Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Softcover

Clarke, Susanna

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1596910534 ISBN 13: 9781596910539

Publisher: Bloomsbury Pub Plc USA, 2005

Synopsis

The international bestseller, finally in paperback!
 
Time magazine’s #1 book of the year · 11 weeks and counting on the New York Times bestseller list ·  Shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award · Longlisted for the Booker prize · A Book Sense pick · People Top Ten Books of the year · Salon.com Top Ten of 2004 · New York Times Notable Books of the Year · Christian Science Monitor Best Fiction 2004 · Nancy Pearl’s Top 12 Books of 2004 · Washington Post Book World Best of 2004 · San Francisco Chronicle Best Books of 2004 · Chicago Tribune Best of 2004 · Seattle Times 25 Best Books of 2004 · Atlanta Journal-Constitution Top 12 Books of 2004 · Village Voice “Top Shelf” · Raleigh News & Observer Best of 2004 · Rocky Mountain News critics’ favorites of 2004 · Kansas City Star 100 Noteworthy Books of 2004 · Fort Worth Star-Telegram 10 Best Books of 2004 · Hartford Courant Best Books of 2004
 
Susanna Clarke’s brilliant first novel is an utterly compelling epic tale of nineteenth-century England and the two very different magicians who, as teacher and pupil and then as rivals, emerge to change its history. Sold in 21 languages, with a major motion picture from New Line on the way, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a tour de force that has captured the imagination of readers worldwide.

About this title

Review:

It's 1808 and that Corsican upstart Napoleon is battering the English army and navy. Enter Mr. Norrell, a fusty but ambitious scholar from the Yorkshire countryside and the first practical magician in hundreds of years. What better way to demonstrate his revival of British magic than to change the course of the Napoleonic wars? Susanna Clarke's ingenious first novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, has the cleverness and lightness of touch of the Harry Potter series, but is less a fairy tale of good versus evil than a fantastic comedy of manners, complete with elaborate false footnotes, occasional period spellings, and a dense, lively mythology teeming beneath the narrative. Mr. Norrell moves to London to establish his influence in government circles, devising such powerful illusions as an 11-day blockade of French ports by English ships fabricated from rainwater. But however skillful his magic, his vanity provides an Achilles heel, and the differing ambitions of his more glamorous apprentice, Jonathan Strange, threaten to topple all that Mr. Norrell has achieved. A sparkling debut from Susanna Clarke--and it's not all fairy dust. --Regina Marler

From the Back Cover:

BOOK SENSE BOOK OF THE YEAR
A PEOPLE MAGAZINE "TOP TEN" BOOK
WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD
WINNER OF THE WORLD FANTASY AWARD

"Ravishing...Combines the dark mythology of fantasy with the delicious social comedy of Jane Austen into a masterpiece of the genre that rivals Tolkien."―Time

At the dawn of the nineteenth century, two very different magicians emerge to change England's history. In the year 1806, with the Napoleonic Wars raging on land and sea, most people believe magic to be long dead in England―until the reclusive Mr Norrell reveals his powers, and becomes a celebrity overnight.

Soon, another practicing magician comes forth: the young, handsome, and daring Jonathan Strange. He becomes Norrell's student, and they join forces in the war against France. But Strange is increasingly drawn to the wildest, most perilous forms of magic, straining his partnership with Norrell, and putting at risk everything else he holds dear.

"What kind of magic can make an 800-page novel seem too short? Whatever it is, debut author Susanna Clarke is possessed by it."―USA Today

"From beginning to end, a perfect pleasure."―Neil Gaiman

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Pub Plc USA
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1596910534
• ISBN 13: 9781596910539
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 1006
• Illustrator: Rosenberg Portia