Click here to purchase Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by: Susanna Clarke
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

by: Susanna Clarke

2004; 1024 pages

Rating: 1.5

Ugh. I have no idea why "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell" got such great reviews. Everyone told me it was fantastic! It's like Harry Potter but for adults. Really?

This book is absolutely way too long. I lost interest about half way through. (Just so you know, the unabridged audio version is 26 CDs - that's a long book to listen to.) Like I said, I lost interest. I think that Clarke could have cut down the book by at least half and still had just as good a story, if not better.

The premise was really good, but, in my honest opinion, there just wasn't anything better than average about it. The writing was decent, the action was minimal. I don't know. I just didn't like it, and not just because it was long. There are some really long books out there that I love. I just didn't like this one.

I did like the magic, and the idea of magic and other worlds, but everything just seemed so disjointed to me. What are your thoughts? Especially if you really liked it...enlighten me.