The Eyre Affair

our friend maddie suggested that i read a novel called "The Eyre Affair" by jasper fforde. i'm so glad she did, because it was a rollicking good read. it was also kinda depressing because, well, it's a book that i should have written, only i didn't. i mean, it even reads as if i had written it. absurdist detective fiction about a literary detective named Thursday Next who is called on to investigate the kidnapping of jane eyre. yes, a character in a novel was kidnapped and brought to the real world. the world in which this novel takes place is bizarre, comic, and tragic. it sounds like a world i would make up. the authorship of shakespeare's plays is a topic of debate there taken as seriously as health care reform here is. there are characters with great names like Thursday Next, Archeron Hades, Runcible Spoon, Victor Analogy, and Jack Schitt :)
oh, and Filbert Snood, of course! dodo birds have been brought back from extinction and are popular (and quite intelligent) pets. time travel is commonplace, and complicated. why didn't i write this book?! oh, yeah...'cause i'm a lazy writer who will never finish a book. oh well, as long as somebody wrote it, that's all that matters. and it's apparently a series, a couple of different series, i think. but i think i will wait a bit. as mira and i were discussing one day, this book is like a super-rich dessert--it's a treat, but a treat you can only take so much of at a time. you can't eat triple chocolate-caramel-pecan cheesecake everyday. thanks, maddog, for recommending the book. i will read more of mr. fforde's work, after a break. besides, i think ben is going to loan me a copy of the book that lauren had recommended, The Alchemist.