How is Fforde?

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Has anyone read "The Well of Lost Plots" or any book by author Jasper Fforde? Would you give it a good referral or no? Please do bear in mind that I love quirky reads.

― yesabibliophile (yesabibliophile), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 21:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I have read all three and am a fan, a sappy, giddy silly fan. No critical distance. They are clever and make me feel smart when I get all the allusions to other literature. And the notion that the series starts sets out in what looks like "here and now" but really isn't is a nice conceit. Details for the word players amongst us, likeable strange characters, science fiction and mystery. I've recommended them to others, some of whom were as delighted as I, some who were...not.

― Rabin the Cat (Rabin the Cat), Thursday, 11 March 2004 06:30 (twenty-one years ago)

There's a thread for "The Eyre Affair" here:

Just Finished Reading- The Eyre Affair

― winterland, Thursday, 11 March 2004 08:53 (twenty-one years ago)

If you read the above thread, you already know I loved The Eyre Affair. I just got Lost in a Good Book, which I plan on starting very soon.

― Vermont Girl (Vermont Girl), Thursday, 11 March 2004 12:35 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't think the second and third books (or first and second parts of the one book, to be honest), had any idea as straightforwardly brilliant as Shakespear as Rocky Horror. I think the third book is somewhere on my "must finish reading" list, to be honest.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 11 March 2004 14:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Thank you, winterland, I somehow missed that link - I'll go read it over...

I read an interview with Fforde and about the books, and I was really intrigued. Lately it seems that reviews I've read have been off the mark and I didn't enjoy the books of other authors. It seems I'm going to have to give Fforde a go!

― yesabibliophile (yesabibliophile), Thursday, 11 March 2004 14:49 (twenty-one years ago)

I've read all three and enjoyed the second the most (a lot of The Eyre Affair felt, to me, as though Fforde was establishing the world and its rules in preparation for writing more about it later). For me, Lost in a Good Book was just delightful and funny and creative (though I also agree with Andrew about Richard III being done like Rocky Horror as being the most brilliant idea so far).

The latest, The Well of Lost Plots struck me as being, well, too far-fetched (yeah, I know it's a fantasy series and all, but while I could buy into the alternative reality in the first two books, this third, being set completely in the book world [yet another layer of complication] seemed to me to be silly and too unfinished) - and the jabs at Micr0s0ft weren't that funny, either.

― I'm Passing Open Windows (Ms Laura), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 10:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Thanks, guys - I appreciate the opinions you gave me. I'm confident that Fforde won't be a waste of my time now...

― yesabibliophile (yesabibliophile), Thursday, 18 March 2004 19:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Be sure to let us know what you think of his stuff!

― I'm Passing Open Windows (Ms Laura), Friday, 19 March 2004 02:27 (twenty-one years ago)

three weeks pass...

I jumped into the "Well of Lost Plots" and I'm lost. References to the previous books prevents me from reading any further than the first chapter, although what I did read, I found fun :)

I'm off to get the beginning of Thursday Next's adventures...

― yesabibliophile (yesabibliophile), Thursday, 15 April 2004 13:13 (twenty-one years ago)

I did end up reading Lost in a Good Book a while ago. I still feel like I'm not getting a lot of the literary references...

― Vermont Girl (Vermont Girl), Thursday, 15 April 2004 14:07 (twenty-one years ago)

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