September Book Review Blog Chain
This month I’m participating in the Absolute Write Book Review Blog Chain. We each pick a favorite book to review and share with the world. I’d like to introduce you to a particular favorite of mine – The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde.
The novel follows literary detective Thursday Next as she investigates the kidnapping of fictional character, Jane Eyre, from her novel by Hades of Greek mythology. In the novel’s world, England is a police state, the Crimean War has lasted for more than a century, literary characters can escape from their novels, and the endings of books can be changed.
First off, Jane Eyre is a favorite novel of mine, so I loved going on an adventure through the novel and seeing what happens when the characters in the novel are “off page.” The book is full of clever plays on literary devices and English-major insider jokes. For instance, audiences at Shakespeare plays continually toss fruit at the stage to protest his authorship.
The world itself is so clever I’m jealous I didn’t come up with it. Thursday’s pet is a dodo, Pickwick, who has been brought back from extinction through cloning, but is stupid as ever. Time travel is possible, and werewolves exist. You’ll discover that there are infinite alternate endings to books!
I also highly recommend the sequel, Lost in a Good Book!
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2 Responses to "September Book Review Blog Chain"
on September 22, 2009 | to this post
Right we love this review. It made us want to read the book and that is the mark of a great review, yes?
on September 28, 2009 | to this post
The kidnapping of a literary character sounds like a very intriguing idea. Just think of the possibilities!