Lost in a Good Book ebook

Thursday Next is now a celebrity after her successful trip inside the novel "Jane Eyre" to rescue and re-insert the heroine back into her own novel and change the ending to a more satisfying one to most of the readers. As a Jane Bond-type heroine of the Literary Spook business, Thursday continues her work in this novel which adds several novel ideas, a whole spate of them rather, to the idea of what constitutes a novel or any sort of writing for that matter. Below is a brief sample of what awaits you in my review or, if you ignore all warnings, the entire novel.

The ladies on the Skyrail are helping each other work crossword puzzles and the answers to the clues come up, Meddlesome, Thursday, Goodbye. That plus the fact the seven women are all named Irma Cohen gives Thursday a pause. Plus her picnic gets rudely interrupted by a vintage Hispano-Suiza falling out of the sky on her blanket a few seconds after she runs from the area! When Thursday tries to explain to Victor at the LiteraTec office that she punched a neanderthal because she thought he had a gun on him, Victor objects that it would be ridiculous for a neanderthal to have gun. Thursday tries to explain that coincidences are mounting and that is also a waste of time.

The world is going to end and nobody will listen to Thursday. The world actually ended at the beginning of Douglas Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" because the space was needed for a new freeway and Earth was in the way. But in this novel the entire Earth is being turned into a pink Jello Pudding or some British equivalent called Dream pudding. Thursday duly reports her conclusions about the world ending on some day in December, but Victor will have nothing of it.

[page 69] He dumped my arrest report in his out tray and sat down.
"Thursday," he said quietly, staring at me soberly. "I've been in law enforcement for most of my life and I will tell you right now there is no such offense as `attempted murder by coincidence in an alternative future by person or persons unknown.' "
I sighed and rubbed my face with my hands. He was right, of course.

Thursday does not lead a dull life. For example, note this report of her day to husband Landen. Cardenio is a previously unknown play by Shakespeare.

[page 76] "Did you have a good day?" he asked at last.
"Well," I began, "we found Cardenio, I was shot dead by an SO-14 marksman, became a vanishing hitchhiker, saw Yorrick Kaine, suffered a few too many coincidences and knocked a neanderthal unconscious."

After the Eyre thing, women everywhere started to dress like Thursday who thought the whole chinos and a shirt fad was ridiculous. She asked the wife of a colleague dressed that way:

[page 79] "If Bonzo the Wonder Hound had rescued Jane Eyre, would you all be wearing studded collars and smelling each other's bottoms?"

Thursday's brother Joff was a minister in the Church of the Global Standard Deity and reported to her with some chagrin that the church had split in two for the third time in one week.

[page 81] "No!" I said with as much surprise and concern in my voice as I could muster.
"I'm afraid so. The new Global Standard Clockwise Deity have broken away due to unresolvable differences over the direction in which the collection plate is passed around."

Try reading this novel from the last page back to the front or reading each page forward but upside down. It won't make any difference. Anyway you read this book, it is colorful, imaginative, literary, funny, mind-stretching, and mind-bending. Combine JK Rowling with Douglas Adams and mix in a little Doug Hofstadter, and you've got Jason Fforde. You have a Dickens of a time in store for you. This is a Ffunny Booke! Tie up your pet dodo so you won't be disturbed in the middle of a good laugh and read on . . .

The remainder of my review can be found via DIGESTWORLD ISSUE#06b. Bobby Matherne.

