Lost in a Good Book

Rating:
Summary: I'm in love with Thursday Next
Review: Lost in a Good Book is the next adventure in the saga of Thursday Next, intrepid literary detective. Fforde takes the reader on another exploration of great literature, but makes it accessible even to the readers who haven't really read any of them. This book is an excellent addition to the mythos. It's a fast-paced romp that will leave you smiling and intrigued at the same time.

Fforde takes the world that he created in The Eyre Affair and adds even more to it. In fact, he creates an entire fictional world beneath the "reality" that Thursday lives in. Characters from literature can travel to the real world, or to other books. An entire infrastructure of literary characters is charged with defending literature against evil-doers. The Jurisfiction organization, centered in the Great Library where every book (even books that only potentially existed) is housed, fights against everything from vicious creatures that eat vocabulary to Bowdlerisers, who travel through fiction trying to eliminate obscenity and profanity from it. In her travels, Thursday becomes the apprentice to Miss Havisham, from Great Expectations, a master book-jumper. All of this is in an attempt to learn how to get into "The Raven" and save her husband. Once again, I have to credit Fforde's imagination. There are so many cool concepts in this book that I won't give you any more. It would spoil some of the fun.

Also like the first book, this is a triumph of prose and imagery over character, as most of the characters don't have a lot of depth to them. They are mostly part of the joke, or part of the scenery. Thursday is one exception to this, and Miss Havisham is the other. Havisham is a wonderful character, taking what Dickens created and adding to it. It's very interesting to see Havisham interacting with Pip and Estella as part of the book, and then when the scenes switches to a new chapter and away from her, she becomes even more animated. These characters know that they are characters in a book, they speak their lines and do their bit, and then they go off to live their own life. Every chapter adds more and more to Fforde's world.

One way in which this is different from the first book, however, is that Fforde doesn't concentrate as much in the alternate reality that Thursday lives in. We get an update on how things are going (the Crimean War peace talks, for one thing), but for the most part, everything takes place either in the books themselves, or in the real world but with lots of literary characters bumbling about. For example, Havisham is a hoot when she gets behind the wheel of a car. If you can imagine an 18th century spinster with a lead foot, you will get the picture. It's hilarious to see, and to read about. I constantly found myself marveling at what Fforde was producing, and didn't notice that the characters were kind of plot devices.

However, once again, the writing is wonderful. Fforde has a very smooth style that almost feels literary. It's almost the perfect mix between classic literature and today's fiction. Part of that is helped by the other fictional characters being around (most of them being from classical literature anyway), but a lot of it is the prose itself. The plot is interesting in itself and there are some godawful puns (those are the best kind). Some of the events in the novel seem to come out of left field, but everything ultimately has a good reason for happening, which is nice. A couple of times I groaned at how something was resolved, thinking it looked too much like writer's fiat, but then something else happened that explained exactly why that resolution occurred. Considering how twisty the book can get at times, that's no mean feat.

I greatly enjoyed this novel, though not quite as much as the first. I'm not sure why that is, because it seems just as good as the first one. Maybe I would have liked a little more real-world action. In the first book, I reveled in the scenes like the Rocky Horror Picture Show-style rendition of Richard III. Those sorts of details were missing in this one (though the beginning, when Thursday goes on the talk show, is a complete scream). There were a couple of seemingly useless items. There's no reason that I can see for the mammoths to be around, other than as interesting scenery. In a book that's full of imagery, that's not usually a bad thing, but this time it seemed like they would have a purpose, and then they didn't.

Fforde has shown, yet again, that he is a master at this sort of thing. He uses wonderful language, interesting images, and a great plot. Don't pick up this book for the wonderful characters, though. Fforde concentrates more on making the characters do interesting things than in actually making them interesting themselves. Except for Thursday, of course. She is the ultimate, and I love her to death. You also don't have to be afraid of not having read classic fiction and thus not being able to understand the book. While I'm sure it would be enhanced if you are familiar with it, it's not a necessity to get most of the jokes. All in all, I really felt like I was Lost in a Good Book.

