I have read all 7 books in the Thursday Next series (book 8 comes out in 2017). I love them all. Jasper Fforde has done amazing and wild things with the world of Thursday Next and all her shenanigans.
I couldn’t decide if I wanted to fill this post with my impressions of all 7 books. That would be overload, I think.
I’m going to stick with the first in the series, The Eyre Affair, for now and parcel out the rest in future posts. All of the books are worthy of attention and way too much fun to ignore.
I love everything about this series. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is one of my favorites, so naturally The Eyre Affair jumped out at me. I’m so glad it did. Prepare to be entertained, amused, and delighted by this book and all the rest in the series (by everything Fforde has penned really).
This book is complete madness and absolutely a lot of fun. Clever and inventive! The literary references and puns are almost too much…almost. I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Eyre Affair, and I definitely looked forward to the “next” in the series. By the way, it helps if you have already read Jane Eyre, and you will appreciate the rendition of Richard III a lot more if you have experienced The Rocky Horror Picture Show (watching it on TV isn’t the same). But don’t let any of that stop you from picking up this book and enjoying the heck out of it!
All fun aside, there is an undertone of seriousness that shouldn’t be ignored or pushed aside. The backdrop of the Crimean war is sobering, and juxtaposed with all the amusement in this book, this dire counter plot is an important aspect to the overall story.
On another note, the villain, Acheron Hades, is straight off the melodramatic stage!
I love the mixing and mashing of all the villain archetypes and literary devices! Suspend your disbelief, hang up your literary purist hat, and enjoy this wild tale that turns the literary world upside down!
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Favorite quotes:
“Words are like leaves, Thursday. Like people really, fond of their own society.” ~ chapter 12
“Shall we get to work? I haven’t committed a singularly debauched act for almost an hour.” ~ chapter 15
“No bond is stronger than that welded in conflict; no greater friend is there than the one who stood next to you as you fought.” ~ chapter 19
“Governments and fashions come and go but Jane Eyre is for all time. I would give everything to ensure the novel’s survival.” ~ chapter 27
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What do you think?
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