Jasper Fforde’s beloved New York Times bestselling novel introduces literary detective Thursday Next and her alternate reality of literature-obsessed England—from the author of The Constant RabbitFans of Douglas Adams and P. G. Wodehouse will love visiting Jasper Fforde’s Great Britain, circa 1985, when time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and … resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously: it’s a bibliophile’s dream. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection. But when someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature and plucks Jane Eyre from the pages of Brontë’s novel, Thursday is faced with the challenge of her career. Fforde’s ingenious fantasy—enhanced by a Web site that re-creates the world of the novel—unites intrigue with English literature in a delightfully witty mix.
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This is one of my favorite series! I love the adventures of Thursday Next – Literary Detective!
I loved this book when I first picked it up and remember giggling the whole way through. (It was passed over to me by the Mum, of all people. We do not, normally, share the same taste in literature.) It has a charming irreverent take on… well… everything from literature to history. It’s set in an alternate reality where literature is, if not king, at least very very significant.
When people ask me for a book recommendation, this is my first recommendation, since I first read it back about 10 years ago. However, it’s hard to explain. “it’s kinda an alternate reality with dodos as pets and Shakespeare is performed like Rocky Horror Picture Show. ” Right about there, I lose a quarter of people-there is a pained, glazed look in their eyes. But those who stay with me…there is a mystery, a love story, a combat vet with PTSD trying to piece her life back together, while doing her job as a cop keeping her piece of the world safe. Her world just happens to contain dodos, the Chesire Cat, and airships.
If you like the idea of a marvelous world existing alongside our own, try Jasper Fford’s Thursday Next series, starting with this book, The Eyre Affair.
Fans of literary fiction will recognize the many characters and references throughout this parallel world where writers are revered and books are alive and must be protected.
This is a really great read for any lover of books, but you have to read them in order and probably pretty close together. I tried to read the new book in the series a year or so after starting the series and I had to stop as I couldn’t remember enough about what was going on. Still, highly recommend if you’re looking for a unique series that you can plow through one after another.
Holy guacamole. This book was unlike ANYthing I’ve ever read before. Clever, original, and intriguing. Can’t wait to read the next one.
This is the first book of the Thursday Next series. Besides the fact that I love Fforde’s acerbic humor and snarky comments throughout the book, Fforde created an entirely new world in BookWorld and looking at where our stories come from. I feel sarcasm is highly under appreciated, and Fforde has it down to an art form.
I frankly plodded through this, the first title in the Thursday Next series, often debating with myself along the way about whether to finish it. Though I found much of it intriguing, I also found much of it sluggish. Given that it’s set in an alternate world, keeping track of events referred to and what they meant was often confusing. There are also a LOT of characters, some of whom are minor, some major but killed off early in the story, so trying to remember who they were and how they figured when they were mentioned later in the story became a chore. While I think the writing is quite competent and the premise and its handling clever, I’m in no hurry to read more titles in this series. (If I could, I’d rate it two-and-a-half stars, not three.)
Clever idea.
Jasper Fforde is my favorite author. His Tuesday Next, Nursery Crimes and Shades of Grey books are absolutely fantastic reads!
I read this book years ago. This came out before eReaders were popular. Which means it’s not a self published book with editing / pacing / etc (no editor) issues. Not that all self published books are bad but there are a lot of stinkers out there when everyone can easily put their book up on Amazon.
I loved how this book pulled characters from various famous literature for an adventure. The author made it work beautifully WITHOUT it come across like a upgraded fan fiction.
The start of an awesome series!
The first of the series following Thursday Next as she leaps in and out of books trying to ensure that the books stay true to their authors wishes. This series is unique and very enjoyable.
If you are a fan of classic literature you’ll be more likely to understand the wacky references in these futuristic fantasy novels… Great fun!
Jasper Fforde is one of my favorite authors as long as you can suspend belief and be willing to live in the world he creates. His imagination just keeps me reading each page wondering what he will come up with next. If you can suspend belief, then pick up one of his books and just settle in for a good read.
Fantastic twist on literature, grammar and books in general. Makes you want to read “the classics” if you haven’t already. Lots of great word play.
Never finished. Boring.
Loved it! Jasper Fforde’s fantasy world is amazing. And the book isn’t easy reading – it’s very entertaining, but requires actual thought. Funny, but not lost on thinkers. Fforde’s combination of science fiction and fantasy, original characters, and famous figures from classic literature make “The Eyre Affair” a read well worth the effort!
An English major’s playground. One can read him/herself into a novel…quite literally. One has to stay in the back plot so as not to change the story line, but interesting things can happen back there…like a Japanese tour group with flash cameras. Great book. Author has a mind playing in the field of literature, and joining him is fun. The main character is Tuesday Next….
This book is the literary reward for having read all those books in school. Sure, they were good, but when will you ever need to remember something about Miss Havisham from Great Expectations? Well, if you read this book, you will be recalling all sorts of great characters from literature as Thursday Next goes inside the book world to save the day! I especially appreciated the “grammarsites” and other fun nuances Jasper Fforde created for the book world. It’s just the first book in a series of fun reads!