Johnathan Strange and Mr Norrell: Looks like hard work, is it worth it?

[lucyellensmum]

Has anyone read this. I picked it up in a charity shop the other week, been drawn to it for a while but never brought it because well, im tired!!! It looks like a bit of a challenging read AND its bloody heavy - is it worth the effort?

fishie I am currently reading the philip pullmans dh got me for xmas and enjoying them before that it was a john o'farrell book so eclectic in our house

Message withdrawn

yyy wynne jones.

one of the happiest times in my life was reading philip pullmans.

have you read abhorsen nix stuff lapin?

ooh...oooh...love Dianna Wynn Jones. And Garth Nix. The sabriel/libarel/abhorsen trilogy was just lush. Oh and Pullman!! TDF! Love his stuff.

It's the Artemis Fowels I've got, so might start in on them this next week or so.

I like the hard stuff too....like Robin Hobbs and Tad Williams. Can't resist a big thick tome about magic and squires boys and curses and spells and stuff .

i am hardcore. stephen donaldson.

garth nix books are fab, agreed - love the days of the week septology (...) hero has asthma! hoorah for asthmatic heroes!

one of the best things about having children is being able to read all their books.

Sorry for hijack too. In my defence I'm new and don't really know what hijacking is, but can probably guess.

Love asthmatic heroes....love the septology idea, but have struggled to get hold of full set (must try harder) and agree about having kids so you can read their books persephonesnape (love the name by the way...but I always want to say persephonebrown, cos of the wishing moon book I read to dd).

Mordants Need....must check that out. But off to bed now as dd waiting (dh away so dd in my big double bed, hopefully fast asleep, but still cuddleworthy!). Night night john boy....

I loved Jonathan Strange but can see why others might not... I thought her Victorian pastiche was really quite clever so when the plot slowed down I just bumbled along admiring the general technique.

And thrice hurrah for Diana Wynne Jones too! I have Conrad's Fate lined up in my to-read stack though having gorged overmuch on fantasy recently I'm taking a bit of a break with a couple of office-life-type novels.

I really came to enjoy it, but only stuck with it initially as we were reading it as part of a book group. I was the only one out of 6 other people who actually read it though, apart from the person who suggested it. I do think it could be condensed by 500 or so pages though...

I really came to enjoy it, but only stuck with it initially as we were reading it as part of a book group. I was the only one out of 6 other people who actually read it though, apart from the person who suggested it. I do think it could be condensed by 500 or so pages though...

Jonathan Strange v good. Loved the low-key humour and the pastiche and the war bits and even the fairy stuff. It does have a few lulls where the plot slows down but it didn't put me off.

Having said that, my dad has been trying (on and off) to read it since September 06 and hasn't managed yet

I gave up too and felt like using it as a doorstop!!!
I think it may have been the size of the bloody thing that put me off.
I did the same with Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy, I kept on having to go back to the beginning to check out the list of characters.
I have mentally made a note that one day I will finish both books and have given myself 5 years to do it in

Message withdrawn

I have it out from the library at the moment and am about half way through - am enjoying it, though it feels a bit like eating rich fruit cake: it's nice but a bit indigestible, can't have too much at once.

I do feel there's a place for that sort of novel, as well as the book that you have to devour all at once in one sitting, because it's so engrossing (apols for the over-extended food metaphor, can you tell I am trying to get rid of my spare tyre?)

Several points where I wondered why I was reading it, but I just about made it to the end. Can't remember much about it though

I loved it. But it is heavy going sometimes, you have to be in the mood.
It's also heavy to hold in bed.....

I gave up and put it in the recycling!

could easily been half as long IMO but not bad