I -- like many -- read as part of staying inspired in my writing. It is nearly as important to me as the sound tracks I write by. It refreshes me and nourishes me. It helps keep me in the mood; it helps me think about elements of the universe I'm creating by looking at what other people have done in their own.
Right now, I'm reading the first book in Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series -- The Eyre Affair. And I'm loving it. I have always had a hard time with literary books -- they often take themselves too seriously. Meanwhile, the really playful books are often just fairy floss and popcorn -- fun, but not much in the way of substance. The thing I'm loving about this book is that somehow, it's both. There are tonnes of in-jokes and bad puns (really, the only kind of puns I love. Just ask my darling Other Half).
The world of Thursday Next is an alternate to our own, where England and Russia have been fighting the Crimean War for over 100 years, where Wales is an independent nation, and some people have the ability to move through time and into the worlds of books. The story is set in 1985 and there are two main powers controlling the globe: the Special Operations Network (a la 1984) and the Goliath Corporation. The main character, Thursday E. Next, a lowly LiteraTec Detective, SO-27, has a voice that brings to mind old detective stories -- and some newer ones. And there are elements of the world he created that I'm frankly jealous about -- I would love the ability to walk into the worlds created by books. And I would love to see a Richard the III performance like the one described in the book. It sounds like a cross between the Rocky Horror Picture Show viewings and the midnight show Shenandoah Shakespeare Express put on every year at my university. It sounded like so much fun it made me giddy. And don't get me started on the bookworms, fed on prepositions and expelling clouds of apostrophes and hyphens.
Right now, I'm reading the first book in Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series -- The Eyre Affair. And I'm loving it. I have always had a hard time with literary books -- they often take themselves too seriously. Meanwhile, the really playful books are often just fairy floss and popcorn -- fun, but not much in the way of substance. The thing I'm loving about this book is that somehow, it's both. There are tonnes of in-jokes and bad puns (really, the only kind of puns I love. Just ask my darling Other Half).
The world of Thursday Next is an alternate to our own, where England and Russia have been fighting the Crimean War for over 100 years, where Wales is an independent nation, and some people have the ability to move through time and into the worlds of books. The story is set in 1985 and there are two main powers controlling the globe: the Special Operations Network (a la 1984) and the Goliath Corporation. The main character, Thursday E. Next, a lowly LiteraTec Detective, SO-27, has a voice that brings to mind old detective stories -- and some newer ones. And there are elements of the world he created that I'm frankly jealous about -- I would love the ability to walk into the worlds created by books. And I would love to see a Richard the III performance like the one described in the book. It sounds like a cross between the Rocky Horror Picture Show viewings and the midnight show Shenandoah Shakespeare Express put on every year at my university. It sounded like so much fun it made me giddy. And don't get me started on the bookworms, fed on prepositions and expelling clouds of apostrophes and hyphens.
I love this book the way I love Harry Dresden books and Alton Brown cooking shows. I can already tell that this is going to be one of those books I end up reading again and again (a list I'll discuss some other time).
As you might be able to tell, I'd give this book five happy bookworms out of five.
What are you reading?
As you might be able to tell, I'd give this book five happy bookworms out of five.
What are you reading?
I love love love Jasper Fforde!!! He's just brilliant. You should read his Nursery Crimes series as well. The first is The Big Over Easy. He's got another series coming out in January too.
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