March BOTM: THE EYRE AFFAIR

[Nimea]

March is already upon us, so we better start the discussion about:
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde.

Let's start with the unimportant stuff: make sure you visit his website.
And personally, I think the UK cover is much cooler than the US one.

I have a rather busy weekend ahead of me and still need to read the last two BOTMs, so right now I don't have to say too much about 'The Eyre Affair'. I want to look into the book again before I do so, because I read it two years ago. (I was thinking about buying and reading the German translation that was published this January - but I really have too many new things to read.)

Just that: I loved it. Smart and funny, this book made me say 'plock-plock' for month after reading it.
I even almost read 'Jane Eyre' afterwards, but only almost.
Off-topic, but funny thing was: that very year I read another novel that had to do with Jane Eyre. It was 'Jenna Starborn' by Sharon Shinn, which kind of retells the story in a SF setting.

So, enough of my babbling.
Let's hear and read what others think about the book!

[FicusFan]

Well I read it almost two years ago too. I have the UK editions of all three and they are funnier (in the presentation) than the US versions. I have also read the other two books as well, and when the fourth is published in the UK in July this year I will import that too.

I liked the idea of the literary police, and the idea that you can change all the book copies ever printed if you change the original. I liked Pickwick, the dodo, and the idea of getting a chimera license for your creature like a dog license. I liked the version numbers after them just like they were softwear releases.

I just loved the whole scene and the wacky ideas. I have to say
that although I loved it, it took me a while to like Thursday, she just seemed too bland at the start. My favorite character is probably Spike from the Biters and Suckers squad, and Thursday's father who has such an important and improbable role in the story, and in life as we know it. I love the twist at the end

[Soon Lee]

Read this over the Christmas/New Year break so it's still relatively fresh.

I found it a breath of fresh air, quirky, innovative and funny in the way only British writers seem able to achieve. Fforde seems to have a real affection for literature; I find that only someone who understands a subject can parody it successfully.

I second the comment about Jasper Fforde's website; it's sort of like a DVD release, with deleted scenes etc. Very cool.

[Archren]

British authors do seem to do funny in my kind of way, so I loved this book, absolutely. I think my favorite bit was the idea of doing "Richard III" as if it were the "Rocky Horror Picture Show." I just about dropped the book laughing when I read that.

Also, I have to admit that "Jane Eyre" is one of my only favorite "classic" books, so I liked that angle too.

[Eventine]

I hated books like Jan Eyre at school and tried to forget as much of them as possible after reading them. When they started to discuss the plot at first I went "Huh? I didn't think it worked like that", and then I realised what was going on.

I loved the humour in this book (and having read some of the guide on the website, realised I didn't even pick up on a lot of the jokes). I actually felt sorry for people reading this in the US, who I assumed would get even less of the in jokes.

I really liked the alternate world, and enjoyed every time Fforde subtly dropped in another reference of soemthing casual to Thursday but incongruous (sp?) to us (especially Wales).

The premise is also interesting - time travel is possible, jet propulsion doesn't exist, literature is extremely popular, the undead are handled by a police division

I knocked over this book in one 7 hour reading stint and the day after hunted through 5 bookstores in my local area to find one that stocked a copy of Lost in a Good Book after reading this I was so impressed.

[Leiali]

I read it last year, and have read the next two since. It really is unusual, both in the world building, and the plot. I love Jane Eyre, the way it worked with the novel was astounding. I can't say I have laughed so much reading in a long while either.
The only complaint I would have on any of the books is that you really have to be quite well read to see the references, some of which I knew were there but didn't understand. Some things are known through popular culture (most people know who Lady Havisham is as she is a metaphor for bitterness but it is not likely that they have read Great Expectations). However, it does get a bit bogged down at times with references (especially the well of lost plots). But apart from that, there are some cracking ideas, jokes and a cool star!

[Soon Lee]

Ahh, but the beauty of it is that it works on both levels.

If you have read the novels it references, your enjoyment will be enriched but even if you haven't read Jane Eyre, and I haven't, it's written well enough to be enjoyed in its own right.

