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6046017
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Sometimes the pain in Childermass's shoulder escaped from him and ran about the room and hid. When this happened he thought it became a small animal. No one else knew it was there. He supposed he ought to tell them so that they could chase it out. Once he caught sight of it; it had flame-coloured fur, brighter than a fox.
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Susanna Clarke |
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502d1e1
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Mr Norrell was very well pleased. Lord Liverpool was exactly the sort of guest he liked - one who admired the books but shewed no inclination to take them down from the shelves and read them.
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Susanna Clarke |
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70bc22e
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Now toasted cheese is a temptation few men can resist, be they charcoal burners or kings. John Uskglass reasoned thus: all of Cumbria belonged to him - therefore this wood belonged to him - therefore this toasted cheese belonged to him.
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Susanna Clarke |
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03a4db4
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She spoke Basque, which is a language which rarely makes any impression upon the brains of any other race, so that a man may hear it as often and as long as he likes, but never afterwards be able to recall a single syllable of it.
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Susanna Clarke |
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0defc50
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in the old days, silvery bells would often sound just as some Englishman or Englishwoman of particular virtue or beauty was about to be stolen away by fairies to live in strange, ghostly lands for ever.
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Susanna Clarke |
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d7a38d3
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The gentlemen among my readers will smile to themselves and say that women never did understand business, but the ladies may agree with me that Mrs Brandy understood her business very well, for the chief business of Mrs Brandy's life was to make Stephen Black as much in love with her as she was with him.
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Susanna Clarke |
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3f43621
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He was so clean and healthy and pleased about everything that he positively shone - which is only to be expected in a fairy or an angel, but is somewhat disconcerting in an attorney.
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Susanna Clarke |
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b1116f1
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Without warning a lady appeared. She came from the direction of Friday-street, for she had just been with Mr. Newbolt. She strode capably through the snow. She wore a black silk gown and something very queer swung from a silver chain about her neck. Her smile was full of comfort and her eyes were kind and happy. She was just as Mr. Newbolt had described. And the name of this lady was Death.
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death
sandman
neil-gaiman
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Susanna Clarke |
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a81d939
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It was as if a door had opened somewhere. Or possibly a series of doors. There was a sensation as of a breeze blowing into the house and bringing with it the half-remembered scents of childhood. There was a shift in the light which seemed to cause all the shadows in the room to fall differently. There was nothing more definite than that, and yet, as often happens when some magic is occurring, both Drawlight and the lady had the strongest im..
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Susanna Clarke |
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87b20b9
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If other magicians think differently from you, then you must battle it out with them. You must prove the superiority of your opinions, as I do in politics. You must argue and publish and practise your magic and you must learn to live as I do - in the face of constant criticism, opposition and censure. That, sir, is the English way.
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Susanna Clarke |
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d35f8fe
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Captain Harcourt-Bruce was not only dashing, handsome, and brave, he was also rather romantic. The reappearance of magic in England thrilled him immensely. He was a great reader of the more exciting sort of history - and his head was full of ancient battles in which the English were outnumbered by the French and doomed to die, when all at once would be heard the sound of strange, unearthly music, and upon a hilltop would appear the Raven Ki..
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magic
humor
magician
tea
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Susanna Clarke |
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14ebc3e
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Could soldiers read? Mr Norrell did not know. He turned with a look of desperate appeal to Childermass. Childermass shrugged.
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Susanna Clarke |
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ead5959
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The sky spoke to him. It was a language he had never heard before. He was not even certain there were words. Perhaps it only spoke to him in the black writing the birds made. He was small and unprotected and there was no escape. He was caught between earth and sky as if cupped between two hands. They could crush him if they chose.
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Susanna Clarke |
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94c78db
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Being a politician, he was never dissuaded from giving any body his opinion by the mere fact that they were not inclined to hear it.
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Susanna Clarke |
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f77a6a6
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You were always cheerful - tho' often left to your own devices. You were hardly ever out of temper - tho' often severely provoked. Your every speech was remarkable for its wit and genius - tho' you got no credit for it and almost always received a flat contradiction.
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Susanna Clarke |
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a221d54
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Bonifazia murmured appeals to the Virgin and several saints. Aunt Greysteel, who was equally alarmed, might well have been glad of the same refuge, but as a member of the communion of the Church of England, she could only exclaim, "Dear me!" and, "Upon my word!" and "Lord bless me!" - none of which gave her much comfort." --
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Susanna Clarke |
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7c413f4
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She so cheerfully resigned to his neglecting her that he could not help opening his mouth to protest
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Susanna Clarke |
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1edd15e
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Long, long ago, (said the voice), five hundred years ago or more, on a winter's day at twilight, a young man entered the Church with a young girl with ivy leaves in her hair. There was no one else there but the stones. No one to see him strangle her but the stones. He let her fall dead upon the stones and no one saw but the stones. He was never punished for his sin because there were no witnesses but the stones. The years went by and whenev..
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Susanna Clarke |
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6f1991b
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All magicians lie and this one more than most,
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Susanna Clarke |
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dca2b52
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He was sick of the noise and sight of so many people and determined to go quietly away, but it so happened that just at that moment the crowds about the door were particularly impenetrable; he was caught up in the current of people and carried away to quite another part of the room. Round and round he went like a dry leaf caught up in a drain; in one of these turns around the room he discovered a quiet corner near a window. A tall screen of..
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Susanna Clarke |
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ee91a19
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Whenever I wish to do something, I simply speak to the air - or to the stones - or to the sunlight - or the sea - or to whatever it is and politely request them to help me. And then, since my alliances with these powerful spirits were set in place thousands of years ago, they are only too glad to do whatever I ask.
