Lay Away Book Special: The end of an affair

The Eyre Affair's ending is a mixed bag. It offers a marked improvement from the lull mentioned in the previous entry, and the plot threads are all nicely snipped. It also involves some serious deus ex machina.

This last minute plot device involves the appearance of the lawyer from Jane Eyre objecting to Landen's wedding to Daisy out of nowhere. He has valid grounds to object, since Daisy's already married, but it's far too neat.

What's worse, since Thursday changed the story of Jane Eyre by bringing Jane and Rochester together in the end, it seems that the book has continued to grow and expand. When Thursday asks Mrs. Nakajima (the book tour guide, who is able to melt into books at will) how the couple is she tells her that 10 years have passed and they've had kids. The book would go on, since the main character of the first person Jane Eyre (Jane), is back in it, but it raises a troubling question: When a book is so altered when does it end?

Perhaps the book simply ends with Rochester and Jane being married, and that's that. But to be so quick about dismissing this issue leaves out any clarity as to what happens to characters after the book's story has been read/consumed.

Up until the reveal that Jane and Rochester are happily wedded with children, it's suggested (by Rochester himself on page ) that the characters of the book more or less die after the story's told. Is the newly minted couple so long lived because the main character is present? But what then happened to Jane in the original Jane Eyre? Because Fforde implies that the characters go through the story on an endless loop, there must be an end point and a start point for said loop. Living together for 10 years into the book world future does not seem to be the solid ending that the very rules of the book world require. Where do they fit in their playing out their parts in the book?

It's not something that everyone reads for, but when an author goes to the trouble of creating a unique world, it's fair to hope that the basic mechanics of that world will be clear. It's not necessary that an author explain his world in depth in his novel, but he should be clear enough on the rules himself that he not violate them. Or even appear to violate them without some sort of set up. Fforde provides none.

So, overall, The Eyre Affair is an all right book with a mostly excellent villain. However, Fforde's alternate world and explanation of the worlds that books conjure are just not fleshed out enough.

Lay Away Book Special: At risk of melting into Eyre

It's disappointing that the apparent time travel at the end of chapter 27 was just a ruse. Using that to end a chapter and then starting the next with a blurb about the ChronoGuard's sense of humour and such smacks of Fforde writing himself into a corner and using a brutish method to escape, passing it all off as comedy.

At the least that moment at the start of chapter 28 (as of chapter 31) marks off the decline of the book.

The action sequences that follow, wherein Thursday and Bowden face Hades and Schitt, are fine. But the dialogue surrounding them and the scene where Thursday asks a Welsh bookseller to drive her into Merthyr are downright painful. As an English writer whose work obviously relies heavily on nineteenth century fiction, Fforde's no stranger to the pun (practically every character name in the book is one), but between chapters 28 and 31 he shows that he's no stranger to the cliché, either.

From sequences such as 'it's too dangerous, I'll never do it! - but I, the young eccentric assistant, will!' to motivations like 'I'm in it just for greed, nyah!' and replies along the lines of 'how dare you double cross me!' this section of the book is a pantomime shadow of what has come before.

True, The Eyre Affair is Fforde's first novel, but the shift in quality over these three chapters suggests that the book was rushed out before being truly completed.

Lay Away Book Special: Late timing

As if a villain who could be just about anywhere and who seems capable of just about anything wasn't enough already. Fforde just had to throw in time travel. As a plot device it seems strange, since there are less than 100 pages left of the book. But as a piece of world building, it says a lot.

First off, the reaction of the officers that Thursday and Bowden meet at the scene of the tear in time is what you'd expect the reaction to an animal having walked into the middle of the road where it was hit. They don't know quite what to do, but they do know what it is they're dealing with, and don't seem very phased by it.

In her narration, Thursday mentions a few times that these disruptions occur spontaneously. This detail suggests that something has happened to time in her world to make it less stable. Given the existence of the "Chrono Guard," experiments with and in time are likely what's destabilized it. So time travel is possible and practiced.

Further, if not because of both the existence of the Chrono Guard and the spontaneity of the appearance of such disruptions in time, this phenomenon must be wide spread. Maybe in Thursday's world England is literature crazy, but disruptions in time could not be so localized.

Thus, in including the time disruption and having his main character travel through time, Fforde is revealing that Thursday's world is truly damaged. Though, in first book fashion, any such revelation comes with more questions than answers.

Lay Away Book Special: The character building Beowulf entry

Thursday's reflection that if she's not married in the next five years she'll probably spend the rest of her life alone is a striking thing. Not because it's outlandish or strange or out of place in any book,  but because it's exactly what much of my writing's missing: Character exposition for the sake of character exposition. Her thinking about her relationships kind of relates to her subplot with Landen, but that plot itself is secondary to the hunt for Acheron.

In the context of reading Infinite Jest, this moment of character building also stands out. Infinite Jest is, if nothing else, almost entirely character development with only the slightest whiffs of plot until the books final 200 pages or so (as I've heard it told). Thus, for all of its typical English-ness and standard style, The Eyre Affair beats a nice middle path between writing that's almost entirely plot driven, and writing that's almost entirely character driven.

As the 2/3 mark is hit, the action in The Eyre Affair's definitely heating up. Though, once again I really wish Beowulf would be given a fair shake.

After Mycroft burns the original Chuzzlewit manuscript, Acheron just moves onto another. His go to is Shakespeare, but since no original manuscripts exist he defaults back to 19th century works. Because in English literature there's the Bard and the Victorians. That's it. Everything in between and before isn't worth the vellum/paper it's written/printed on.

