The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

It would seem Fforde’s imagination knows no bounds in this thrilling and truly original story.

From the first pages of the book Jasper Fforde immerses us into his wonderfully imaginative and colourful world where time travellers can span decades, dodo’s are kept as pets, and the Crimean war never ended. All of Britain is controlled by the over bearing Goliath corporation who use bully boy tactics to get what they want.

But at the heart of the novel is Fforde’s greatest creation, his heroine Thursday Next. A spunky, brave and pragmatic young lady who thrives in exciting but dangerous tasks. Unfortunately for Thursday she is stuck in a rather dull job, working as a  literary detective in Spec Ops. It’s Thursday’s job alongside the other lit detectives to prevent crimes against plagiarism, forgery and the theft of great literary works. Fed up of this musty, dull world, Next craves a new adventure. But when the Charles Dickens’s Martin Chuzzlewit manuscript mysteriously vanishes along with one of the books minor characters, Next soon has all of the excitement she wanted…and a whole lot more.

Suspicions of the manuscripts theft soon turn to the books super villain Acheron Hades who seems to be the only person powerful or evil enough to not only steal such a great masterpiece but to also do it without leaving so much as one trace of himself at the crime scene. Even CCTV fail to bring up the faintest shadow of him. Thursday and her comrades must now fight a race against time to try and recover the manuscript before anymore damage is done, and they must capture the merciless Hades whose seemingly superhuman powers are beginning to manifest themselves in frightening ways. But as the drama mounts so do the casualties and a nasty run in with Hades has serious consequences.

So when Jack Schitt from the Goliath corporation begins to poke his nose into the whole Hades affair, in spite of his ascertain that Acheron is dead, the pressure becomes even more heavy for Next. Hot on her heels Schitt proves another level of thrill and drama for this already powerfully imaginative novel.

 In a world were ‘time waits for no man’ and were the boundaries of reality are blurred; nothing is impossible. When the original manuscript of the nations beloved Jane Eyre goes missing in much the same manner as the Martin Chuzzlewit manuscript the novel is at fever pitch. On the cusp of victory Next must leave this world and enter the world of Jane Eyre, but will our heroine get back, and who will be in there with her?

Well that’s as much as I’m going to tell you, I don’t think I’ve given anything essential away, although my synopsis might seem a little like it. The book is filled with so many surprises and adventures you wouldn’t think imaginable until you actually read them for yourself.

By the end of the book I was quite literately on the edge of my seat desperate to see how things would pan out. Although I will confess to finding the ending a little hurried, has anyone else read the book, would you agree or disagree?

Hurried ending aside I did enjoy this book immensely. I found the narrative smooth and natural allowing me to totally sink into Fforde’s fictional world. I found the book amusing, the amazing power of Fforde’s imagination blowing me away at times. I found the style and plot of the book rewardingly original.

All of this said I also quickly forgot the magic of The Eyre Affair. That probably sounds quite harsh doesn’t it? But for me a book like this with such rich imagination should surely be quite unforgettable. I’ve read other peoples reviews and thoughts and they seem to have become so engrossed in this other world that they are still now talking about a world were litera tech’s work, Wales is a republic and dodo’s walk the street. So powerful the book seems to have been for them that they are still clinging onto that other world.

I think that happens when you read books set in alternative worlds or countries. It’s rather clichéd I’m sure, but when I read Harry Potter for example, or The His Dark Material’s trilogy I really got lost in those worlds, and if I close my eyes now I can totally convince myself that I’m in Hogwarts.

Perhaps what I’m saying is I expected this to be more epic, or to have more of an epic impact on me. As it was I enjoyed the book for what it was, a fast paced book with humour, wit and strong imagination. The after effects though were less impressionable and now I’m left with a book that yes I would recommend, but no I wouldn’t call it one of my all time greats.

Maybe I’m being a little unfair and from the offset was looking for the wrong thing, what do you think?  Have you read the Eyre Affair, were you blown away by it or were your feelings mixed? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

7/10

One Book, Two Book, Three Book, Four…and Five

I’ve decided to join in the fun with Simon at Stuck in a book and his wonderful recent post where he listed The book he was currently reading, the last book he finished, the next book he wanted to read, the last book he bought, and the last book he was given. Simon asked other bloggers to join in too and post the books they were reading, had received and wanted to read. I’ve had great fun reading everyone else’s post and have decided to share with you mine.

1, The book I’m currently reading

The Report by Jessica Francis Kane was kindly loaned to me by the lovely Simon at Savidge Reads. It’s a book I’ve been desperate to get my hands on and is part of my May Mission of books that I hope to read this month. I’ve heard great things about this book so my hopes are high. I’ve just started reading it so it’s far to early to say but so far the book has me very intrigued and seems (fingers crossed) like the sort of thing I usually relish.

 

 

2, The last book I finished

The last book I finished was The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. This book was part of one of the book groups I take part in and I’m very much looking forward to sharing my thoughts with you regarding this one. As I said it’s part of a book group I’m currently in so I’ll wait for our catch up to discuss the book before I actually post anything on here. I really enjoyed the book though and am desperate to meet up with the other members of the book group to talk about it.

