Jump to content

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke


Guest Anonymous

Recommended Posts

 

 

I'm glad to hear it - I was vaguely disappointed in the ending. Hasn't stopped me wanting to read the book though.

 

Hmm - £3 on Amazon for the KIndle version - I'll be downloading that when i get home tonight!

Yes, the ending was very, very different!  Hope you enjoy the book - I found it a sheer delight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 261
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

I don't remember the ending being that much different in the book, except from Lascelles' fate, and the final battle with the Gentleman. :unsure:

 

LOVED the episode. :D I especially loved how many moments of humour there were to break up the drama ("why are you firing walnuts at me?" :rolol: ), and I thought they did a grand job of portraying the relationships between Strange/Norrell and Strange/Arabella.

 

Strange + Norrell = BFFs! :wub::D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm no closer to re-reading the book or watching the rest of the series, but I think the television series will definitely be better watched on cold, wintry nights, so my current plan is to re-read the book this autumn, and then save the series for my Christmas holidays :smile2:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm no closer to re-reading the book or watching the rest of the series, but I think the television series will definitely be better watched on cold, wintry nights, so my current plan is to re-read the book this autumn, and then save the series for my Christmas holidays :smile2:

 That sounds like a great plan Claire. All in all despite the small changes I think the seven -hour  series is better than any 2 hour film could ever have been so I am grateful that the BBC made it and not Hollywood. And Bertie Cavell and Eddie Marsan cannot be faulted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The ending was different but not in essentials. More than any of the other episodes it showed how much they had had to both cull and hurry things along. Such a lot of time and care went in to the writing of those final scenes in the book but here we had it sort of thrown at us.
I still loved it .. bits of it I actually preferred (Jonathan and Mr Norrell .. very touching and powerful scenes between them.) Bits of it were disappointing (too many flocking raven scenes .. they cancelled each other out!) .. the demise of Drawlight, Lascelles and the Gentleman .. all better in the book. The Raven King was disappointing. The Greysteel's were ineffective but if the thing you're disappointed in is ..


.. the situation between Arabella and Jonathan .. then you won't be mollified by the book version .. which had most of us gnashing our teeth and crying into our pillows! :lol: Again I preferred the book version .. but the outcome was the same. 


 
Great series, thoroughly enjoyed it. It could have been better but then it could have been awful. Loved Bertie Carvel .. what a revelation!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Totally agree about the flocking raven scenes, Kay - I watched it again a couple of days ago and ended up actually laughing at the fact that they just kept coming back. And yeah, the Raven King was mightily disappointing, although I remember the same being true in the book.

 

Anyone else waiting eagerly for a spin-off series about Vinculus and Childermass? :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I keep waiting for Vinculus to shout "VICTOR!" :giggle2:

Haha - I've decided that Paul Kaye enjoys playing the same mad magic priest/prophet over and over...... His performance as Vinculus was no different to his Thoros of Myr turn in Game of Thrones.  Whereas Enzo Cilenti as Childermass was a far cry cry from his portrayal as slave-owner Yezzan on the same show!  I was very impressed with Cilenti - less so with Kaye, but all in all it was a very competent cast and the two leads were superb.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haha - I've decided that Paul Kaye enjoys playing the same mad magic priest/prophet over and over...... 

 

Apart from when he was Vince in Mongrels . . . 

 

 

:giggle2:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whereas Enzo Cilenti as Childermass was a far cry cry from his portrayal as slave-owner Yezzan on the same show!  I was very impressed with Cilenti

 

Yes, his performance was excellent, particularly his dry deadpan humour. Oh, the eye-rolling. And that accent! :wub: I also loved the chemistry he had on-screen with Paul Kaye - what an awesome pair. :D

 

Also, he's a fairly beautiful guy. :yes: (Cilenti, not Kaye. :giggle2: )

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Totally agree about the flocking raven scenes, Kay - I watched it again a couple of days ago and ended up actually laughing at the fact that they just kept coming back. And yeah, the Raven King was mightily disappointing, although I remember the same being true in the book.

