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Original poster

Hmmm... They've cast Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

35 replies

Thurlow · 11/10/2013 12:04

If anyone has read this book or worships it as much as I do

An actor I don't know, Bertie Carvel, as Strange, who from his pictures I can see working. And Eddie Marsan as Norrell, which I'm less sure of - I love Eddie Marsan, he's an amazing actor, but I always pictured Norrell as looking Ian Holm....

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Bigfingers · 29/10/2013 22:09

meant to say I think Eddie Marsan is a really good choice for Norrell

Original poster
Thurlow · 29/10/2013 22:01

The casting is great - I get why they've made a lot of characters younger, that's just what they tend to do. But it's quite a well-known cast. I've seen Marc Warren do some pretty odd-ball and random things before and I think he could be fantastic as the Gentleman. Paul Kaye as Vinculus could make it quite funny. He's been really good in GoT.

I was really worried as well, but the casting is so good I think they might actually be throwing some real money at it. No idea when it is on but I'm going to guess this time next year, I think it will be there pre-Xmas 2014 big drama.

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Bigfingers · 29/10/2013 20:34

Just seen this thread - excited, but also bit worried - about an adaptation - I LOVED this book. I read it about 7 years ago and reading this thread I realise I have forgotten huge chunks of it.

I remember the magical prose, and I remember feeling absolute dread about finishing the book - you know how some books you look at how thick the wodge of pages is left and want to just be through it, and others you see it diminishing and it makes you want to slow down and savour every page. Well, that.

I think the time is ripe for a re-read.

I gave it to various people as a Christmas pressie and not one person came back to tell me how fabulous it was Sad. My mum said she gave up 2/3 of the way through!!! went down in my estimation

UptoapointLordCopper · 29/10/2013 20:24

I think the casting is good. Childermass would work too if they don't let him look too young. When will it be on?

Original poster
Thurlow · 29/10/2013 14:21

Apparently it's going to be 7 episodes (yay!) and some casting has been announced...

Alice Englert as Lady Polie - hmm
Enzo Cilenti as Childermass - a lot younger than I imagined, I think Childermass as supposed to be at least 40, but I can kind of see it
Charlotte Riley as Arabella
<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=www.contactmusic.com/pics/la/cass_premiere_280708/paul_kaye_5169288.jpg&imgrefurl=www.contactmusic.com/photo/paul_kaye_5169288&h=750&w=500&sz=67&tbnid=_SSvUkjIGKkDFM:&tbnh=129&tbnw=86&zoom=1&usg=__1CmrmrVNHbSDnb77VgVfVxKcVhQ=&docid=KulVubZ3wKYIgM&sa=X&ei=4cNvUuHaG_GP7AaO1oH4Aw&ved=0CKYHEP4dMGU" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Paul Kaye as Vinculus, which I like a lot
Sam West as Lord Pole
Ariyon Bakare as Stephen Black, which also looks like great casting
And the lovely Marc Warren as The Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair

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LEMisafucker · 25/10/2013 20:56

They are making a film?? i think it would suit a dramatisation better but either way - oooh i am excited, i LOVED this book loved it

Original poster
Thurlow · 18/10/2013 20:02

I agree, cote - I can understand why some people complain that nothing much happens or it takes a long time to get going, but to me that's the joy of the book - I didn't want it to end and was so entranced by the world she'd created.

Have just started reading it again, my commute has suddenly become too short!

On the 'which fictional character would you do?' lists, JS always comes top 3 for me Wink

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CoteDAzur · 18/10/2013 19:08

Soup - You really should give it another go.

It is very well written and manages to suck the reader into this strange world to the extent that it all feels completely normal and plausible. Cliché as it may be to say it, I really didn't want it to end.

I hope she writes another book about these characters/this world, preferably about the Raven King.

Heartbrokenmum73 · 18/10/2013 16:51

I was jesting!

SoupDragon · 18/10/2013 16:47
Confused
RhinestoneCowgirl · 18/10/2013 15:57

Read this ages ago for book group.

IMO it stole valuable time in my life that I could have used for sleeping (DD was a baby at the time).

Heartbrokenmum73 · 18/10/2013 15:54

No, no, it's definitely 'Johnathan Strange and Mr Norell'. I've read it. Maybe I'll look up this 'Chalk and Cheese' though...

SoupDragon · 18/10/2013 15:40

:)

It seems to be a chalk and cheese kind of book going by the AMazon reviews.

Heartbrokenmum73 · 18/10/2013 14:57

SoupDragon there is that, yes Grin

BigWoooooo · 17/10/2013 21:01

I read it years ago and loved it. Can't remember a thing about it now though. My brain is basically mush Sad

SoupDragon · 17/10/2013 20:56

Or you are deluded Wink

Heartbrokenmum73 · 17/10/2013 20:45

Soupdragon I passed it on to my Mum when I finished it, thinking she'd love it like I did. She.did.not.

She read a bit then gave it back. Couldn't get on with it because it was too weird for her.

She (and you) don't know what you're missing...

SoupDragon · 17/10/2013 18:39

I don't think I even finished the first chapter of this.

UptoapointLordCopper · 17/10/2013 18:38

xpost! That's more time I've talked about this book than I've ever done in RL!

UptoapointLordCopper · 17/10/2013 18:37

Thurlow it is strange, isn't it? I really love it. DH likes it too. But other people don't seem to. I don't know anyone in RL apart from DH who has read it or like it.

I agree that Childermass is the hero. He sees the truth (at the end, at least) rather than just what he wants to see.

Now I'm going to have to read the book again!

Heartbrokenmum73 · 17/10/2013 18:35

Oh man, Thurlow, you're making me itch to read it again!

I've forgotten pretty much everything about it by now, so I'm probably safe to pick it up again.

But I'm all tangled up in The Wheel of Time and daren't leave that halfway through book 8 or I'll have to start over (again, again, again)...

Original poster
Thurlow · 17/10/2013 12:57

I'm just happy to find other people who love this book as much as I do - I rave about it to other people, but they just don't seem to get it Sad It is a bit bizarre, I suppose - probably a marmite book, you either love it or you hate it.

I am really looking forward to seeing it but to me the joy of the book is in some of the tiny details that probably won't make it through to the show. There are so many moments I love that I doubt are that important to make the cut. Like the fact that you first meet JS in a random story about his father's new servant, or Strange's dead Neopolitans (could you imagine them on screen?!), or the way he keeps wondering, when he's mad, whether people have pineapples in their mouths.

Wonder who else they will cast? If they get Childermass wrong it could be a disaster - but that might be that after at least half a dozen readings, I've decided that Childermass is the hero of the story. And Arabella better be ballsy and not some mopey 19 year old actress who's just there because she's pretty. I'm not sure Arabella is even supposed to be that pretty.

What moments does everyone else want to see? York Minster coming to life, JS at the Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair's ball finding Arabella again, Drawlight being chased through the Tower of Darkness...

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UptoapointLordCopper · 16/10/2013 20:35

I love the book! Don't know how many times I reread it and was just thinking about reading it again. When will it be on?

Wilding · 16/10/2013 15:24

Ooh how EXCITING! I love the book and I hope they don't ruin it.

I do think that casting is very good and I'm glad it's a six-parter - no way you could get everything into a single film.

Dunlurking · 16/10/2013 15:09

There seem to be an awful lot of them available on ebay, and mine's not signed Envy Think it will have to be a BIG hit!

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