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The Eyre Affair

Fforde, Jasper (Book - 2002)
Average Rating: 2 stars out of 5.
The Eyre Affair


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Great Britain circa 1985: time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. Baconians are trying to convince the world that Francis Bacon really wrote Shakespeare, there are riots between the Surrealists and Impressionists,

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Great Britain circa 1985: time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. Baconians are trying to convince the world that Francis Bacon really wrote Shakespeare, there are riots between the Surrealists and Impressionists, and thousands of men are named John Milton, an homage to the real Milton and a very confusing situation for the police. Amidst all this, Acheron Hades, Third Most Wanted Man In the World, steals the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit and kills a minor character, who then disappears from every volume of the novel ever printed! But that's just a prelude . . . Hades' real target is the beloved Jane Eyre, and it's not long before he plucks her from the pages of Bronte's novel. Enter Thursday Next. She's the Special Operative's renowned literary detective, and she drives a Porsche. With the help of her uncle Mycroft's Prose Portal, Thursday enters the novel to rescue Jane Eyre from this heinous act of literary homicide. It's tricky business, all these interlopers running about Thornfield, and deceptions run rampant as their paths cross with Jane, Rochester, and Miss Fairfax. Can Thursday save Jane Eyre and Bronte's masterpiece? And what of the Crimean War? Will it ever end? And what about those annoying black holes that pop up now and again, sucking things into time-space voids . . . Suspenseful and outlandish, absorbing and fun, The Eyre Affairis a caper unlike any other and an introduction to the imagination of a most distinctive writer and his singular fictional universe. Next up in the Thursday Next series: Lost in a Good Book. Read more about it at thursdaynext.com.

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Imprint: New York : - Viking
Pages: 374
Edition: 1st American ed
ISBN: 0670030643
Language: English
Statement of responsibility: Jasper Fforde
Characteristics: viii, 374 p. ;,23 cm.
Author (Original Script): Fforde, Jasper
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Mar 28, 2013
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  • bwortman rated this: 5 stars out of 5.

Fforde's novel is an absolute delight. Easily straddling the border between science fiction and fantasy, his novel is truly a love letter to literature and language. Moving easily from punny names and apostrophe jokes to passages that reflect on what major literary works might be like if things were just a bit different, the novel is entertaining from start to finish. Definitely more fun for those familiar with the works mentioned but definitely accessible to anyone who's ever been lost in the pages of a book.

Mar 19, 2013
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  • TheIronPaw rated this: 5 stars out of 5.

Picture a world where literature enflames passions the way politics, religion, pro-sports do in our world. Where Baconians riot over who wrote Shakespeare's plays. Where the line between reality and literature blurs and history is malleable (where Wellington is not killed at Waterloo - damn French revisionists at it again). Insert a crime/thriller plot into this world with our heroine Thursday Next and we have a wild novel that continually challenges our perceptions of reality and probability. Though initial impressions would lead us to compare this novel with Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker universe, or Terry Pratchet's Discworld, Jasper Fforde does not approach this with a tongue in cheek, or social satire style. This is a serious crime/thriller, although it does have its fair share of comedic episodes. Advice to new readers of this series: it would be wise to have read at least a plot summary of Jane Eyre and to be familiar with characters of that novel. Overall: challenging but fun-filled crime thriller.

Dec 17, 2012
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  • LazyNeko rated this: 4.5 stars out of 5.

Great fun to read! It has everything: time travel, vampires, werewolves, mystery, action, murder, romance, war, fantasy, genetic mutants, and just total madcap insanity. Doubly amusing for literature nerds like me.

Nov 17, 2012
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  • Rock_Shadow rated this: 4 stars out of 5.

Hilarious characters, murder mysteries, sci-fi, and portals to famous English books make for very fun reading.

Jul 11, 2012
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  • maryhammy rated this: 5 stars out of 5.

Actually great!!! Loved all the Jane Eyre plot twists! A+!

Jun 05, 2012
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  • augustlover rated this: 5 stars out of 5.

Such a great merging of mystery, fantasy, and sci-fi. With just a touch of each, you don't get bogged down by the genre.The first in the series, I'm looking forward to reading the rest!

Feb 26, 2012
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  • rprivette rated this: 4 stars out of 5.

One of 3 in the series. Do read or watch Jane Eyre first! Highly imaginative travel through reality and time, risking the change of classic novels. A "10" for originality.

Feb 08, 2012
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  • nshlega rated this: 4 stars out of 5.

A very good mix of science fiction, mystery and humor. Very much enjoyable!

Oct 02, 2011
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  • tocch101 rated this: 4.5 stars out of 5.

Good book. Later seem to be better developed, but it is a great start and is very well written.

Aug 11, 2011
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  • Ubalstecha rated this: 5 stars out of 5.

Thursday Next is a LitTec from SpecOps. She spends her days authenticating copies of old books. Sound dull? Try doing that in a world where followers of Bacon travel door to door like Mormons trying to convince you that Shakespeare was not the author of the great canon of plays. Then Jane Eyre is kidnapped out of her own book, and Thursday's old college lecturer, a man that she seems uniquely able to resist, is behind it. Soon she is swept up in an adventure that brings her back to her hometown and to the man she left behind. This is a smart, fast-moving, brilliant alternate history where literature and art reign supreme. Towns have interactive, long running productions of Shakespeare that make Rocky Horror look like amateur. hour. There are marvellous invention that allow worms to act like thesauruses and cars to travel through time. So worth the effort.

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Mar 13, 2010
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  • Brandon Peter Schatz rated this: 5 stars out of 5.

Brandon Peter Schatz thinks this title is suitable for 16 years and over

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Mar 13, 2010
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  • Brandon Peter Schatz rated this: 5 stars out of 5.

The first in the series of Thursday Next books. Here, we start with the basics, with Thursday working for a division of law enforcement that focuses exclusively on book related crimes. All goes relatively well, until the realms of fiction and reality cross-over in all together unexpected ways, leading to the random (of sorts) of the book Jane Eyre. Oh, and there's all sorts of other brilliantly dry British and literature related humour.

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Dec 17, 2012
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  • LazyNeko rated this: 4.5 stars out of 5.

"As the saying goes: If you want to get into SpecOps, act kinda weird. We don't tend to pussyfoot around."

Mar 19, 2011
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  • Scooteriffic rated this: 5 stars out of 5.

"Plock"

Mar 13, 2010
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  • Brandon Peter Schatz rated this: 5 stars out of 5.

"Governments and fashions come and go but Jane Eyre is for all time."

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