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The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel (Paperback)

~ (Author) "MY FATHER had a face that could stop a clock..." (more)
Key Phrases: plasma rifle, Miss Next, Jack Schitt, Jane Eyre (more...)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (367 customer reviews)
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Penzler Pick, January 2002: When I first heard the premise of this unique mystery, I doubted that a first-time author could pull off a complicated caper involving so many assumptions, not the least of which is a complete suspension of disbelief. Jasper Fforde is not only up to the task, he exceeds all expectations.

Imagine this. Great Britain in 1985 is close to being a police state. The Crimean War has dragged on for more than 130 years and Wales is self-governing. The only recognizable thing about this England is her citizens' enduring love of literature. And the Third Most Wanted criminal, Acheron Hades, is stealing characters from England's cherished literary heritage and holding them for ransom.

Bibliophiles will be enchanted, but not surprised, to learn that stealing a character from a book only changes that one book, but Hades has escalated his thievery. He has begun attacking the original manuscripts, thus changing all copies in print and enraging the reading public. That's why Special Operations Network has a Literary Division, and it is why one of its operatives, Thursday Next, is on the case.

Thursday is utterly delightful. She is vulnerable, smart, and, above all, literate. She has been trying to trace Hades ever since he stole Mr. Quaverley from the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit and killed him. You will only remember Mr. Quaverley if you read Martin Chuzzlewit prior to 1985. But now Hades has set his sights on one of the plums of literature, Jane Eyre, and he must be stopped.

How Thursday achieves this and manages to preserve one of the great books of the Western canon makes for delightfully hilarious reading. You do not have to be an English major to be pulled into this story. You'll be rooting for Thursday, Jane, Mr. Rochester--and a familiar ending. --Otto Penzler --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.



From Publishers Weekly

HSurreal and hilariously funny, this alternate history, the debut novel of British author Fforde, will appeal to lovers of zany genre work (think Douglas Adams) and lovers of classic literature alike. The scene: Great Britain circa 1985, but a Great Britain where literature has a prominent place in everyday life. For pennies, corner Will-Speak machines will quote Shakespeare; Richard III is performed with audience participation … la Rocky Horror and children swap Henry Fielding bubble-gum cards. In this world where high lit matters, Special Operative Thursday Next (literary detective) seeks to retrieve the stolen manuscript of Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit. The evil Acheron Hades has plans for it: after kidnapping Next's mad-scientist uncle, Mycroft, and commandeering Mycroft's invention, the Prose Portal, which enables people to cross into a literary text, he sends a minion into Chuzzlewit to seize and kill a minor character, thus forever changing the novel. Worse is to come. When the manuscript of Jane Eyre, Next's favorite novel, disappears, and Jane herself is spirited out of the book, Next must pursue Hades inside Charlotte Bront‰'s masterpiece. The plethora of oddly named characters can be confusing, and the story's episodic nature means that the action moves forward in fits and starts. The cartoonish characters are either all good or all bad, but the villain's comeuppance is still satisfying. Witty and clever, this literate romp heralds a fun new series set in a wonderfully original world. (Jan. 28)Forecast: With a six-city author tour, a well-conceived Web site at www.thursdaynext.com and crossover appeal to Bront‰ fans, this is likely to attract more attention than the usual first genre novel.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); later printing edition (February 25, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0142001805
  • ISBN-13: 978-0142001806
  • Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (367 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,045 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Jasper Fforde
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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First Sentence:
MY FATHER had a face that could stop a clock. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
plasma rifle
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Miss Next, Jack Schitt, Jane Eyre, Prose Portal, Colonel Phelps, Martin Chuzzlewit, Thursday Next, Toad News Network, Goliath Corporation, Gad's Hill, Grace Poole, John Rivers, Sturmey Archer, Acheron Hades, The Mole, Victor Analogy, Braxton Hicks, Haworth House, Light Armored Brigade, Penderyn Hotel, Officer Next, Miss Eyre, Charlotte Brontë, Brontë Federation, The Owl
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The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel
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Customer Reviews

367 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (367 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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70 of 75 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A wild trip into an alternative universe., April 16, 2002
This review is from: The Eyre Affair (Hardcover)
Jasper Fforde has a rich imagination that moves in wacky directions, an off-the-wall sense of humor that never quits, and a deep knowledge and love of literature which give shape and substance to this hilarious "thing" he's created. Not really a mystery, sci-fi thriller, satire, or fluffy fantasy, this wild rumpus contains elements of all these but feels like a completely new genre. Fforde combines "real" people from the "historically challenged" world of his plot with characters from classic novels, adding dollops of word play, irony, literary humor, satire--and even a dodo bird--just for spice.

With "real" characters who can stop time or travel back and forth in it, hear their own names (the names here are really terrific!) from 1000 yards away, appear in duplicate before themselves to give advice, travel inside books, and change the outcome of history, the reader journeys through Fforde's looking glass into a different and far more literary universe than the one we know. Thursday Next, a SpecOp-27 in the Literary Detective Division of Special Operations, is looking for Acheron Hades, who has stolen the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit and killed one of the characters in it, thereby changing the story forever. Thursday and the Literatecs are trying to prevent him from getting inside Jane Eyre and committing further murders.