Rating:
Summary: Time travel or waste of time?
Review: Other reviewers have mentioned that you will probably enjoy and appreciate this book more if you have first read "The Eyre Affair." I must confess that I did not read the first novel in the series, but I doubt that was the reason for my disappointment. It did not take me long to catch on and "catch up" with the fantastic goings-on. The first 100 pages or so were somewhat enjoyable, but after that I had to force myself to finish the book -- I was annoyed at the author's cavalier "throw in anything that comes to mind" attitude. But what about all that clever wordplay and puns?! Ho - hum.... there's better verbal horseplay in a typical Preston Sturges screenplay --- with the added dimension of an underlying spark of humane compassion and profundity amidst the antics -- the entire plot of his "Christmas in July" revolves around lack of appreciation of a pun in a contest slogan, culminating in an exuberantly satisfying ending ---the ending of "Lost in a Good Book" is a DUD -- run-amok pink sludge destroying the universe --- a real let-down. After grudgingly finishing this book, I had to refresh my appreciation of truly clever writing by re-reading James McCourt's "Mawrdew Czgowchwz" and dipping into some P.G. Wodehouse, and then viewing "Christmas in July" for the 17th time ["If you can't sleep at night; it's not the coffee, it's the bunk!" -- with that great character actor William Demarest as a slogan-contest judge shouting at his fellow judges -- "Don'tcha get it? It's a PUN!!!"].

Rating:
Summary: Ffantastic Ffun
Review: Someone gave me Lost/Book and I jumped into it without having read the first in the series. I have to agree with all the reviewers who rate this segment 4 or 5 stars. Part of the fun is seeing favorite characters in new settings and situations. Miss Haversham, usually interpreted as a psychological disaster, is a delight in Lost. The wit, the puns, the rapid pace all combine to make this reading a whirlwind experience. Thursday's stream of consciousness narration is entertaining, a sort of Bridget Jones on speed. Not the smoothest or most elegant of plot presentations, but exhilarating. Now to catch up on The Eyre Affair.

Rating:
Summary: More Fun from Fforde
Review: Thank you Mr. Fforde! Finally I have a whole series of intelligent, engaging books to look forward to.

I read The Eyre Affair early last year not realizing it was the first in a series. I devoured it and was sorry when it was over. This summer I was browsing in my favorite book store and low and behold...more Thursday Next! I was DELIGHTED!

Lost in a Good Book easily lives up to The Eyre Affair. Thursday continues to fight the injustices of the evil Goliath Company, who eradicates her husband but leaves her memories of him (and their unborn child) intact. Oh, and she saves the world from total destruction by pink goo.

Fforde's wit and play on words is fantastic and laugh-out-loud funny. I hope the series lasts until Thursday's grandchildren insist she retire into a good book of her choice.

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Summary: if you want to forget the sometimes grave reality ...
Review: The thing about books is that they take you away from reality into a world where no constraints but those of the imagination apply. Now imagine you can literary read yourself into a book... That's reality for Fforde's heroine Thursday Next... she can travel in space and time, chase criminals hiding in old texts, and just maybe save her married life (if she manages to revert the "eradication" of her husband), and did I mention, save the world as she knows it from the pink nano-goo?

The Thursday Next novels are much more than just books, like Tolkien's series they crate an alternative reality, complete with cloned dodos, a "Goliath" corporation owning everything (and everyone?), special operatives fighting for the purity of written texts, etc.

Believe me - you do want to read yourself into this one - it's wild, witty, amusing, thoughtful at times, large-scale metaphorical...

And you might want to check http://www.thursdaynext.com/index2.html

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but Disappointing Follow-Up
Review: There is something about these series of novels that are just annoying. I don't know if it is the author's obvious condescension or the fact that the novels lack any sort of serious plot structure; but then, considering these are above all satires maybe I'm missing the point. My main problem with Lost in a Good Book is that there is only a semblance of a plot; in fact, reading each chapter is like watching a television show -- each chapter is like a stand-alone episode. It's not until the last 75 to 100 pages that any semblance of a plot begins to appear -- like the final story arc of television series heading towards its season finale. I will admit that Fforde continues to amaze with this alternate England he's created and I continue to enjoy his ability to use supporting characters from various novels like Alice in Wonderland and Great Expectations -- and keeping them in "character" all the while, while his creation of Jurisfiction is probably one of the most interesting of the novel. That being said, the fact that little no real action or plot development occurs until that 100 pages was a major disappointment for me, but it won't stop me from reading the next book in the series. I mean, how many times have we been disappointed in one book in a series? Lost in a Good Book is not a great book, but it is worth reading just so you can move on to the next book.