[FicusFan]

I thought the literary puns were cute in the first book, but by the time of Well of Lost Plots I was actually pretty tired of them. They were unique in Jane Eyre, but I thought they got old quickly (except the one for the Cheshire Cat which I can't remember but it was very funny).

I was more interested in the ideas of Neanderthals, and Mamoths wandering the landscape. And I just loved the Pink goo and what it turned out to be in Lost in a Good Book, which was my favorite of the 3.

Leiali,
Not sure what you mean about not likely people have read Great Expectations that was something I had to read in the 7th grade for school. I thought everybody had to read it at some point ?

[Leiali]

I would say that the majority of people in the UK would have read Oliver twist and a christmas carol by Dickens, not much else, but the films of both those and Great Expectations are classics that are more likely to have been experienced!! I am talking about the majority of people here rather than book worms!!

Glad to see that I was not the only one to have been a bit overwhelmed by some of the references in the three books too!

[Eventine]

I have the UK editions of all three and they are funnier (in the presentation) than the US versions

What's the difference (apart from the cover)?

[FicusFan]

Originally posted by Eventine


What's the difference (apart from the cover)?

The fake adds and the funny comments from Goliath are missing, or reduced. I think they are missing from The Eyre Affair , and only a few are listed in Lost in a Good Book.

[Erfael]

Well, I have to say that I enjoyed this book quite a lot. It's taken me half of the month to come to that point, but I think I was a little underwhelmed by Eyre Affair reading it right on the tail of Altered Carbon. I didn't read anything in between, and I don't think I made the transition well from the dark AC to the fairly light Eyre Affair.

This past weekend I got to hear Jasper Fforde give a talk in Raleigh, NC, on what goes into his writing and how he comes up with his ideas. I think that having heard him talk about his work, I have a better understanding of what angle he's coming from and have re-evaluated a lot of what I thought about the book. He says he's basically a gag comedian, and I can definitely see that in the book and appreciate some of what he does a lot more knowing that.

Take, for instance, Felix7: He says that Felix7 grew wholly out of his desire to use the line "Haven't I seen your face somewhere before?" Having looked back at the book in that sort of light, I can definitely see and appreciate a lot more some of the more seemingly rediculous and tangential aspects of the book, realizing that somewhere in there there is always a punchline.

On Fforde himself: The man is highly entertaining. He's a very good speaker and extremely funny. Hearing him talk was better than the last 10 or 20 standup comics i've seen combined. He took us through the very (il)logical way in which Thursday was created and answered everyone's questions thoroughly and with very entertaining answers (so it's not all canned).

[Nimea]

Originally posted by FicusFan


The fake adds and the funny comments from Goliath are missing, or reduced. I think they are missing from The Eyre Affair , and only a few are listed in Lost in a Good Book.

Bah, what a shame!

Did anyone read in his news stuff that the US version of 'Well of Lost Plots' will be a bit different that the UK version so that the US readers don't all order the UK one?
I just can't be bothered to look it up now - on the other hand, maybe it was my imagination.

And Erfael, I envy you!
We don't get UK or US authors for book tours or cons here in Germany - at least not often (and surely no SF or Fantasy writers). Maybe I can hope because 'Eyre Affair' was published by a big literary publisher and is treated differently . . .

[Erfael]

Originally posted by Nimea
Did anyone read in his news stuff that the US version of 'Well of Lost Plots' will be a bit different that the UK version so that the US readers don't all order the UK one?
I just can't be bothered to look it up now - on the other hand, maybe it was my imagination.

Yes, he mentioned this one...apparently there is an extra chapter in the US version. As he put it, "The US was hemmoraging sales to Amazon.uk, so I offered to do everything I could to help Penguin keep the numbers up." Incidentally, this is the reason that both US and UK are getting book 4 on Aug 1 of this year and not months apart.

Did anyone else notice the complete absence of chapter 13?

[Eventine]

I can't say I ever pay much attention to chapter numbers or names.
Lucky they didn't include chapter 13... ;-)