If you have not read Jane Eyre recently, your pleasure in this book will be greatly enhanced if you look up a brief plot summary on-line before proceeding too far--the ending of Jane Eyre as we know it is different from the ending of Jane Eyre as Thursday Next knows it, and the differences themselves become a delightful part of this plot. Though some readers seem to feel that the book would benefit from a bit of pruning in order to strengthen its conclusion, that suggestion seems to me to be too much like Acheron Hades changing Martin Chuzzlewit or Jane Eyre--if you do that, something is irreparably lost--and this book is so much fun that I'd hate to lose even a single word! Mary Whipple
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Fun-filled Adventure, June 15, 2003
By Josh Aterovis (Baltimore, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Eyre Affair (Hardcover)
With the first page of this book, Fford caught my attention and held it fast until the last. I hated to see it end, but I was very happy to discover that it was only first in a series featuring Spec-Ops agent Thursday Next. Fford has created a blend of mystery, science fiction, and fantasy that is similar to Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently series. Fford's books even have the same irreverently sublime silliness, but with a decidedly literary bent.

The books are set in an alternate universe, one where England is the world greatest super power, but is held under the control of a shadowy mega-company called Goliath. The year is 1985, but it's unlike any 1985 you or I might remember. Technology is both far advanced and far behind. The Crimean War still drags on and the world's biggest superstars are authors. A special crime enforcement unit has been formed to deal with crimes that fall outside the usual boundaries of police jurisdiction. Thursday Next works for Spec-Ops 27, the Literary Division.

When the world's third most wanted criminal, Acheron Hades, finds a way to jump into the original manuscript of Dicken's MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT and assassinates Mr. Quaverley (a character you will only remember if you read the book before 1985), Thursday is assigned the case. It turns out that the assassination of Mr. Quaverley was only an example of what he was capable of, and when he jumps into JANE EYRE and kidnaps the title character, it's up to Thursday to save the beloved heroine...and the book.

I'll warn you now that you'll have to suspend belief while reading this book. It should be read as a fantasy first and foremost. It deals with time travel (Thursday's father is a Spec-Ops agent as well, but in the Chronoguard), cloned dodo's (Thursday's marshmallow loving pet Pickwick, version 1.2), and Shakespeare's Richard the Third is performed with audience participation ala Rocky Horror. If you can get past some of the more absurd qualities of the book, you're in for a true literary treat. Fford writes assuming his readers will get his numerous high lit in-jokes, and while I'm sure I missed a few, he provided me with many laugh out loud moments. While his world is bizarre and occasionally hard to swallow, it's also amazingly imaginative and fun, Fun, FUN! Thursday is a strong, complicated, and entirely likeable protagonist and I'm sure we have a lot to look forward to from her.

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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging -- English Lit Majors Should Delight in It, May 3, 2002
This review is from: The Eyre Affair (Hardcover)
It's no small task that Jasper Fforde was able to create a world where genetic engineering has reached a point where people can own dodos as pets, Britain has been at war with Russia for 130 years, time travel is a common occurrence, and most incredible, English literature is actually pertinent to modern life.

This book is a lot of fun, the arguments about Shakespeare's Plays' true authorship, plus other satrical pokes at the world of English lit should keep any bibliophile snickering, and if the characters get out of control sometimes, well that happens with a first novel.

Ultimately I found myself thinking about this book when I wasn't reading it, and looking forward to getting back to it. There are some laughs, a fun plot, an incredible setting, and just enough jibes at literary deconstructionists to make one feel smart, which is not generally how one leaves the world of literary deconstruction.

Others have already outlined the plot well enough. If you liked Mark Frost's, List of Seven, or China Mieville's Perdido Street Station, then land somewhere in between, add some whimsy and sit down to a really fun read. Let's call Fford's new sub-genre, Lit-Punk.

It looks as if this is going to be a series, and I look forward to Fford's next book. Thursday Next is a great character and now, with his bizarre world established, Fford can sharpen his chops on more off-the-wall humor -- not because his work needs it, because we all do.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars The Chuzzlewit Caper?
For the first half of the novel, one might have asked if it had the wrong name, but by the time the book ends, one can probably agree that "The Eyre Affair" is at least as good a... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Dave_42

5.0 out of 5 stars Fforde ffan
I stumbled onto this book because it won the Wodehouse prize and I am a huge Wodehouse fan. I loved the book and all the sequels.
Published 2 months ago by Carey Tynan

4.0 out of 5 stars The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel
If you enjoy sci-fi and literary references, you may really like this book. It was a little slow at first for me, but then was very good once I got into it. Read more
Published 2 months ago by C. Shafer

5.0 out of 5 stars A thoroughly enjoyable read
I had heard mixed things about The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde before picking it up but in light of my reading Jane Eyre a few weeks ago my interest in this story was renewed... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Irish of Tickettoanywhere.blog...

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, but...
Jasper Fforde's novel is great fun. It's a light hearted mystery that succeeds in keeping this reader both interested and entertained. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Geiar

4.0 out of 5 stars a unique read
this book is a blast to read. i was enticed to buy it because i enjoyed the nursery crimes, i was in no way disapointed. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Jessica B. Baker

5.0 out of 5 stars Cute and Quirky
What an enjoyable, fun and funny read. I really thought it was well done. Very unique.
Published 3 months ago by C. Monroe

4.0 out of 5 stars Read the whole series
Great book! Reading this book made me want to buy the rest of the series. I love the author's technique.
Published 3 months ago by truthteller

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
This book was recommended and when I saw references to "word play" and "literary allusions" (Dickens, Shakespeare, Bronte, etc. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Avid Reader

3.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat Sci Fi
I consider this sci fi with a surreal twist. As the first book of a series, the first pages were dedicated to establishing the premise. Read more
Published 5 months ago by blizzardbabe

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