Rating:
Summary: Nice effort, not as strong
Review: This book was a nice effort by the writer, but not nearly as strong as the first book. If you're a fan of Thursday Next, this one is not to be missed. If you haven't read any of this series then I recommend reading the Eyre Affair first before deciding on whether or not to read this one.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good and gets better as you go along
Review: This is the second in the "Thursday Next" mystery series. What I enjoyed most about the first one, "The Eyre Affair," was the combining of a thriller-type plot with a literary 'angle' (in Thursday's world the cops chase the criminals in and out of books).

In this sequel, Fforde emphasizes the fantastical over the literary: Thursday's world now include such non-literary elements as a race of cloned Neanderthals confined to menial labor, a transportation system that sends you from one side of the wo5rld to the other directly through the earth's core, and a corporation so powerful that it can erase people from history entirely.

This is all highly entertaining but readers who loved the first book for its literary references will have to wait until later (roughly page 163), when Fforde introduces a new cluster of literary characters, including Miss Havisham (from Great Expectations) as the wiley leader of a posse of fictional cops policing the world of literature itself.

Even the more 'classical' reader will be rewarded by sticking with the book past this halfway point.

Rating:
Summary: "They say the first time you save the world is the hardest."
Review: Thursday Next, a member of the Literary Detective Division of Special Operations in England, lives in looking-glass universe in which all the "givens" of our world are turned upside down. The Crimean War has just ended after 150 years, Thursday has a pet dodo, and Neanderthals have been reintroduced to the world. Her father, a former ChronoGuard, travels through time and can alter both the past and the present, and her uncle Mycroft has invented a Prose Portal, which allows people from the "real" world to travel inside books, an invention that the evil Goliath Corporation covets.

Thursday has just solved a difficult case, The Eyre Affair, in which she saves characters in Jane Eyre from murder and gives the book a better conclusion, and she has trapped the unscrupulous Jack Schitt of the Goliath Corporation inside Poe's "The Raven." In this sequel, the Goliath Corporation teaches Thursday a lesson, eradicating her husband, Landen Parke-Laine, by manipulating time so that he dies in an accident when he is a baby. Thursday, who has just found out that she is pregnant, now finds that she does not know who the baby's father is--because Landen never existed after the age of two. Blackmailed by Goliath, she must free Jack Schitt from "The Raven" if she ever wants to see Landen again. Miss Havisham from Dickens's Great Expectations, a long-time employee of Jurisfiction, takes her as an apprentice and tries to teach her how to get inside fiction without the Prose Portal and perhaps figure out a way to retrieve Landen.

Like The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book is the wackiest of pleasures, with off-the-wall literary characters performing outrageous deeds in which none of the "rules" of our universe apply. The plot and intrigue gain in complexity with the discovery of Cardenio, an unknown, and possibly phony, play by William Shakespeare, while pink slime threatens the existence of life on earth. The action is here episodic and the subplots do not really mesh, but each change of scene and subplot sets up opportunities for Fforde to show off his prodigious literary knowledge and wacky humor. The reader quickly becomes so caught up in the hullabaloo, that weaknesses, such as a looseness of plot and a lack of dramatic tension, can be excused. Commander Braxton Hicks, Akrid Snell, Chalk and Cheese, Dedman and Walken, Millon de Floss, Spike Stoker (the vampire containment expert), Alf Weddershaine and Sarah Nara, are as much a part of the fun as the outrageous puns, word play, and satire. The novel is high energy and high humor, and Fforde is well on his way to creating a heroine and a series which will gain him legions of fans. Mary Whipple

Rating:
Summary: These books just keep getting better and better
Review: With Lost in a Good Book author Jasper Fforde takes his charecter Thursday next into the world of fiction helped along by various charecters from Charles Dickens and Alice in Wonderland. It is at this point that the serise proves just how fun it can be. Once you realize how good the plots are plus the knowledge that with fiction as his backdrop Fforde can never run out of ideas there is nowhere to go from here but up. Each book in the serise gets better. Even if you don't like the general plot occassionally Thursdays crazy family will make an appearence and you cannot help but love them.

Overall-Wonderful book, my favorite in the serise in fact