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The Eyre Affair

The first thing I have to confess is that I've never read Jane Eyre. In all honesty, descriptions of the book have seemed boring and overly romantic. I read Pride and Prejudice for the first time just two years ago (and have since read three more by Jane Austen), so I really should probably give Charlotte Bronte another try, especially after reading The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde.



I got this book, because there was a kind of "chain letter" going around Facebook where you'd basically swap books with strangers - I had done this type of chain once before when I was about 8, but that was with bracelets and it didn't go so well. In this Facebook book exchange, I've so far gotten six books and this is the second one I've read of them.

I had another Jasper Fforde book on my list of books to read, so I was really excited to get this one in the mail. I had another book to finish, so I wasn't able to start on this one immediately.

The Eyre Affair is set in "another" 1985 and follows Thursday Next (really silly names in the book, but okay), who investigates crimes against literature. An evil villain is kidnapping characters from original manuscripts and thus altering how the books were written. Thursday has to rescue the characters and repair the damage done. The dialogue isn't always natural and the characters are a little exaggerated sometimes, but I think that fits with the overall ridiculous (in a good way) nature of the book.

I loved this book - humor, mystery, adventure... it's a mix of Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, and other similar sci-fi/humor authors. It's slightly confusing at times with the time travel, but it's a great read and I highly recommend it.

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