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  • Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

  • By: Susanna Clarke
  • Narrated by: Simon Prebble
  • Length: 32 hrs and 30 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (500 ratings)

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Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

By: Susanna Clarke
Narrated by: Simon Prebble
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Publisher's Summary

OVER 4 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE

Shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Guardian First Book Award; longlisted for the Man Booker Prize

‘Unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years ... Funny, moving, scary, otherworldly, practical and magical' NEIL GAIMAN

The year is 1806. centuries have passed since practical magicians faded into the nation’s past. But scholars of this glorious history discover that one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell, whose displays of magic send a thrill through the country.

Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very antithesis of Norrell.

So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms that between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine.

©2004 Susanna Clarke (P)2004 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC, and Bloomsbury Publishing

Critic Reviews

"Unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years...Funny, moving, scary, otherworldly, practical and magical." (Neil Gaiman) 

What listeners say about Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • RFC
  • 02-01-2016

Outstanding performance, great story

Simon Prebble does a great job with different accents and in creating recognisable character voices.
Often narrators struggle to give characters of similar age and background a distinct persona and voice but Mr Prebble does this beautifully.

The book itself creates an intricate world and alternative history. The writing style especially transports you back to an early 19th century Britain. It illustrates how this age was a very different world - even without the addition of magic. Susanna Clarke includes all the little pleasantries and flourishes of the era. However, sometimes I found she goes overboard with this style. There were times when I wished that people would be done with polite phrases or discussing what could be done and something, anything, would finally HAPPEN! Because of this I rated the story only 4 stars.
Overall, I very much enjoyed this book and audiobook and I am hoping that Susanns Clarke finds the time to write a book-length sequel of this world and its characters.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Slow to start

But an amazing tale once you let it sweep you up. Excellent, rich voice acting.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Wonderful Tale Of Magic

An epic journey through the world of two magicians in Britain. I began to believe it was real...

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Boring

I bought the book based on other readers' reviews. I agree that it evokes the time in which it was set but it is a struggle to continue through. Not always believable, not always convincing in the continuity of the story. A poor decision to buy.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Boring

It promised to develop. The Sherlock type English gentlemen culture was fun but the magic was unimaginative and dull

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A New Favourite

An absolute triumph of a book. Masterfully read by Simon Prebble. So delicate in eloquence are the words, and so nuanced in delivery are they given. A long soaring journey worth every minute.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Terrible

This was the most boring 3 hours of audio book in my life. The worst decision and 3 hours of my life I wish I could get back. There is no way I could bring myself to listen to another 3 hours of torture

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story but bad audio track divisions

The story and narrating was great but the the audio track divisions were terrible. The tracks never followed the the chapters. Don't buy this audio book if you have visual difficulties because if you'll never find your way back if the Audible app loses your place. Note to the publisher please edit this audiobook again and make the track divisions follow the chapters. Thanks

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Great narrator, not a great story

Fantastic performance from a talented narrator (I appreciated that each character had their own personal accent), but it's unfortunately let down by the constant inclusions/interruptions of footnotes, and the fact that the author thinks a whole bunch of mundane details are far more interesting than they actually are.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

So boring

this book was the most tedious listen ever, I got 24 hours in by saying "something will happen now to make this interesting" but it kept droning on with nothing happening. So boring, just so boring. I can not believe that these 5 star ratings are from real people.

I have listened to poorly written and narrated books before, books with the most basic storylines. But this is the worst by far, this is the only book I have not been able to finish. It's just so bland

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2 people found this helpful

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