 

 

3, The next book I want to read

After recently acquiring a copy of One Day by David Nicholls at a steal of a price from my local charity shop it’s now top of my TBR list. The book was initially recommended to me by a friend with whom I share similar tastes. I’ve read and heard great things about this book so I’m really keen to start it. Plus I feel like lately I only read books by female writers so this should be a perfect way to get out of this habit. Lets hope it lives up to my high expectations.

 

 

4, The last book I bought

 Maybe a little ironically as I just moaned I don’t read enough books by male writers, the last book I bought was Solar by Ian Mcewan. Although it’s not so much my purchasing habits that’s being the problem and more the books I ‘ve being choosing to read lately. Anyway hopefully this will put an end to my recent rut. I’m a huge Ian Mcewan fan to say the least, Atonement being my all time favourite. I’ve being meaning to get round to reading this for a while and now that I finally have a copy I have no excuses.

 

 

5, The last book I was given

And finally the last book I was given was The Return by Victoria Hislop. I read her first novel ‘The Island’ years ago and although it wasn’t the usual thing I go for I did really enjoy it so I’m keen to see how I’ll feel about this book. It was my friend who loaned it to me and she actually read The Return first. She’s reading The Island very soon and I can’t wait to hear her thoughts on it. I can’t wait for us to both discuss The Island and The Return so I’d better get reading.

So that’s it, the books I’ve bought, being given, want to read, have just read and the last book I bought. Have you read any of these books? Are there only on here that you have any thoughts on? Perhaps you would like to tell me which books you recently bought, read, want to read etc… As always I’d love to hear your thoughts and if you’ve done your own list on your blog then please send me the link. Thanks again to Simon for the great idea.

April Rounded Up and May’s Mission

Coming back to work this morning I suddenly realised that it was the 3rd of May!! Where does the time go? Another month has passed and with it some great reading too. So I thought it only right to share with you the books I’ve read and loved this month and to tell you about some of the incoming books that I endeavour to read in the month of May.

I started off April reading the wonderful Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, a book which I’m sure you can tell I absolutely adored. Never Let Me Go was the perfect way to kick start my April reading spree and to set my expectations high for the rest of the books I intended to read. Looking back now I think it was possibly my most enjoyable read of April and certainly one of the most moving.

The next book I chose was Sleeping With Mozart by Anthea Church, a book rather different in style, genre and effect to what I usually pick. It was however a wonderful book to read, without a doubt it shook up my reading habits in April, adding I think a little more diversity to the mix. Which on another thought got me thinking that I really need to mix up my reading choices more often. I was so pleasantly surprised to enjoy Sleeping With Mozart that I have endeavoured in the up and coming months to try previously ignored genres. Is there anything that you would recommend? I’ve being thinking of trying more crime fiction and recently this year I did come across Linwood Barclay’s No Time for Goodbye and loved it, perhaps you have read other books by Barclay that you would recommend? or maybe you can suggest some other great crime fiction books?

However I digress. My third book of April was Grace Williams Says it Loud by Emma Henderson, a book that I was highly anticipating and one that I will be posting a review of very soon so please stay tuned for that. It certainly blew me away and was very thought provoking so I look forward to telling you more about it soon.

Sadly from here my reading levels seemed to decrease a little and despite, or maybe in spite of the bank holidays I only fully read these three books. I did however start The Eyre Affair by Fforde for a book group I’m in and I’m just about finished that so please check in for a review very shortly. So far, given how much I am enjoying it, it looks set to be a positive review.

Now onto my reading mission for May which is quite a large list so fingers crossed I’ll get through it all. The books range from recently acquired charity shop steals to books kindly handed to me by friends. First up I will of course endeavour to finish the Eyre Affair by Ffordes. The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory is also high up on my list of books to read in May. I’m a huge Philippa Gregory so this is a book I have fairly high hopes for. Are you a Gregory fan? have you read The Red Queen and would you recommend it?

I have also kindly being loaned a copy of The Report by Jessica Francis Kane, this was loaned to me by the lovely Simon at Savidge Reads. This book has been on my TBR list for a while so I’m thrilled to have my hands on a copy and can’t wait to read it.

I was also sent a coy of Tresspass by Rose Tremain by my lovely mother in Newcastle and while it wasn’t a book I’d heard off it was recommended by Richard and Judy and I nearly always seem to enjoy the books they recommend so I can’t wait to get stuck into it.

Annabel by Kathleen Winter is high at the top of my reading list for May with a mix of great reviews I’ve read of it and its short listing for the Orange Prize boosting it to the top of my TBR list. It’s the same with The Tigers Wife by Tea Obreht a book that I have also read some high praising reviews for and which is another nominee for the Orange Short list this year. Having read the synopsis I think this book could be a real treat.

So that’s a round-up of the books I read in April and the ones I intend to read in May. Which of the books from both categories have you read? Is there anything from either that you really loved, or hated? Or is there anything you would recommend from my May mission list? Perhaps there’s another book entirely that you think I should read? I’d love to hear your thoughts as always.