For those individuals who are not familiar with Jasper FForde's intriguing and delightful heroine Thusday Next, this review can easily be summarized with the very strong advice to read the series in order and start with THE EYRE AFFAIR (4/14/2004 review). That is a wonderful book in its own right, and introduces you to both Thursday and the alternate universe which she inhabits in much greater detail than is provided in this book. While this book has sufficient background to be an enjoyable read on a standlone basis, a reader who starts with this volume would lack a great deal of very important context; since the first book is a wonderful read on its own and in many ways is a much more traditionally structured novel than this sequel, there is no reason not to read it before getting LOST IN A GOOD BOOK. If EYRE AFFAIR does not appeal to you, there is no reason to read this book, because its plot is even more unusual and convoluted.
As this story begins, Thursday has become a celebrity based on her stuggle with Archeron Hades and the rebookment of Jane Eyre. She would like time to recuperate, spend time with her new husband Landen and pet Dodo Pickwick (plock plock), and return to the relative obscurity of her posting in Swindon as an SO-27 Literatec. However, Landen soon disappears; his history and their marriage apparently somehow eradicated by the ever dangerous Goliath Corporation, who are intent on forcing Thursday to cooperate in the rescue of their operative Jack Schitt (who was stranded in a copy of THE RAVEN at the conclusion of Thursday's previous adventure). While investigating the mysterious discovery of CARDENIO, a previously unknown but apparently authentic Shakespeare play, a bizarre sequence of coincidences eventually convinces Thursday that she no choice but to become a PRO (Prose Resource Operative) if she is to have any chance of resurrecting Landen and incidentally also deflecting the apparent end of civilization. Thus she arrives in the great library which houses the WELL OF LOST PLOTS (the third book in the series), meets The Chesire Cat (who annoyingly keeps disappearing) and is apprenticed to Miss Havisham, a woman with incredibly modern tastes for a character from Dicken's GREAT EXPECTATIONS. And the fun and adventure proceeds in Fforde's characteristically unique fashion.
This book has all the characteristics which make this series so enjoyable - clever wordplay in abundance, wonderful literary allusions, and the allure of pure escapist fantasy in which the reader can completely lose himself or herself. Not only is this an alternate universe, but we have another level of (un)reality incorporated through the introduction of the world of Jurisfiction, with its whole new methodology, vocabulary and methods of communication. Time warps are possible; the role of the Chronoguards (including Thursday's renegade father) is crucial to this story. The reader gets to learn more about many of the characters in the first book, and in addition meet some really unique individuals in the course of this adventure. You will probably be able to guess the fate of SO-5 operatives Phodder and Kannon, and might not even be surprised to learn that their replacements were Walken and Dedmen. But if you are curious about the meaning of the word xplkqulkiccasia, want to learn about the role of Neanderthals in1985 England, and desire to meet the aptly named PR operative Coredelia Flakk, you'll definitely have to read this book.
I have tried to furnish a flavor of this story in this review, because a summary is really impossible and a detailed description would both include many spoilers and at the same time not do justice to the author's achievement. One further note, in addition to the clever use of literary excerpts at the beginning of each chapter, a new device is employed through the occasional use of footnotes for a very interesting purpose. And perhaps the most amazing single episode in the book involves a literally Kafkaesque TRIAL in which Thursday participates. My only caution would be that this book is clearly intended to serve as a transition novel, or the bridge which provides the direction necessary to transform the original story into a fullblown series featuring Thursday's universe. Thus, while I loved it and found it extremely clever and a true FUN READ, it is much more a series of interrelated incidents (which lead to a very satisfying conclusion) than the sort of straightforward plot found in THE EYRE AFFAIR.
Tucker Andersen

Look, literature doesn't get any better than this. Creative, funny, deep, well written prose, a lovable character, a wonderfully skewed setting, make that settings, quirky, and fulfilling in every sense. Sure, not for everyone. The British, or in this case Welsh, sense of humor can be taxing and not everyone will take to it. Fine. This is still amazing, wonderful stuff through and through. For any of you missing new entries into the Douglas Adams brand of humor (though this is ... other) ... I highly recommend this series, this book, and this author, who has, in my opinion, only on true flaw: he can't write fast enough.

A Thursday Next Novel
You can't help but say "And now for something completely different!"

Jasper Fford's sci-fi detective novels are completely insane. They are peopled by strangely named characters (fav from this one was Aubrey Jambe) and plotlines are just plain weird. They are littered with literary references and are a fun, rollercoaster of a ride.

This was the second "Thursday Next" novel that I have read (have also read one of the "Nursery Crime" series) and have "Shades of Grey" downloaded on the Kindle.

I had to stop myself from jumping straight from "Lost In A Good Book" to downloading the next "Thursday Next" ... a bit like Chinese takeaway ... really enjoy it but leaves you wanting more shortly afterwards.

Suspend all beliefs and have some fun