Reading the Chunksters discussion

Welcome to the first of our discussion threads. This one covers the first three chapters of Book 1.

These are my chapter summaries (and I apologise in advance - I am not finding this book easy to summarise, as it is so full of details, and it is not always easy to know which may become important subsequently!)
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1. The Library at Hurtfew.

Introduction to the society of magicians at York. These were gentleman magicians, who had never practiced magic, but had “a reputation as some of the wisest and most magical gentlemen in Yorkshire”. They are said to specialise in quarrelling. In 1806 they are joined by JOHN SEGUNDUS. He addresses the society, asking why no more magic was done in England. The president Dr FOXCASTLE says that magicians should not be obliged to do magic. Mr HONEYFOOT sides with Segundus and asks him to dinner, they become friends. Honeyfoot recalls hearing of another magician living in “a retired part of the county” who had declined to join the society citing the distance and poor roads. Honeyfoot writes to him and proposes a visit to HURTFEW. En route Honeyfoot recounts the story of the Manchester magicians who were also interested in doing magic like the Aureate (Golden Age) magicians, but failed. Segundus recalls meeting a street magician in London who sold him the prophesy that one day magic would be restored to England by two magicians (and that he would not be one of them). They arrive at Hurtfew, which is described, and meet the magician MR NORRELL. He leads them into the drawing room, commenting on Segundus’s book on Martin Pale, last of the Aureate magicians and pointing out an omission. Honeyfoot tells Norell he has heard about his library, and asks to see it. On the way, Segundus loses his normally good sense of direction. At the library, they find CHILDERMASS, who Norrell introduces as his “man of business”. The library contains many “books of magic”, as opposed to the commonplace “books about magic”, a distinction which is mostly a matter of age. Segundus looks at a couple of books, described in a footnote. It gets dark and they leave the library. On the way out Segundus sees the bindings of a very old book from which the pages are missing. Honeyfoot asks Norrell their question about why no more magic is done. Norrell responds by saying the question is wrong, and he is himself “quite a tolerable practical magician”.

2. The Old Starre Inn

On leaving Hurtfew, Honeyfoot tells Segundus that it is their duty to bring Norrell to wider attention, They arrange a special meeting of the society at the Old Starre Inn. Honeyfoot starts a speech, but is interrupted. A Mr Thorpe asks Honeyfoot what they have seen, all he can see is that Norrell had an honest countenance. Thorpe proposes asking Norrell to demonstrate his magic, to which the society agrees. Segundus fails to remember the books he saw in the library. Dr Foxcastle writes to Norrell, whose angry reply is quoted in full, ending by saying that he will inform them of his intentions on the day of their next meeting. Norrell sends his attorney Mr Robinson to the meeting with a draft agreement. In the agreement, he proposes to demonstrate magic at a certain time and place – the Cathedral (Minster) is agreed. If he fails, he will relinquish all claim to be a magician, but if he succeeds the society must disband and all its members must cease to claim to be magicians.All of the society sign the document except Segundus, and Norrell agrees to proceed without his part. The night before the agreed date it snows. In the morning Mrs Pleasance, Segundus’s landlady, talks to him, persuading him to eat. Segundus meets Foxcastle outside the Cathedral and agrees to introduce him to Norrell, but there is no sign of Norrell. Childermass appears and introduces himself, and Segundus has only a vague memory of having seen him before. Childermass explains that Norrell will perform his magic from Hurtfew but it will be seen in York. They proceed into the Cathedral, which is already full of gentlemen of the society.