You wouldn't even need to go back as far as Beowulf, you could go with Chaucer. The Beowulf manuscript might not be an original, and neither may the surviving Chaucer manuscripts, but that mystery would only add to the suspense.

Or, hey, since they're both works that are over 500 years old, why not just speculate and say "yeah, that Beowulf/Canterbury Tales (use as desired) manuscript is the original"?

Lay Away Book Special: Clues amidst action

The Eyre Affair, once the tyre hits the kerb (if you'll excuse the overextension), really boils. It proved very difficult to keep aloof from it during the kidnapping of Thursday's Uncle Mycroft, her shoot-out in Archer's studio, and, particularly, her meeting with Landen wherein old wounds burst open. But, I'm still left wondering about the world it all happens in.

On page 145, Bowden Cable tells Thursday about a posting he'd applied for at "the equivalent of a LiteraTec office in Ohio." This suggests that, although literature might not be an internationally valued commodity, other media are so in other parts of the world. Being in Ohio, my guess is that the medium in question is film, or television, but that's just a guess. As it's described, the posting could really just be a library or archive position, the major concern of which being the rooting out of forgeries.

Likewise, on page 183, a reference to a Swindon troupe of audience members-cum-actors going to Sauvignon to repay a French troupe for their performance in Swindon could be taken to mean that Shakespeare is highly valued in France as well as England. But, again, that value could just be the sort of value that many people in the real world ascribe to the Bard and his works.

The mystery of Thursday Next's world persists.

Lay Away Book Special: Very superstitious?

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.

Lay Away Book Special: The English way

Aside from a few moments where I couldn't help but roll my eyes (a character named "Jack Schitt" being one of them and gene splicer's licenses being "splicenses" being another), the Eyre Affair continues to be interesting. Fforde is very English in his style, and so some of the puns and turns of phrase are inevitable, but another thing has made itself apparent. There is a great deal of description.

As each room is entered, or every new scene begun, we get a quick rundown of what's in it. This grounds you as a reader, and helps to add some colour to the world, but often comes off as unnecessary. Its extraneous quality may well be why I noticed it in the first place. It's a pleasant enough thing to notice, but these descriptions are coming close to pulling me from the story. Too close.

The werewolf that Staker (or should it be "Stoker," as it is on page 84?) had arrested before he picked up Thursday is a nice touch, but I'm sure his bit part will later expand. Thursday shared her belief that Acheron Hades isn't dead with Staker after all, and only because she thought no one else was present to hear it. Inevitably that werewolf will return, English writing demands it. Though, with any luck, he won't return as a mere informant.

Lay Away Book Special: A return to the Affair

Being sucked into a show/movie/book/video game/board game is a trope. As such, it's difficult to do well and to really add anything new to the idea. Jasper Fforde manages to do so, though.

Fforde's description of the world within Jane Eyre stands alone. As Fforde has it what happens in the scene into which Thursday Next is drawn is limited to what's on the page, but the things happening on the border of that are up for alteration. This is a point nicely illustrated by her not being seen or not having anyone pay her any attention except for the dog Pilot, a character mentioned only in passing.

Throughout the scene in which Thursday describes her first dive into literature, such limits and rules are given. They aren't firmed up just yet, but Fforde gives his readers a sense of those rules and limits - enough to leave them with an idea of what to expect later in the book and enough to leave them wondering how far those limits and rules can be pushed.

Of course, equipped with such a teased out set of rules,  the explanation for the book's premise needs to be that much better. From what I've read so far, it looks like Fforde may be up for the task, but might not make the explanation as clear as some would like it to be.

Lay Away Book Special: The Acheron Moves Quickly

Well, Jasper Fforde definitely does not disappoint. After introducing Acheron Hades and his mysterious powers, he jumps full on into the weird and wild. Though, it looks like it may be a chapter or two more before Thursday Next, the main character, catches on to just what the weirdness around her and around Acheron is.

Fforde also continues to use Victorian lit as a touchstone for the sort of writing people would form serious political factions around (as well as Shakespeare). Such use of Victorian literature is a pet peeve of mine, but given that this is the first book in the Thursday Next series, it would be perhaps too bold of Fforde to jump right into a Chaucer or Beowulf manuscript. I'm sure one or the other comes up in a later book - or at least that is my hope.

The Victorians may have written a few good things, but too many people admire the flower while forgetting the stem and the root. Neither may be as pretty as the blossom, but of all the parts of the edible flowering plant that is literature, the root and the stem are much more complex and nutritious.

Lay Away Book Special: Ffording the Mundane

Just as the "Away Game Special" entries cover games outside of my Game List, "Lay Away Book Special" entries will cover things not on my Book List. Today's topic is Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair.

I think the premise for the Thursday Next series of books is indeed fascinating. On the one hand, the barrier between fiction and reality getting a little soft and people exploiting that isn't anything new, but on the other having an agency form around it is refreshing. However, the book is quite slow to start.

The first three chapters paint the world for us readers. The setting is England in an alternate 1985 where the Crimean War wages on and time travel has been discovered and harnessed. Obviously there are other things going on as well, but the tone of all of these strange things seems overly contrived. It's an opening heavy on fantasy that, at every turn, refuses to acknowledge this. Until we're introduced to Acheron Hades.

The book's villain (at least as of chapter four) is a man who faked his own death and has since reappeared as a mass criminal. However, he also appears to have some superhuman abilities, not the least of which is the ability to hear his name (even whispered) at a radius of a thousand yards. I'm heartened to see that Fforde embraces the fantastic elements of his world in this character, and hope that he continues to do so.

Otherwise, this is going to be a lot like reading Clive Cussler (where the villains were more interesting than the heroes) all over again.