Jasper Fforde - The Eyre Affair

Title: The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next, book 1)
Author: Jasper Fforde
Pub. year: 2001
Pages: 373
Editor: Hodder & Stoughton

Summary: There is another 1985, somewhere in the could-have-been, where the Crimean war still rages, dodos are regenerated in home-cloning kits and everyone is deeply disappointed by the ending of 'Jane Eyre'. In this world there are no jet-liners or computers, but there are policemen who can travel across time, a Welsh republic, a great interest in all things literary - and a woman called Thursday Next.

I'm sure a lot of you heard about Jasper Fforde before, probably for the very good reason that this guy is a genius.



I mean, he wrote this world which looks very much like ours, except for.. a lot of things! I mean, there's a police for crime against books, dodos are back, there's wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff involved, ...
It's like a giant cauldron in which he put a little bit of investigation, a spoon of SF, some book-related shenanigans, a bit of timetravel, some reflexions about wars and its point, and other awesome and surprising stuff, and then the series came out of it.

We discover Thursday Next, 30-something woman, who's working for the LiteraTec department of the SpecOps, which supposedly is a tranquil kind of job, but which appears not to be quite what it's supposed to be, for her ; her father who can't stay more than 10mn in the same place and jumps back and forward in time to hide (and have fun, let's be honest) ; Acheron Hades, the big bad guy, who enjoys being a villain just for the sake of it ; Mycroft Next who doesn't seem to realise that some of his inventions can be really dangerous and that some people are willing to do anything to aquire them ; Jack Schitt (another one with a funny name) who's a little bit megalomaniac and thinks he owns the world.. Well, let's say that these colorful characters are clearly responsible for most of the fun & rythm in this story.

At the end, I was almost willing to reread Jane Eyre, though I didn't enjoyed it very much the first time (I couldn't even remember most of the story, if it weren't for Thursday summary), and to read Martin Chuzzlewit (by Charles Dickens) and Richard III (I don't need much convincing to read Shakespeare books, though).

There were some disappointing points at first, but after thinking about it, I realised it was perfect this way. So in the end, I enjoyed this book very much and I can't wait to read the next ones.

Actually, it's really hard to talk about this book because it contains so many things that I cannot really put words on them, so maybe the easiest way for you to know what is exactly this book, is by reading it. Give it a go, you'll see, it's awesome!


Quotes:
" I said to him when he rebuilt the muscles in my arm, 'Do you think I'll be able to play the violin?' and he said: 'Of course!' and then I said: 'That's good, I couldn't before!' "
p.195

" 'They'd never get here in time. It's easy. A lobotomised monkey could do it.'
'And where are we going to find a lobotomised monkey at this time of night?'
'You're being windy, Bowden.' "
p.273

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Jonathan Safran Foer - Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Title: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Author: Jonathan Safran Foer
Pub. year: 2005
Pages: 326
Editor: Penguin Books

Summary: Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is an inventor, amateur entomologist, Francophile, letter writer, pacifist, natural historian, percussionist, romantic, Great Explorer, jeweller, detective, vegan, and collector of butterflies.
When his father is killed in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre, Oskar sets out to solve the mystery of a key he disovers in his father's closet. It is a search which leads him into the lives of strangers, through the five boroughs of New York, into history, to the bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima, and on an inward journey which brings him ever closer to some kind of peace.

I've heard about this author and this book for years, but never had the opportunity to read it. When I heard a movie was being filmed, I thought that I should buy the book quickly before the cover changed, and that I wanted to read it first, so I did.

The book is pretty cool, with pictures and a few colored pages to illustrate what Oskar is talking about, and some other special stuff (I don't want to say too much) that gives a lot of fun to the reading. But let's talk about the story, now...

So, we have Oskar, this young boy who's pretty smart and curious about everything. But smart or not, when someone we love dies, we all feel the same kind of feelings, even if we don't react equally. Oskar finds his way to deal with his father death by busying himself with the investigation about the key he found.

Sure, when you read the summary, you can have the impression that it's going to be a really sad book about a kid who lost his father, but this isn't really what is going on here. We don't really focus on how hard and sad he feels. I mean, you know he is, there's clues about it everywhere, but we are focused on Oskar search, so it isn't that bad (obviously, they did add some tear jerker moments in the movie).

I really enjoyed the way he thinks, the questions he asks, the terms he uses... You can feel he is smart but lost, and that leads you to think about stuff you wouldn't have thought about. I like that in a book. I also learned a few stuff I didn't know about the world, which was pretty cool.

But if Oskar is the main character of this story, he isn't the only one. I really liked the parts with his grandparents, it brings a whole new side to the story. I was a bit desappointed not to see that on the screen but it would have been too long to show everything. They both are really endearing people, with their wounds and their flaws, their kindness and their sadness.

So... As you can see, this book quickly joined my favorites and I heartily recommend it!

Quotes :
'It was so dark that it was even hard to hear.'

'Sometimes I can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I'm not living.'

'Why didn't I learn to treat everything like it was the last time. My greatest regret was how much I believed in the future.'

'I hope that one day you will have the experience of doing something you do not understand for someone you love.'

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Jim Butcher - Storm Front

Title: Storm Front (The Dresden Files, book 1)
Author: Jim Butcher
Pub. year: 2000
Pages: 341
Editor: Orbit
Summary: Harry Dresden--Wizard
Lost items found. Paranormal investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties, or Other Entertainment.

Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he's the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things--and most of them don't play too well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a--well, whatever.
There's just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. And that's when things start to get... interesting.
Magic. It can get a guy killed.

I discovered The Dresden Files by the TV Series with Paul Blackthorne as Harry Dresden. I really enjoyed it, so I decided to read the books when I heard about them.

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is a 30-something wizard named after three magicians. He's quite attractive but doesn't really seem to notice since he has no mirror. He's a lonely guy and everybody thinks he's a weirdo because of his job. But his bigest problem is that he's often the scape goat of whatever is going wrong since he's always found we're he shouldn't be. But what I really like about Harry is that he certainly knows how to use sarcasm and irony.
There's also Bob, a spirit trapped in a skull that Harry possesses, who is quite hilarious too when it comes to sarcasm and irony. And Murphy, the policewoman who ask for his help sometimes, where murder become too strange..
This first book introduce us with Harry's world which is not very different from our world, except that there's magic and different creatures such as werewolves, vampires, ghosts, demons, ...
We learn that this magic part of the world has it's own rules and it's own hierarchy. We also learn little bit about Harry's past. Just enough to arouse curiosity

I hope the following books we'll follow the lead and that I'll enjoy them too :)

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