3. The stones of York

The company wait in the Cathedral, and hear bells ringing. A voice addresses them in a while in a strange language they eventually recognise as a mixture of Latin and Old English. It starts to relate the tale of a murder, and says where in the cathedral the murderer is buried. Another voice also starts speaking from the chancel, and Thorpe sees it coming from a statue, they then realise that the first voice comes from a stone figure. These voices are joined by all of the other statues and figures in the Cathedral. The assembled magicians walk around taking notes. The statues in a nearby mason’s yard also speak, causing the masons to abandon their restoration work. After half an hour the bells ring and the voices subside, the last to stop being the first figure. The sky fills with blue-green clouds. Childermass addresses Segundus, saying that the society must be broken up. He asks Segundus if he reads the London papers, and what they contain, wondering whether the events in the church would be reported there. Segundus is unsure, but offers to write to the Times saying what he has seen. The society disbands. Honeyfoot writes to the dean asking them to dig up the floor where the voice said the body was, and bones are found. The library of the society is sold to a Mr Thoroughgood. Segundus goes to see him and is told that it has already been sold again to a man who wants to remain anonymous. Segundus manages to arrange a meeting with some of Norrell’s neighbours, who tell him that Norrell is about to leave for London, which will leave Segundus as the last magician in Yorkshire.
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Wow! I don't know what I was expecting from this book, which has been on my TBR pile for several years, but this was not it. I really enjoyed these first few chapters. I've found it a lot more humorous than I was expecting. I also feel like I can tell the book is written by a female author, although I can't quite put my finger on why - can anyone else? For me the image that stuck out the most was the voices of the statues - genuinely unsettling.

Is this generally people's first time reading this or are some people on re-reads?

My first time, though I have read Piranesi

It is certainly a bold, uncompromising creation. It seems a little prosaic in the context of a book with so many overt fantasy elements, but I did wonder who the apparently omniscient narrator is supposed to be - the long scholarly footnotes may be a clue.

Holly wrote: "Wow! I don't know what I was expecting from this book, which has been on my TBR pile for several years, but this was not it. I really enjoyed these first few chapters. I've found it a lot more humo..."

I am happy to start opening the threads for later weeks a little early, so let me know if you want to start week 2. I am now over 700 pages in, and have typed up the chapter summaries for the whole of Volume I. What I haven't really done is think much about questions to stimulate the discussion.

I have started this book and put it down in the past but am determined to get through it this time. I, too, find it a bit prosaic for a fantasy book, even though it seems obvious that the author's intention is to make magic seem prosaic.

I'm at the beginning of Chapter 15 and the book has me quite intrigued at this point.

Finished these three chapters. I liked the description of the library and the magic by Mr. Norrell, but i enjoyed additional notes at the end of chapters much more , it is common for me to enjoy appendix more than the real plot. Its like reaching to the roots , the origin of creation of the book.

I wish this book has a heroine also (we have two heroes) whom author will describe like she did the library.

I’m listening to the audio book, narrated by the excellent Simon Prebble. I was worries the footnotes would be an issue with audio format but so far I don’t think I’ve missed anything and don’t mind the change of flow. One thing I do find though is I’m finding it difficult to keep straight the several male characters (other than Mr Norrell). I don’t know why they just seem to blur for me. Overall it’s enjoyable but off to a bit of a slow start for me, which I anticipated based on length and what I’ve heard about it.

I wouldn't worry too much about remembering minor characters, especially the York magicians. Segundus and Honeyfoot do appear later but most of them drop out of the story pretty early. Nor is it really necessary to remember most of the old magicians, some of whom are only ever mentioned in footnotes.

Holly wrote: "Wow! I don't know what I was expecting from this book, which has been on my TBR pile for several years, but this was not it. I really enjoyed these first few chapters. I've found it a lot more humo..."

My thoughts exactly. I found it more humorous than expected and very engaging. Some of the character names (Honeyfoot, Foxcastle, Mrs Pleasance, Mr Thoroughgood...) put me in mind of Dickens and his love of funny/descriptive names.

I thought it was interesting that John Segundus was the only one who refused to sign and he is now the only magician left in Yorkshire. I'm looking forward to seeing what consequences this will have later on.

I also enjoyed the first three chapters, they were lively and amusing and I liked the more straightforward approach as a backdrop leading to the magical events at the cathedral. I also liked how Segundus was struggling to remember what books were in the library and how he didn’t realise why his memory was so hazy!

It seems like these initial three chapters are mostly just set up, but they made me look forward to reading the rest of the book. I suspect that the plot thickens! I was amused by the digs against lawyers.