Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Has anyone actually managed to finish this and truly enjoy it? It's the only book I've ever read that provoked two different strangers on public transport to approach me and ask how I was getting on with it.

The first, I was about a quarter of the way through and said, honestly, 'Well, I don't mind it, but it's a bit of a struggle'. She laughed, ominously.

The second, I was about half way though and I said 'It's OK', but only because I couldn't bring myself to admit that I'd started it 6 months earlier and couldn't remember what had happened.

I've discussed it since with people, and although I fully expect to finally be proven wrong on this within a reply or two, I have yet to find anyone who has read it and enjoyed it.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 15:55, 15 replies)

yep
managed about halfway through myself and really couldnt see the point anymore
(andythepieman Is surfing the waves of indifference on, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 15:56, closed)

it's on my bookshelf. every so often i approach it with trepidation.
and then i pick up a stephen king and scuttle guiltily away.
( janet aylia y'all motherfuckers need jesus, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 15:57, closed)

Yes I read it and enjoyed it
but then I like the Gormenghast trilogy so perhaps my opinion doesn't count.
(Smale is stuffed, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 15:57, closed)

It counts, but luckily it is out side of the 'reply or two' that I specified.

( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 15:58, closed)

I really rather liked it

( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 15:57, closed)

I bought it for my wife a few Christmases ago
And now she has asked me not buy surprise books anymore.
( Norbert Lightowler, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:03, closed)

hahahaha.
I like that.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:06, closed)

I quite liked it.
He clearly got bored and thought "fuck it ... introduce the MEGAWIZARD" towards the end. But it's entertaining enough.
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:13, closed)

Right now, I can't actually remember if I finished it or not.
This sounds vaguely familiar, so I'm thinking I must have started to skim read but not really take it in by this point.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:18, closed)

Finished it.
But it was slow and tedious. Yawn. Avoid.
(Rich T has a clever and witty sig, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 16:18, closed)

OK
but overlong and should have felt the wrath of an editor who would cut it even further than it had already been cut (known fact that this would have been twice as long and probably released as 2 books).I didnt keep it on the shelf (went to bore someone at a charity shop).
(gearanach #wankwankwank, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 18:20, closed)

I did finish it
and I think it took me about a week. Mind you, I am pretty abnormal when it comes to books.
And I actually loved it when I read it, which was for a publishing house here, and recommended that they publish it. But if it is such a struggle even for you natives, makes you wonder why they didn't, eh?...
(orangeyouglad, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 20:32, closed)

this book was a great huge meh
A week after finishing this I'd forgotten most of it. By comparison, after/while reading Infinite Jest, the main characters would show up in my dreams. The main characters of this book? I'd forget their names if they weren't in the title.
( madrabbit is fully prepared, Thu 5 Jan 2012, 22:14, closed)

I finished it, and really rather enjoyed it.
Though I honestly couldn't tell you a single thing about it now.
Apart from: it was set in England in the 19th Century & had magic in it.
( Tab Hunter Make this useless process end and so, begin again, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 23:45, closed)

I love that book
read it five or six times now.
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Sat 7 Jan 2012, 10:36, closed)