Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

A Novel

audio cd

Published Nov. 17, 2004 by Brand: Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Audio.

ISBN:
978-1-59397-741-2
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4 stars (4 reviews)

Published in 2004, it is an alternative history set in 19th-century England around the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Its premise is that magic once existed in England and has returned with two men: Gilbert Norrell and Jonathan Strange. Centred on the relationship between these two men, the novel investigates the nature of "Englishness" and the boundaries between reason and unreason, Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Dane, and Northern and Southern English cultural tropes/stereotypes. It has been described as a fantasy novel, an alternative history, and a historical novel. It inverts the Industrial Revolution conception of the North-South divide in England: in this book the North is romantic and magical, rather than rational and concrete.

22 editions

Review of 'Jonathan Strange ve Bay Norrell' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

Unbearable, boring, pretentious. When I have to force myself to read even a few pages from a book, it means I'm not enjoying it at all. That has been happening for the last months with this unswallowable brick.

The thing I regret the most, is having left aside so many other books I wanted to read, because I'm used to read only one book at a time.

I guess I'll just watch the TV series, just out of curiosity. I hope it's more enjoyable than this book.

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4 stars
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5 stars