Lazy Sunday

[jacey]

Best Beloved is out today, recording a brass band on location, so he was up and away at the crack of sparrowfart and I have had the laziest Sunday morning ever, tucked up in bed with Jasper Fforde. Not him personally, you understand, but 'The Eyre Affair' which a couple of non-SFnal friends have recommended, independent of each other, within recent months. I am enjoying it - but with reservations. I'm only two-thirds of the way through, so not passing judgement  yet, however already some of the lit-mania jokes are so hammed up that I'm past even groaning let alone laughing. I really hope there's going to be a good payoff and that the whole point of the book doesn't turn out to be the jokes. So far Rochester has only appeared three times and everyone seems to be getting their knickers in a twist over Martin Chuzzlewit. Hopefully somebody named Eyre will arrive on the scene soon. It is keeping me reading, though.

It's difficult not to compare a writer such as Fforde with Pratchett. All I can say is that with Pratchett I have laugh-out-loud moments. So far with Fforde I have had only slight-smirk moments. With a few noteable exceptions (let's not talk about Rincewind and The Last Continent) Pratchett's plotting and characterisation stand independent of the jokes and one-liners and I'm not sure about Fforde yet.

But the one good thing is that... at least I do want to read on and find out.

More anon...

Comments

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

I love the sheer exuberence of Fforde. Have you read any Malcolm Pryce? (Aberystwyth Mon Amour and sequels.) I just read the latest and I do feel the whole joke of the noir Aberystwyth is getting a bit tired, but the first one is excellent.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

Fforde is exuberent but, a bit like a playful half-grown labrador that won't stop bouncing up at you, the lit-jokes are a bit full-on at times. (Author quotes from 'Millon de Floss', oh, come on!) It's a bit like he has so many ideas and he's going to getthemalldownonpapercomehellorhighwateranddon'ttryandstophim!!!

No I haven't read Aberystwyth Mon Amour, but it sounds like fun. I'll put it on my reading list (which unfortunately grows faster than I can read from it.