Eyre Affair Part Deux

[jacey]

OK - I finished it. Yes, as I suspected, my previous stopping point was just before Eyre became relevant to the whole Affair. The book offered a decent payoff in the end, but I still can't help thinking that the first two-thirds of the book was a little overlong to carry the last third. No spoilers but at the conclusion there were some nice wrap-up sequences and a few possible leads into future books which were well done.

Looking at the back of the book the potential reader is told for starters that Thursday Next (the heroine) is on the trail of Mr Big for crimes against literature and that Jane Eyre (the character) has gone missing from the novel. When this pivotal plot point doesn't happen until page 295 of a 373 page book I reckon that's a badly written blurb. Or - if the missing Jane Eyre is the book's most saleable plot point maybe we shouldn't have had to wait until past three-quarters of the way into the book for it to happen. I feel a bit cheated.

Having said all that, I did make time to keep reading it though you can tell I'm not a total convert. Final analysis? I wouldn't wriggle too hard if someone put: 'Lost in a Good Book' or 'Well of Lost Plots' on my to-read pile, but I probably won't spend money on either of them just yet as I have other books on my most-wanted list.

Shopping:
I weakened and ordered Lost - Season Four which is released tomorrow on DVD.

Comments

[ferlonda.livejournal.com]

Dadgaderie says, "Cool!" Not about the book but about the dvds. Last we saw of Lost was season two. Guess we'll have some serious watching to do with you when we come over next!

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

You will indeed have some serious watching to do. Not only two seasons of Lost but a season of Doctor Who and a season of Torchwood.

There's also Season Four of Battlestar Galactica due out soon, but it's only the half-season (writers' strike) and they seem to be selling it at the same price as a full season.
:-(
I haven't ordered it yet. Are you getting it? If so you could bring it with you. Got anything else that's new and unmissable?

Do you have any 'Heroes'? I haven't bought them but I've recorded them from the TV.

I've also had Charlie Jade recommended, but I don't know whether to risk the £22.00 on spec. I don't have that kind of spare money these days.

I'm also two seasons behind on Smallville but it's kind of jumped the shark a bit now - though I am a hopeless completist!

I just watched the second season of Deadwood and it's fascinating. Very visceral and quite unlike any TV western that's gone before. I have Season Three on my hit-list, but it is only £14.00

[ferlonda.livejournal.com]

Whee! A friend just asked me if I watched much TV and of course I said, No, rather indignantly... :)

But this isn't TV, it's entertainment! Especially since most of it doesn't have any commercials.

Lost, Who, Torchwood, Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, Deadwood, Smallville (well... more for the groan factor than anything else- has the moon phase EVER changed in that show?) and I'm sure there's stuff we're missing. I wouldn't mind a good deal of Farscape again, too.

Nope, I don't watch any TV at all.

We don't have any Heroes, though it's possible we could find some. Have you watched Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog? That's just GREAT but it's only about an hour or so long. We have it on dadgaderie's computer so it will come over with us.

We're both rather surprised you liked Deadwood. We loved it- absolutely the best western ever. Kinda gruesome here and there, much as we imagine the old west to have been. Has your dear husband watched any of it? It seems like it should be right up his alley.

We saw the very first episode of Charlie Jade and it looked pretty good- very complex, dark and confusing with compelling characters and good acting so maybe worth splurging a little "extra" dosh on? We'll see if we can rent it and take a look at more episodes and give you a report. Lynn J. really likes it, if that's worth anything to you.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

I don't watch much TV either.
:-)
Though I do watch DVDs of the TV shows that I like. There's a difference. (Especially since it means that I don't have to spend wasted time watching adverts.)

Mostly the pattern of watching has been brought about by the fact that many of the TV shows I like are out on DVD before they appear on terrestrial telly (since I don't have pay-channels). I figure if I'm going to pay twenty or thirty pounds a month just to watch a (very) few programmes, I might as well buy the damn things and have them to keep.

[ferlonda.livejournal.com]

We've certainly gotten your money's worth out of your dvd collection! And ours, too.

Say- have you seen "Flight of the Conchords?"

http://www.hbo.com/conchords/

Only one season (as far as we know) and needs careful watching (some very subtle humor) but well worth collecting, especially for folks in our business.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

No I've not seen that. And for some reason the video promos on the website won't play for me.

[ferlonda.livejournal.com]

Dang. Well, it's well worth picking up if you see it.

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

Eyre Affair - only read these as I was part of the Audience Participation Richard III at Eastercon a few years back ... some nice ideas, and having some of the jokes etc. explained by the author (in advance) helped ... :-)

I think his Nursery Crimes books are a bit better, but in a similar style (so I've mostly borrowed them rather than buy them, well, unless I saw them cheap second hand at a con)

Perhaps they try a little *too* hard from time to time :-)

his pivotal plot point doesn't happen until page 295 of a 373 page book
How far into the movie Titanic are we before it hits the iceberg? How far into the Poseidon Adventure before the ship turns over? How far into The Crying Game before the Earth is destroyed by a giant asteroid named Rosebud? ;-)

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

I said:
his pivotal plot point doesn't happen until page 295 of a 373 page book

the magician said:
How far into the movie Titanic are we before it hits the iceberg? How far into the Poseidon Adventure before the ship turns over?

and I say:
Well, yeah, but we _know_ the Titanic sinks and we know Cameron isn't going to mess with the historical accounts, so the movie is all about the build up and the characters. And as for the Poseidion Adventure... er... it sinks pretty near the beginning I think and the movie (the first one) is all about getting out.

There's very little Eyre in the build up here - it's all Chuzzlewit. And there's more foreshadowing of the minor 'Who the hell did write shakespeare?' sub-plot. There are a three off-the-wall appearances by Rochester and a very brief excursion into the Jane-meets-Rochester scene prior to page 295, that's all.

At the end of the day all I'm probably saying is that I would have written a different book!
:-)
That's a good thing, yes?

Of course, mine probably wouldn't have been a runaway best seller so what do I know?