Comments on: Review: The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde

By: Jenny

Jenny — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:38:27 +0000

In reply to Schatzi. What? You must be crazy. Your link is right there, second from the top. :P

By: Schatzi

Schatzi — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 09:45:11 +0000

You did miss mine, and I am so very hurt. :/

By: Jenny

Jenny — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:17:35 +0000

In reply to Jessica.

I LOVE The Phantom Tollbooth. I reread it recently and was charmed all over again. One of my favorite bits is when they’re visiting the sound fortress, and Milo’s trying to steal a sound. And oo, I love Faintly Macabre! That’s where I learned the word macabre.

I hope you enjoy Ella Minnow Pea! There is something about it that’s reminiscent of The Phantom Tollbooth, that affection for words and the grave approach to what’s essentially a nonsense premise.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 20:35:46 +0000

I’ve bought this book a few times. I buy it, start it and give it away. I WANT to love it! Thank you for finally putting in to words what I’ve always been unable to describe. I keep thinking, “Maybe this time I’ll love it….”, but alas….it hasn’t worked yet. Have you tried Jasper Fforde’s nursery rhyme series? I wonder if it’s any better.

Also…thanks to your review…Ella Minnow Pea is next up in my stack. Your review also brought to mind how much I love the classic kids book, The Phantom Tollbooth. Have you read it?

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 20:20:29 +0000

In reply to Geranium Cat. It is strange, this business of taste! I find I'm bothered far more when someone whose tastes I generally share doesn't like something that I like. When my little sister and I differ on a book or movie, I feel like I should be able to argue her round to enjoying it. :P

By: Geranium Cat

Geranium Cat — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:11:31 +0000

I’ve got Kavalier and Clay high on my reading list and I hope this means I’m going to like it. My son passed it to me saying he thought I’d love it, because he did, and I gave him The Eyre Affair because I loved it, and he did…isn’t it funny, though, how you can be in total agreement with people about one book, and furious disagreement about another? I liked Lost in a Good Book even more, though I don’t think his subsequent books have been as good. I don’t entirely agree with you about lack of emotional development – Thursday felt very English to me, which isn’t the same thing – but most of the other characters are jokes rather than people, I guess. I like Thursday’s family, but Landen gets some pretty cavalier treatment as the series goes on, by the standards of most novels at any rate.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 20:51:30 +0000

In reply to Lu. Huh, I wonder which brand I'd prefer. The latter, I guess, just in terms of quantity. My mum and I are both big fans of the Amelia Peabody mysteries, and I always feel sad for her that her favorite is the first one. For me the series gets better and better for a while before leveling off. I hope I'll discover that the Thursday Next books are the same way!

By: Jenny

Jenny — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 20:48:41 +0000

In reply to Fyrefly.

Isn’t it good? I’ve got all the single issues starting from the Kipling one, and I’m doling them out to myself one every Tuesday (because Tuesday is depressing: still early on in the week, AND no good TV that evening). Yayyyy I am excited that today is Tuesday! The last comic left me on such a cliffhanger!

That is an excellent tag!

By: Jenny

Jenny — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 20:39:27 +0000

In reply to Trapunto.

I think the Richard III thing was my very favorite thing in the book. As for “going into” books, I had this book when I was a kid with the premise that you could go into books. It was by Charles Lindbergh’s daughter, Travel Far, Pay No Fare, and I thought it was absolute magic. They visited Alice in Wonderland, Little Women, The Yearling…I loved it. It’s lost some of the sparkle now that I am older (alas).

By: Jenny

Jenny — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 20:32:45 +0000

In reply to Mumsy. Hahaha, you know, I responded to J.G. without even seeing this comment. YES. It is all about Mandy Patinkin!