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Susanna Clarke |
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157c737
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It may be laid down as a general rule that if a man begins to sing, no one will take notice of this except his fellow human being. This is true even if his song is surpassingly beautiful. Other men may be in raptures at this skill, but the rest of creation is, by and large, unmoved.
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philosophy
intellectual
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Susanna Clarke |
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b03e08d
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When you're writing, you're creating something out of nothing ... A successful piece of writing is like doing a successful piece of magic.
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magic
writing
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Susanna Clarke |
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36a7865
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But now there were ten bells. And the bell for Lost-Hope was ringing violently.
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Susanna Clarke |
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419c6cf
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Even his dearest friends would have admitted that he possessed not a single good quality.
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Susanna Clarke |
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1e45076
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But, curiously, though Mr. Norrell was able to work feats of the most breath-taking wonder, he was only able to describe them in his usual dry manner, so that Sit Walter was left with the impression that the spectacle of half a thousand stone figures in York Cathedral all speaking together had been rather a dull affair and that he had been fortunate in being elsewhere at the time.
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Susanna Clarke |
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720eedb
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I shall advise all the good-looking women of my acquaintance not to die
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Susanna Clarke |
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e2ac9d9
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I cannot recall an instance of anything very dreadful happening at half-past one
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Susanna Clarke |
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c1ea5f1
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The old King is dead. The new King approaches! And at his approach the world sheds its sorrow. The sings of the old King dissolve like morning mist! The world assumes the character of the new. His virtues fill up the wood and world!
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Susanna Clarke |
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7b33ae4
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Immediately he became convinced that all the cupboards in the house were full of pineapples.
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Susanna Clarke |
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98864ba
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The sky spoke to me," said Childermass. "If what I saw was true, then ..." He paused. "Then what?" asked Mr Norrell. In his weakened state Childermass had been thinking aloud. He had meant to say that if what he had seen was true, then everything that Strange and Norrell had ever done was child's-play and magic was a much stranger and more terrifying thing than any of them had thought of. Strange and Norrell had been merely throwing paper..
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Susanna Clarke |
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576dddd
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I am a Book," said Vinculus, stopping in mid-caper. "I am the Book. It is the task of the Book to bear the words. Which I do. It is the task of the Reader to know what they say."
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Susanna Clarke |
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0cc9bb9
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And now, Your Majesty," said Strange, "I think it is time we returned to the Castle. You and I, Your Majesty, are a British King and a British magician. Though Great Britain may desert us, we have no right to desert Great Britain. She may have need of us yet."
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Susanna Clarke |
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09eeaa4
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In the moonlight David saw that Thoresby had become very peculiar indeed. Figs nestled among the leaves of beech-trees. Elder-trees were bowed down with pomegranates. Ivy was almost torn from walls by the weight of ripe blackberries growing upon it. Anything which had ever possessed any sort of life had sprung fruitfulness. Ancient, dried up frames had become swollen with sap and we putting out twigs, leaves, blossoms and fruit. Door-frames..
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Susanna Clarke |
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46ac5d2
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Because, whenever I am melancholy you talk to me of cheerful things and cure my low spirits and so I must now do the same for you. That is what friendship is.
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Susanna Clarke |
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3028535
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Strange," said Henry Woodhope, "where did you get this nonsense?" "From the man under the hedge. Henry, you do not listen." "And he seemed honest, did he?" "Honest? No, not particularly. He seemed, I would say, cold. Yes, 'cold' is a good word to describe him and 'hungry' another."
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Susanna Clarke |
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9c3a328
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a tragi-comedy, telling of an impoverished minister's desperate attempts to gain money by any means, beginning with a mercenary marriage and ending with sorcery. I should think it might be received very well. I believe I shall call it, ' Tis Pity She's a Corpse.
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Susanna Clarke |
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9d0ee89
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He knew that there was a world of difference between these two notions: one was sane and the other was not, but he could not for the life of him remember which was which.
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Susanna Clarke |
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d535cf9
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For a moment or two before the spell took effect, he was aware of all the sounds around him: rain splashing on metal and leather, and running down canvas; horses shuffling and snorting; Englishmen singing and Scotsmen playing bagpipes; two Welsh soldiers arguing over the proper interpretation of a Bible passage; the Scottish captain, John Kincaid, entertaining the American savages and teaching them to drink tea (presumably with the idea tha..
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magic
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Susanna Clarke |
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9fe1218
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A Nottinghamshire man called Tubbs wished very much to see a fairy and, from thinking of fairies day and night, and from reading all sorts of odd books about them, he took it into his head that his coachman was a fairy.
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Susanna Clarke |
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2518c40
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Mr Honeyfoot and Mr Segundus, being magicians themselves, had not needed to be told that the library of Hurtfew Abbey was dearer to its possessor than all his other riches; and they were not surprized to discover that Mr Norrell had constructed a beautiful jewel box to house his heart's treasure. The bookcases which lined the walls of the room were built of English woods and resembled Gothic arches laden with carvings. There were carvings o..
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Susanna Clarke |
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810b7a4
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In familiar surroundings our manners are cheerful and easy, but only transport us to places where we know no one and no one knows us, and Lord! how uncomfortable we become!
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Susanna Clarke |
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a6fc124
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The moral, as Mr. Drawlight explained it, was that if Mr. Norrell hoped to win friends for the cause of modern magic, he must insert a great many more French windows into his house.
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Susanna Clarke |
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e21281f
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To Strange's unnautical eye, it looked very much as if the ship had simply lain down and gone to sleep. He felt that if he had been the Captain he would have spoken to her sternly and made her get up again.
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Susanna Clarke |