase Audible went live in the UK. I had resisted the book for months but when I heard the audio sample I was hooked. Jane Austen meets Harry Potter. The book is sheer bliss. The quality of the recording superb the narrators voice just perfect. I really cannot praise this enough! Buy it and listen!

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115 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Wrong Choice - For Me

which is odd, as I usually get this right. I read a lot of other reviews and I take factors into account such as is it a long, maybe rambling read? Do I quite like the reader's voice? I DO like long, rambling reads, but this was just way too rambling. Also, footnotes just don't work in audio books, and there are a lot of footnotes, some much longer than whole chunks of the actual book. I think. It's hard to tell. They merge after a bit.

Anyway, it appeared to tick all my boxes: long, meandering, imaginative. It is all these things, so why doesn't it work? It's just rather boring. That's why. I can see from the many reviews that I am probably in a minority here, but the 'magical' qualities are just not there for me. I didn't care at all about any of the characters. I struggled to discern a plausible (even for fantasy) story-thread or threads. I just totally lost interest.

The reading is good. His female voices are a bit breathy but if it had not been well read I don't think I'd have made it as far as I did - about 75% of the way through. I have now given up as I don't care what happens and I have way too many other books to get through! But I am very disappointed that I wasn't able to love or even like it as much as any people clearly do.

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92 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

I am longing for more as predicted! Superb !!

When I downloaded Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell I was a little concerned at how I was going to manage with a book over 30 hours long. I need not have worried - this is an audio joy!

I was gripped from the first chapter and was totally engrossed until the last word. I normally listen to audiobooks at bedtime but I needed more so I took to listening in the car, during my lunch break, in fact anytime possible. I have really enjoyed this book and to be honest feel rather sad that I have finally reached the end. I had to stop the car for the last 15 minutes!

Simon Prebble's narration is wonderful, giving clear and diverse characters just the right voice and tone. Not once during the 32 hours did I wonder who was speaking and when a character returned I was calling out their name in glee. Simon's stamina must be admired as there is not a single change in pace, quality or crispness which is no mean feat for a book of this length.

The story is charming, witty, dark, scary, joyful and full of suspense. Every emotion is played out and I found myself laughing, exclaiming in shock (turned heads in the office), shouting at the characters not to do this or do that and even crying. Woven into the completely mesmerising plot of The Revival of English Magic, history, magic and faeries blend into the most pleasing and believable tale. Superb!

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69 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Harry Potter for Grown Ups

Beautifully written tale of magic and Faries, but not as we know it. Throw in lots of history and characters that jumped from the page. I was enchanted and surprised by this novel, I did not want it to end.
Lose yourself in this one.

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59 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • AH
  • 02-10-05

Excellent story at times weak in the telling

Overall this book is worth the effort to listen to - it's a long listen.
The story is compelling and generally holds the listeners attention.
At times, however, the author struggles to keep the tale interesting and I found myself frustrated with the length of time she takes to describe a very simple transition in the story. Maybe a little shorter text in places would have kept my attention through these passages.
Certainly worth the effort of listening to.

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53 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Stick with it

This book is a difficult one to review. Let me say, first of all, that I ended up loving it, but it is definitely an acquired taste, and not an easy listen. People have mentioned how long this novel is, to get to the end of it you'll need stamina, as at times it is extremely longwinded and feels very dry (atleast the way the reader relates it) I can understand why some have given up on it in other reviews here, yet on its plus side it has some of the most stunning imagery I've ever encountered.

Susanna Clarke has undeniably a brilliant imagination, some scenarios she described will be stuck in my head for many years to come.

In summation, don't expect to enjoy this book at all times, it can only be accessed as a whole. If you finish it to the end, you'll see why.

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43 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Definitely worth a credit!

I would highly recommend this book- it is certainly good value for a single credit!
The book is based around a superb idea, and is wonderfully written. While the plot does not move very quickly, I was kept engrossed by the large number of wonderful mini-stories that are woven into the text. There is a nice twist at the end too...
The narration is absolutely superb. The narrator has a great voice for this kind of book that I could happlily listen to for hours, and he captures well the kindly ironic nature of the text.

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39 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Only finished this because I am so stubborn

I have to say that that the chief impression which I will take away from this book is tedium. Eventually I simply kept listening out of sheer stubbornness, The book needed editing, perhaps with an axe. There was a good story at its core and the last two hours fairly galloped along, but that was not enough to justify all those other hours which dragged so painfully.

It is worth saying though that the narrator gave a heroic performance and his skill and hard work deserves recognition.

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30 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

to my surprise, it was wonderful!

This is one of the best audiobooks I have listened to. Normally I have never enjoyed books about magicians or any kind of fantasy - they just leave me cold - but from the very beginning of this book I was completely hooked. The slow but insistent rhythm of the story, the dense plotlines and period detail, and the sense that the events described were utterly feasible, combine with the artistry of the narration to make this a thoroughly absorbing and satisfying listen. Definitely 5 stars!

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29 people found this helpful