Awww, no more posts in this thread?
I finished the book last night. Absolutely could not put it down once I got about 300 pages into it.
Imp:
Strange and Norrell on screen?! What an intriguing thought! I'll have to think about it a little more - not really sure how I'll feel about seeing it on screen as I have very fixed and subjective ideas about that book!
Yes, I'm wondering too what they will do with it on screen, Imp, as I feel very strongly that there was more than one layer to this book and my biggest inner smile was for the layer that does not show on top.
But, like Tolkien, the top layer is also one darn good yarn and even a superficial treatment would probably wear well.
Mossy, it was the questions you asked in your post that prompted me to make this book the first piece of fiction I've read in nearly a year. Thanks for such a great recommendation!
Do you mind if I express my thoughts on some of things you asked? I'm often guilty of digging up more than an author intended, but I did think this was a book about the death of good story-telling, the death of good literature in England, and that Magic served throughout as metaphor for the creative force of writing. This impression struck me almost from the first and was only reinforced as I got deeper. I thought that Vinculus' short speech near the end regarding all the kinds of 'books' that the new writing on him might be was kind of the final key.
************ SPOILERS ********************
Although the book is called Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, I think that perhaps it is really about John Uskglass. Vinculus, I believe, says that Strange and Norrell are just a spell that Uskglass is doing. What I could not figure out was what the spell was, what it was for. Was it to release those imprisoned in Lost-Hope?
Yes, I agree that the book is 'about' the Raven King. Strange and Norrell are the spell he casts to restore Magic to England.
As disaster upon disaster unfolded due to Norrell's ignorance of the force behind his skill, and Strange's indifference to discipline and detail, I identified them in my own mind with "inspiration" (Strange) and "perspiration" (Norrell). They must, of course, be bound together for the magical endeavor to be successful.
My favourite character, I think, was John Childermass. He was dark and wry and wonderful. I wish he had been in the book more, but at the same time, I think his character would not have worked so well if he had been. He seems to hold much of the story together, though I'm not entirely sure how.
I believe Childermass is "the muse." He spurs Norrell forward and finds the invisible connections that allow Strange's 'inspirational' contribution to be joined with Norrell's skill. Childermass is definitely the servant of the Raven King foremost - he sets things in motion.
What I would like to do, if I can find the time (probably not until next summer) is to go through the book and look up the names of all the passing characters and historical references. I had the impression that part of the irony of the book was not just the irony of 'theoretical magicians' - whom I took to be the literary academics, critics, etc. - and the government's attempts to put poesis in the service of the status quo, but that the slightly altered names of publishing companies were scattered throughout the book as minor characters (Sutton, Harcourt-Bruce?) and that there were many, many references to actual works of literature.
Publishing company names might have been coincidental, as a real historical person might have the same last name as the founder of a publishing company, but references to specific passages in literature would be harder to attribute to coincidence. For example, the spell which finally summons the Raven King is a spell to "find him, bring him, and bind him" which I took to be a bow to the last great work of magic performed in England.
The one thing I find most praiseworthy in a book is good structure - structure that mirrors the tale itself - and this book struck me as among the finest in that department. And it was really pleasing because very few authors are capable of doing this. The last book where I really came away thinking - WOW! - was
Life of Pi, and I hadn't read anything quite like it since Faulkner's
As I Lay Dying, which is considered the greatest book by the greatest American author.
All the fake footnotes and fake history create a very academic tone at the beginning ... she advances with a perfectly serious expression on her face ... so one has the impression that this alternate history of England is part of the conceit and not actually an element of the tale. But as the story itself becomes more and more bizarre, you realize that magic is inserting itself into the structure and tone of the book in the same way that Strange is inserting himself into the endeavors of Norrell. The way the story is told actually changes as the story advances, as if the writer of this book is also affected by it. That, I thought, was amazingly skillful. Again, when I have more time, I'd like to re-read the book and try to locate the 'crossroads' ... the character of Segundus, I thought, signalled the shifting perspectives but I would have to sort of tear the book apart to analyze its structure and I'm still under its 'spell' and don't want to do that yet.
You also might have noticed that she borrows the 'beginning of magic in England' - the appearance of the Raven King - from T.E. White's explanation of the origins of Uther Pendragon. The alternate history splits off from true history immediately after William I. The true origins of the Arthur tales predate the Conqueror by several hundred years, so it was interesting for me that she chose to copy White's formulation which is plainly wrong but at least creates an historical coherence for the story. I thought that was probably done as a tribute to White.
Interestingly, we are talking about this same problem in Shibboleth forum, in the Arithmetical Forumulation thread .... that Tolkien also sought to place Middle Earth in some historical relationship to real English history ... that is, where in England's prehistory did this particular phase occur? ... and he never really succceed to do this, never decided where exactly the Elves should be inserted
.... and White had the same problem with the Arthur tales. If you want to give the alternate history veracity you have to insert it into real history somewhere - show where the parallel, magic version departs from actual events ... and he chose to make Arthur an early Norman. I don't know why he chose to do this; it always bothered me, frankly. But she does the same thing, bringing the Raven King out of faery at the beginning of Norman rule.
***** END SPOILERS ***********
I believe that one of the reasons the book succeeds so well is because the magical history has been well-researched. The configuration of Black King and White King, and the red and white rose - these are from Johann Rosencruz, the founder of the Rosicrucians. This isn't an area of history with which I am very familiar, so I couldn't really identify the origins of all the magical stuff done in the book, but I have the impression that it is all legitimate, you know, stuff that medieval alchemists really did try to do. I noticed here and there in Rowlings books (which I also have not read while paying close attention) that she names some of her characters after actual medieval alchemists ... so one feels while reading that one has heard all of this before, which one probably has in various contexts. That gives a feeling of veracity that could not be achieved by pure invention.
It would be difficult to follow up something as brilliant as JS&MN.
The irony would be very difficult to reproduce unless she found another area of history that lent itself to similar ironic treatment. If it were my job
I would be inclined to make the sequel about the Johannites of the North, since their plight does seem to refer to the Manchester movement in England at that time ... there would be historical events she could tie the story to as she did with the Napoleanic Wars.
Jn
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Besides, with my reading speed, I won't have read it before that, anyway! 
