Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

6haunted days- your enthusiasm has cheered me up-- like you I usually prefer old books, regency or victorian...this is a unique book to me, gathering together many fascinating aspects of literature and folklore (I did Eng Lit at uni too)


didn't know it was going to be a film.... I'm sure I'll watch it- and probably enjoy it- but it won't be the same as the book. as you say gregory they are different media.

To me, this was a book ABOUT books- about book collecting, research, rival theories, rival articles in journals, obscure tales, lost stories...can this be put into a film? no. but it will be interesting to see how it is interpreted.

greenbeans said:

6haunted days- your enthusiasm has cheered me up-- like you I usually prefer old books, regency or victorian...this is a unique book to me, gathering together many fascinating aspects of literature and folklore (I did Eng Lit at uni too)


didn't know it was going to be a film.... I'm sure I'll watch it- and probably enjoy it- but it won't be the same as the book. as you say gregory they are different media.

To me, this was a book ABOUT books- about book collecting, research, rival theories, rival articles in journals, obscure tales, lost stories...can this be put into a film? no. but it will be interesting to see how it is interpreted.

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I'm glad I could cheer someone up at least! : )

And yes, how could I overlook that in my post. It is a book about books. And as books were my first and still my most enduring/obsessed passion in life, just another reason I hold this book dear.

As I say - I loved it. But I never thought about it being a book about books - I was too engrossed. I love that idea. I think I will read it again ! (but not till I finish the book I just had to start again because of the generalised pandemonium around here !)

A book about books. Praytell, why haven't I read this one, yet? Am I insane?

HearthCricket said:

A book about books. Praytell, why haven't I read this one, yet? Am I insane?

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You very well might be! So then you'd be a perfect fit for this book ; ).

Actually HC - you'd love it, from what I know of you. Demand it for Christmas. It will keep you going till the snow melts !

NB it is not a book you can read in the bath. Too heavy

Wish I Could Read Like That!

Dear Robinchun,

I loved this book for so many reasons, the dangers of magic, it's hidden pitfalls, the gross mistakes we can make with the best of intentions. I very muched liked the fact that a "non magician", not any special kind of person, was the Tarot reader and apparently pretty good at it! He kept "telling" us how the plot was going to unfold (albiet in a guised form). I assumed he used a Marseille deck, at least, that was the picture forming in my mind, which I also fond exciting. I want to learn more about Marseille reading and Etteilla, but I am too discreacted, unfortunately, by so much that is involved in the cards.

I read this a couple of years ago and I have absolutely no memory of the tarot being in it at all!

I enjoyed it but I can understand why some might find it disappointing. It was marketed as a kind of adult Harry Potter, which it isn't at all. Anyone coming to it expecting Rowling's style of compelling, fast-paced narrative was bound to be disappointed.

This is a book that needs a leisurely, indulgent, put-your-feet-up kind of mood - and a tolerance for 19th-century narrative pacing!!

I'm surprised it's going to be filmed - afficionados of the book will certainly be disappointed because it will need to be changed radically to work as a movie...

...just been to check it out on imdb. Christopher Hampton is writing the screenplay, which is promising (he wrote Dangerous Liaisons). But it'll probably never see the light of day...

...mind you, I think Johnny Depp would be great as Strange...

Oh please not Johnny Depp either. Someone creepier and lovelier looking..... and MUCH more mysterious. (I like Depp fine, BTW - but not for this. I confess Alan Rickman is too old for Strange really - but a younger version of him would be perfect !)

But books and movies AREN'T the same. As I said somewhere. It is the ones that try to be spot on that often make the worst messes of it all. Chrpstopher Hampton - that is promising. I loved Dangerous Liaisons.

The tarot bit was quite en passant. But I was so lucky - the book hadn't been hyped to me at all; I was just lent it as a book I'd never even heard of - and I was RIVETED. I think it was a Marseilles type deck too though - but hand made.

*Leo62, where have you been ? You are much missed in the game thread *

gregory said:

*Leo62, where have you been ? You are much missed in the game thread *

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Heheh...there was a run of decks I'd never even heard of and I kinda got despondent and gave up!

How about Alan Rickman as Mr Norrell? Casting against type perhaps, but I think he would be interesting...

I think Johnny Depp HAS to be in it somewhere!! Perhaps he could be the Raven King. ..

..and Chiwetel Ejiofor would be great as Stephen Black - he was so cool as the villain in "Serenity" ...