We ADORE the book, and the movie is very entertaining also.
As always, we wish screenplays would more faithfully follow the novels they come from. We were delighted with the parts of the movie which were faithful, and less satisfied with the parts which were not.
The casting and costumes are wonderful. The only exception would be the character Vinculus, who did not enunciate clearly in the movie, and it was only because we had read the book that we had a clue what he was saying in several instances.
We particularly found the character Childrermass engaging. We would have loved to have his character be a larger part of the novel since he was so charmingly played in the movie.
Jonathan Strange, Mr. Norrell, Stephen Black, Arabella, Lady Pole, and The Gentleman (fairy) were everything one could hope them to be. If only we could have spent more time with The Raven King, we could rave even more.
We soundly recommend both the novel and the movie.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: New