The Eyre Affair – Jasper Fforde

I finished this book while sitting on the train squished between my mother and a woman who kept looking at my hands and smiling at me. Kinda like a leery maniac does in a dark alley. After about a minute after she started, I realised that she wasn’t going to stop. I also figured that, if we were in a fight, I would probably win, so I put up with it for the duration of the trip. As I was getting ready to battle the masses for some walking room on the platform, I made one more realisation: looking at my hands she was not. It was the book that was in them that had taken her attention.

I have that book on my shelf at home, she leered at me. I haven’t managed to finish it.

I just looked at her. Smiled. Then nodded. I couldn’t possibly agree with her. I was, in fact, speeding through that book that she was discussing at me. I didn’t have time to run away from a strange woman staring at me on a packed train and encroaching on my personal space. I had literary crimes to solve! I was completely and utterly drawn into this world of Tuesday Next and I seriously do not think I have ever read a book so fast. Ever. Not even did the last Harry Potter manage to inspire me to consume a book so quickly.

I know. That comparison would send hardcore fans of Fforde and literature nerds worldwide irate with consumptive madness, but – before you take out the pitchforks – know that someone else noted the Tuesday Next series to be ‘the Harry Potter for adults’. Not me. I personally believe that Fforde writes on a higher echelon of readable literary greatness. Think about it – how often does a work of fiction present you with a world that is ridiculously outlandish in all respects, but still has the ability to make you believe in every single facet of its existence?

Well. Let me list the few off the top of my head:

• Narnia
• Harry Potter
• Lord of the Rings
• His Dark Materials

Of course, in true nerdly fashion, I am going to breakdown this list and surmise why the work of Jasper Fforde should be canonised along with that of Hemmingway, Dickens and Mary McKillop:

1. It seems that the otherworldly will only reach cult status if it is a series. The Eyre Affair is, indeed, part of a series.

2. There is an inherent need to mention, appropriate, include and defame great cultural icons and texts of the past. In fact, the Tuesday Next series is grounded on literary illusions and pretty much debunks the importance of the author in the existence of a novel. Without these historical and cultural allusions, the above listed series’ would be nothing. NOTHING.

3. In Narnia, there are fauns. In Harry Potter, pet owls send your mail. In Lord of the Rings, you get a pet hobbit to hold your dark ring. In His Dark Materials, daemons are with you always. Tuesday Next has a pet dodo. I want a pet dodo.

If none of this makes sense and you still have gotten to this point of the blog: congratulations. I am completely aware that I have descended into the pit of pure nerdism with complete disregard for the rest of the world so I will attempt to relate back to the real world by drawing Harry Potter back into the picture; Fforde and Rowling both write with the same readable qualities that draw in the masses. They both write wonderful characters and compelling storylines. What riles up a Fforde fan when Rowling is used in comparison is that, while Rowling is considered to be somewhat of a sellout, Fforde approaches his books like I approach Fforde: with completely and utter disregard for the non-reading and culturally unstudied population.

Some may wonder why he does this. No one but he will know; all I know is that this makes literary wankers like myself feel special. Sometimes we miss the allusions, in which case we nip off to the library and consume that horrible Dickens novel that we always hated, but to put it simply: Tuesday Next is the in-club.

Of course it is not only accessible at your friendly local book store, but is also highly entertaining. The same way The Simpsons is entertaining to a ten-year-old. So bascially, watch The Simpsons after living under a rock and you will still enjoy the slapstick antics. Want to read The Eyre Affair without sticking your head in a library? I can guarantee you will still enjoy the whip crackin’ action. Like the lady on the train, it might sit on your shelf because some crazy reading friend had bought you a copy, and like I eventually said to her, you will enjoy it. It might even inspire you to try to work out who this damn Jane Eyre is or try to find out what happened to Martin Chuzzlewit. Heck you might even find yourself enjoying it.

I know.

Pigs might fly, but you know what? In the world of Tuesday Next, dodos don’t.

Tags: Books, Jasper Fforde, literature, nerds, The Eyre Affair