Reading the Chunksters discussion

I think some of us are ready to start the next section, which covers chapters 8 to 13, up to and including "The Magician of Threadneedle Street".

Chapter summaries (which are full of spoilers!)
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8. A gentleman with thistle-down hair

Norrell refuses to treat Emma until Drawlight and Lascelles leave the room. When they have gone, Norrell recites a spell and a gentleman appears in the room: “a tall, handsome person with pale, perfect skin and an immense amount of hair, as pale and shining as thistle-down”. [A footnote translates Norrell’s spell, which starts “O Fairy”]. The gentleman questions Norrell’s credentials, and asks him what his reward will be. His condition is that Norrell gives him credit for the miracle, to which Norrell refuses. The gentleman asks about “the other magician”, describing a red haired man who is Norrell’s best friend. He then proposes to be given half of the lady’s life. They agree on condition she lives for another 75 years. The gentleman insists on taking something of the lady’s. Lascelles proposes to write a play about the incident, and call it “’Tis Pity She’s a Corpse”. He waits with Drawlight. Norrell appears and asks them where Sir Walter and Mrs Wintertowne are, they are found and brought to Emma’s room. Emma has left her bed and is sitting by the fire. They see that one of her little fingers is missing.

9. Lady Pole

The morning after the miracle, news has spread, but callers were told that Miss Wintertowne and her mother were resting. Drawlight and Lascelles spread the word. Emma has more life than ever and declares herself ready to marry. At the wedding, all eyes are on Norrell.

10. The difficulty of finding employment for a magician

Walter Pole takes Norrell’s proposal to help with the war effort to his cabinet colleagues. They respond positively and come up with various ideas to use his magic, none of which seem promising.

11. Brest

French sailors preparing to go to sea at Brest see dark clouds, which appear from the North though the wind is Westerly. They see that the port is blockaded by a large number of British “ships of the line”. Other ports are similarly blockaded, though the British do not have enough ships to do this. The ships do not move and seem to be unaffected by wind and current. They seem to fade away in the sunshine and reappear with the clouds. Eventually a French sailor dares to approach, and finds there is nothing there but water – the ships are made of rain, but this has bought the British Navy time and space to pursue many other plans.

12. The Spirit of English Magic urges Mr Norrell to the Aid of Britannia

Two drays collide in a London street. Sherry is spilled, and a revel ensues, led by the draymen. Coaches converge from all directions, and the drivers open their doors. One of them contains Norrell, the hero of the French blockade. Norrell is asked to the Admiralty. He says that all a magician needs to perform magic is a silver bowl to see visions in. He demonstrates, showing them ships off the Spanish coast, but Norrell cannot say exactly where they are. He gives the power of speech to a mermaid on the prow of a captured French ship, but she refuses to co-operate with the enemy. The handsome captain who captured her ship manages to change her mind and she talks. Norrell receives many visitors, and Drawlight and Lascelles help to entertain them. Lascelles suggests that Norrell should publish his thoughts on magic in magazine articles. Murray, a young Scottish publisher, puts a proposal to him. Norrell agrees to a magazine dedicated to serialising his thoughts. Lascelles suggests Lord Portishead to write them – he is a theoretical magician who has publishes historical books. Norrell agrees to meet him. The result is “The Friends of English Magic”, to which Norrell does not contribute directly.

13. The magician of Threadneedle-street

Vinculus is introduced. Norrell’s friends try to persuade him to see Vinculus. Vinculus calls on Norrell, and gets into Norrell’s study undetected, and addresses Norrell, asking where he has been for the last 20 years. He says he wants nothing from Norrell, but is there to explain his destiny. He starts declaiming a cryptic verse which Norrell recognises as the work of the Raven King. Norrell’s servants come to throw him out. When he has gone, Norrell asks how he got in, suspecting magic, but is given rational explanations. Norrell recounts what he was told, including the prophesy about a second great magician, which Norrell thinks Vinculus meant himself.
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Finished this section. I don’t agree with Mr Norrell that books can make you greatest magician even in the magical world. He wants magic to be back and afraid of other magicians.

Vinculus’s introduction is interesting and his prophecies also.

Nidhi wrote: "Finished this section. I don’t agree with Mr Norrell that books can make you greatest magician even in the magical world. He wants magic to be back and afraid of other magicians.

Vinculus’s intro..."

No, and it is clear that Clarke is setting Norrell up this way deliberately.

This is a book with unusual theme, at present it gives me great respite from a couple of ‘brain churners ‘ I have managed to stuck myself in.

I like the humour author has used... like the scene with wig and bargain with ‘half life’ , also the mermaid scene. But she has used humour sparsely, maybe because she wants us to take Magic theme seriously ( she is right there)

I was surprised and impressed by Mr. Norrell’s quick-wittedness ( please suggest some other term ) when he decides 94 years of age for Mrs. Pole. I personally can never think above 70 for myself.

Yes, I have to admit it is far from my normal reading, even more so than I would have expected after reading Piranesi last year. I decided fairly early just to describe things at face value in the chapter summaries rather than trying to interpret or guess Susanna Clarke's intentions. It does have a very interesting balance between history, literary pastiche and pure fantasy.

At the moment I am enjoying the book, even if I don’t enjoy it at some point I will continue reading till end.....this lesson I learnt last year from Dostoevsky ( Demons).

Some of my GR friends abandoned this book in the middle because they couldn’t make connections. If it has been awarded an award by the masses, author has succeeded in what she has to convey to her readers.....maybe I will make connections when I finish it.

Still working on catching up!

Hmm, it is interesting to hear you guys talk about 'deeper' meanings. I do wonder if I'm missing things (I suspect this will be a book that bears re-reading) but I also feel as though this is still very much set up and she will make some things clearer later. Obviously I don't have the benefit of Hugh's hindsight here!!

I think partly this is because it's supposed to be a historical text - there have been several references already to Jonathon Strange, it is as though we are living in a world in which their relationship is well-known about, possibly meaning to me that they will get up to something significant.

I also think many of the meanings are supposed to go over our head in order to create the illusion that this is one historical text in the context of several books of the history of magic. I suspect some trails don't have an end even in Susanna Clarke's mind, but are there to form a richer picture.

At present the story seems simple without any deeper meaning, also I have no idea how our two heroes will meet, because Johnathan Strange doesn’t have any connection with magic.

Well we are still at a very early point in the story. I am not sure whether there is a deeper meaning, but there may be some allegorical stuff I didn't see.

Yes it’s too early to decide, characters are still introduced, I never read any reviews or criticism or even introductions before starting a book ( except for Ancient Literature, there I need a lot of help) it spoils things, so whatever is being used in this book will be very interesting.

Hugh, it is very difficult to have read the whole book and comment for the beginners, keeping it spoiler free , summaries can be done simultaneously but keeping discussions spoiler free is difficult.

Hmm, maybe deeper meaning is not the right way of saying how I feel about it. As a Brit reading this, it feels very embedded in history and literature and lore (I think someone has already mentioned Austen and Dickens). You could tell me any of this was real history and I'd believe it. Maybe I'd have a hard time believing the bit about the mermaid. LOL! I think she's really aware of how her book fits into the history and culture it's riffing off and she's handled it very well. This is kind of leaking into the next week's discussion but I laughed out loud at the line about the person who died after walking alone on the hills in a storm. Classic way to die in novels of that era, and a bit of a running joke in our household!!

I agree Nidhi, Hugh has a hard job as a moderator to get involved in these discussions without casting ahead to what he already knows!