Or rather, What I Read, because I'm done with it now.
Finding this book was one of those rare instances where I broke my own rules and bought a book before I knew that I would love it. I was at Half Price Books the other day, buying Dracula, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Cry, the Beloved Country for a dollar each (I love clearance) when I ran across The Eyre Affair, also on clearance. The summary on the back seemed familiar and intriguing, and it was only two dollars, so I bought it.
And what was so intriguing, you ask? Well, the setting for the book is in a bizarre alternate-reality 1985 in which cloning is so common that people own dodo birds as pets and there's a branch of the government totally devoted to time and space travel. The main character, Thursday Next, is an operative of the LiteraTech branch of government, investigating literary crimes like forgeries and the defacing of Will-speaks (machines that, for ten pence, will quote monologues from a Shakespeare play) by Baconians (those who support Sir Francis Bacon as the writer behind the front of "William Shakespeare"). When the original manuscript of a Dickens novel goes missing and the main suspect is an old professor of hers, Thursday gets involved. Throw her uncle's invention that allows anyone to transport him or herself into a work of literature and even bring a character back, and you've got intriguing. At least to me.
Was the book funny? Yes. Was it original? Yes. Did I want more? In the sense that I could tell there was more imagination where this came from, yes. Mostly, I enjoyed it. There were times when I wished for more explanation--How could her dad travel through time? Was it a genetic ability, or something he was trained for?--but the story was good enough to mostly distract me from my lingering questions.
Um, I feel like I meant to write more, but you'll have to forgive me if I don't remember what it was. If my forehead burning my hand is any indication, I'm less than well this weekend. If you remember what else I meant to say, let me know. Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!
1 comment:
I picked this book up at the library based on this post and hearing it mentioned elsewhere. (yes, it's been on my list for awhile.) I just finished it. I'm not sure that I'm well-read enough to get all the jokes but it was an amusing book. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
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