 

Anyone else waiting eagerly for a spin-off series about Vinculus and Childermass? :D

I'd watch it!!  :DThe sequel is said to centre on the pair of them but then .. is she still writing it? Susanna is so stingy with her updates! :D

 

I chatted to my mum about the series today. She valiantly watched every episode without any idea of the story (I was going to say beforehand but I'm not sure she had much idea during either! :D :D :lol: ) and was scared to death nearly by the last two episodes but she thought they were particularly awesome. This cheered me up because usually she wouldn't watch this sort of thing at all (though .. as she likes to tell me .. 'your Dad and me loved Merlin' :D )

 

I liked Paul Kaye's performance but then I haven't seen him (or anyone) in Game of Thrones! He's pretty good at playing the ever so slightly deranged isn't he? :D I kept thinking he'd make a good Fagin .. perhaps a few years from now.

 

Very impressed with Enzo, Bertie, Eddie and Charlotte. Also loved Alice as Lady Pole and thought the actors playing Mr Segundus, Drawlight and Lascelles were brilliant (Lascelles was played to absolute obnoxious perfection.) I usually like Marc Warren in everything and I did think he was spot on for the part but the way he was directed was slightly off. He should have been a bit more playful .. we saw that with the walnuts but more of that sort of thing would have been great (because in the book he walks the line between sinister and playful so well but we hardly saw that here .. his performance was slightly stilted) .. also Ariyon Bakare as Stephen .. I wasn't convinced .. though his performances got stronger towards the end I thought. 

 

Happy though .. yes very happy indeed! :D 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd watch it!!  :DThe sequel is said to centre on the pair of them but then .. is she still writing it? Susanna is so stingy with her updates! :D

 

Ohhh I hope so! :D The only thing I've read about it is that it's set after JS&MN, and that it will focus more on how magic affects lower-class characters.

 

I chatted to my mum about the series today. She valiantly watched every episode without any idea of the story (I was going to say beforehand but I'm not sure she had much idea during either! :D :D :lol: ) and was scared to death nearly by the last two episodes but she thought they were particularly awesome. This cheered me up because usually she wouldn't watch this sort of thing at all (though .. as she likes to tell me .. 'your Dad and me loved Merlin' :D )

 

I'm so glad she liked it! :D My mum liked it too, though she rang me straight after the final episode to tell me how miffed she was by the ending. :giggle2: (her and my dad loved Merlin too :D )

 

Very impressed with Enzo, Bertie, Eddie and Charlotte. Also loved Alice as Lady Pole and thought the actors playing Mr Segundus, Drawlight and Lascelles were brilliant (Lascelles was played to absolute obnoxious perfection.) I usually like Marc Warren in everything and I did think he was spot on for the part but the way he was directed was slightly off. He should have been a bit more playful .. we saw that with the walnuts but more of that sort of thing would have been great (because in the book he walks the line between sinister and playful so well but we hardly saw that here .. his performance was slightly stilted) .. also Ariyon Bakare as Stephen .. I wasn't convinced .. though his performances got stronger towards the end I thought. 

 

I wasn't too sure about Alice as Lady Pole at first, but by the end I was really rooting for her. The actress played her wonderfully. :) And yes, Segundus is adorable (I loved the 'mad doctor' look he had in the later episodes!), and Drawlight and Lascelles were awesome. I'm so glad the TV show evoked the same reactions to these two as the book did: as in, at first you hate Drawlight and think Lascelles is quite funny, then later you actually feel sorry for Drawlight and can't wait for Lascelles to get his comeuppance.

 

I thought the last couple of episodes tried to get some of the Gentleman's playful side in - like when he told Stephen to flip the pages of Jonathan's book just to annoy him - but as it wasn't really much in evidence from the beginning these moments felt kind of shoe-horned in.

 

And I didn't really like how Stephen came across quite villain-ish the whole way through, as if he wasn't making any effort to break the spell, and was actually helping the Gentleman to keep Lady Pole silent.

 

But yes, other than that, I'm very happy with it too. Can't wait to re-watch it all from the beginning during the long winter evenings! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...