'Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrel - Book List update' blog discussion 27 August 2010 at 11:58AM in Martin's blogs & appearances & MoneySavingExpert in the news 17 replies 3.1K views

Ignatius_A

I'm sorry, i have to agree with many others on here. I hate to let a book beat me, and i did actually finish this one by dint of great effort, but i'm afraid it never really gripped me.

I just recently finished another book that took me some effort too - The girl with the dragon tattoo. Not sure if this was an artifact of the translation from the swedish, but the author seemed to spend interminable amounts of time describing actions of the characters, when in many cases those actions had no bearing at all on either the plot or the character development. What kept me going was the character of the eponymous lisbeth salander, whom i found at once both amusing and fascinating.

Then again, maybe that's because these 2 books fall ouside my normal genre. I tend to read scifi/fantasy/(occasionally)horror/humour so neither of the above really hit my sweet spot, despite rave reviews

bumface

I felt the same small bereavement when I finished this amazing book. There's another one by the same author in the same style - I think it's called "The Ladies of Grace Adieu". It's a slim (comparatively tiny) collection of short stories - well worth having on the shelf. Especially the hardback version which has a nice old-fashioned fabric cover that somehow adds another dimension to the strange nostalgia it conjures up.

prfungi

Ignatius_A wrote: »

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I just recently finished another book that took me some effort too - The girl with the dragon tattoo. Not sure if this was an artifact of the translation from the swedish, but the author seemed to spend interminable amounts of time describing actions of the characters, when in many cases those actions had no bearing at all on either the plot or the character development. What kept me going was the character of the eponymous lisbeth salander, whom i found at once both amusing and fascinating. ...................

I found this book quite difficult the first time I tried but as my friend really enjoyed it, as did 75% of her bookclub, I decided to give it another go. This time I took it on holiday and when I started to read it again - it "grabbed me". I read the whole thing on a lovely lazy day in sunny Spain! As soon as I was home I borrowed the 2 follow ups and devoured them as well.

There's a lot to be said for giving a book another chance when you're in a different mood, sometimes I find books are very much "horses for courses", hence I will have three or four on the go at the same time.



PS - I enjoyed reading Jonathan Strange.......... a while ago I found it fascinating.

PM1

A relatively unknown treasure are the Roman Novels of Harry Sidebottom. I have just finished the third and now must wait for the next. They are fiction, but he is a professor of Ancient History at Oxford. And he can WRITE!

And my wife and I, and our reading group, all enjoyed all of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo novels too.

greenoak

I got this book from audible as a sign up freebee

was 57 hours long

A fab book, i loved it. The kids used to get annoyed as I had it playing in the car and they missed big chunks of the book.

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juliegr1

Modern day but but a great mix of real life and fantasy I really recommend Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London and Moon over Soho. Based around
the Folly, official home of the force that has policed British magic since 1775.
To quote: “…witty, well plotted, vividly written and addictively readable.”
The Times
And for once I actually agree.