The Eyre Affair has no chapter 13. Despite one being listed in the table of contents, it's not present. The pages nonetheless tick on, and it seems as though it was just a one page chapter. Undoubtedly this means something - but what?
Fforde continues to throw down puns with shocking regularity. I enjoy a good pun myself, even better if there's a run of them. But what bothers me about them in The Eyre Affair is that they're too specifically literary. On more than one occasion I've been anticipating literary puns that don't appear (when Thursday's been asked to meet two Gentlemen, I expected them to be from the "Verona Company" or some other concern named for that Italian city). As fun as it is to find pun inspiration in what you read, it detracts from it as well. Slowly, and bit by bit, sure, but nonetheless.
On the matter of literary self-sabotage, it's difficult not to wonder why literature is so valuable in The Eyre Affair's universe. The world Fforde has set up is definitely very appealing, but a little more explanation of what caused the world to center so much on literature (and if it's only so in England) would be much appreciated. The Eyre Affair being the first in the series, though, such an explanation is not likely to come up.
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