Greetings Bookworms!
Have you ever wanted to jump right into a book? Like dive into the pages and chill with your favorite characters? My latest read offered just that opportunity! I’ve had people recommending The Eyre Affair
to me for years and only just got around to it. I’m kicking myself for this procrastination now because this book was the quirkiest little pile of literary geekery I’ve read in a good long while.
The Eyre Affair takes place in an alternate reality version of 1985 England. Thursday Next is a Special Operations agent working in literary detection. Special Operations encompasses some zany departments including the Chronoguard who jump around through time making sure miscreants don’t try to rewrite history. Performances of Richard III
are performed audience inclusion style a la The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Cloning is totally a thing, so forget tiny dogs in handbags, dodos are the trendiest pets on the block. Though the literary detection agency tends to be a bit heavier on paper pushing than field work, Thursday manages to get herself entangled in danger and mayhem.
This book was so gloriously geeky I want to unabashedly recommend it to everyone I meet. However, I think that in order to really enjoy the novel, you have to have read Jane Eyre
(review). It wouldn’t hurt to have read some other classics as well, but since so much of the plot of this book revolves around Jane Eyre, not being familiar with the original story puts the reader at a huge disadvantage. Honestly, though, if you haven’t read Jane Eyre you should. I know classics can be indimidating, but I found it to be much less arduous than I’d imagined and just so darn good! The Eyre Affair is a version of stylized fantasy that won’t work for everyone, but for the right audience it’s amazing. I am that audience. Odds are that if you’re reading this blog, you’re that audience, too. Go forth and enjoy!
Talk to me Bookworms! If you could literally jump into a book, which book would you choose?
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AMB
I loved this book! I took the Thursday Next books with me when we walked the Cotswolds (9 years ago! Where does the time go?). I recently got the ebook version, which I’m hoping to read soon.
Words For Worms
I listened to it on audio but liked it so much I’d totally revisit it with the old eyeballs.
Jancee @ Jancee's Reading Journal
Tell me you’re going to read the rest of the series, because it’s all delightful! This is one of my favorite series!
Words For Worms
I have every intention of continuing with Thursday’s adventures!
thatashgirl
I love this whole series. I mean hello, my cat’s name is Jasper 😉 I got introduced to this series back when I was in University. As soon as I started working at the bookshop one of the managers told me I had to read them. As soon as I found out Mr Rochester was a character I was SOLD. Because seriously, he’s so much better than Mr Darcy.
Words For Worms
Is it lame that I assumed your cat was named Jasper after the mouse in Cinderella? Isn’t that the name of the one that wasn’t Gus-Gus? I do not know. Mr. Rochester and Mr. Darcy both kind of start out as dicks, but since I prefer Jane to Elizabeth (slim margin, but I always root for the underdog) I suppose I’d take Rochester over Darcy. Or not. I mean, that whole wife in the attic thing? Yeesh. I’ll stick with Jamie Fraser ;-).
thatashgirl
Oh that’s Jaque not Jasper. France remember? Love Gus-Gus. Better than presuming I named him after the character from Twilight 😛
They’re both broody in a hot way so I’ll accept either. Overall I’m a Bronte sister fan over Jane Austen. Nothing wrong with Austen but the Bronte’s always have great mystery and drama and generally brutal stuff! Wuthering Heights anybody? Austen can be a bit too sappy for me and her female characters tend to be idealistic to the point of annoyance.
lissa
I only enjoyed the last half of the book & besides that is when they really start on the jane eyre storyline – which got me to read the book in the first place, I kind of like Grace Poole when she slapped somebody & that was kind of fun. the book is not so bad but I guess I’m just not the audience for it.
have a lovely day.
Words For Worms
That’s a good point, for the title being all about Jane Eyre, that whole plot didn’t even show up until closer to the end of the book.
Beth @ BetaLibrarian
I love this series! Thursday is great character and I love the way the universe – both inside and outside of books – that Fforde has created. Keep going! Each book is excellent!
Words For Worms
I’m planning on it! So much fun!
Michelle
I loved this book and most of the series. The last few I skipped because there was a spark missing for me. But the first few books are absolutely wonderful. Enjoy!
Words For Worms
How many are there? I suppose I could look it up. I hate when that happens with a series, but the longer they go on the more prone they are to losing their awesomeness.
TJ @ MyBookStrings
I loved this book, and the next three in the series. I read War and Peace because of the conversations in the footnoter phone that appears in one of the later books.
Andi (@estellasrevenge)
I enjoyed The Eyre Affair (and the next book even more!), but there was something less fabulous about it than I expected going into it. The writing? The language? Not sure, but just you wait til Miss Havisham shows up. That woman. Awesome. lol
Loralie
Have you read The Big Over Easy by the same author? I love it! It is all fairy tale characters. Inspector Jack Sprat is investigating the suspicious death of notorious womanizer Humpty Dumpty. It is chock full of awesome!
Trish
It’s been entirely too long since I’ve read Jane Eyre OR this one! And I’ve really wanted to continue in the series (something I really suck at), but now I’m wondering if I need to re-read this one first…and Jane Eyre before then. Sigh.
tanya (52 books or bust)
I’m so glad you liked it and so shocked that you hadn’t read it before!! I gobbled up the series when I found out about it.
Heather Frase
You are making me want to move this up on my TBR list… I was given most of the series by a friend… and I haven’t read them yet. I need to work on that…
Katie @ Doing Dewey
I read this before Jane Eyre, but I loved it anyway! It is wonderfully geeky and I was able to figure out enough of the plot to understand what was happening. It was a little spoiler-y for Jane Eyre, but I think that’s fair with a classic 🙂