Next Thursday….

Thursday Next Series - Jasper Fford

- the S word is used a LOT besides that it was good stuff

crime fiction, action, comedy, romance & drama

I’ve talked before about one of my literary heroes Jasper Fforde. In the past few weeks I have gone back and re-read the series that started it all in prep for another book in the series that just came out. A few words about Jasper. hilarious, genius, mastermind and original.

And extra props, he refuses to sign his books over for movie rights. Someday when he comes over to the US for a book signing tour or whatnot I hope to get to go to a lecture.

So far the Thursday Next Series includes

The Eyre AffairLost in a Good Book

Well of Lost Plots

Something Rotten

First Among Sequels

As I was reading these books there were just so many times I wished I was reading along with someone so I could discuss and enjoy a mutual laugh. I even told a friend of mine who’s read the series we needed to start a Thursday Next support group. I wanted to go on and say all the things I loved most about these books but I realized that A – it would take pages and pages to get it all down, plus and B- it would give a lot of stuff away.

Thursday next is a Literary officer in SpecOps. In a world where The Crimean War has dragged on for more than 130 years and Wales is self-governing. The only recognizable thing about this England is her citizens' enduring love of literature. She has a pet Dodo named Pickwick that she made from a home growing kit. Her father is a eradicated chronoguard officer and oh just so much more. Someone once said Thursday was part Bridget Jones, part Nancy Drew and part Dirty Harry. There is action, romance and most welcome comedy. Jasper takes you into a world where book characters are the celebrities, and movies are just things on the side, where literature is king. My world. As the series progresses Thursday becomes a Jurisfiction officer… inside literature. She stops page runners, runs anger management courses for the characters from Withering Heights, strolls the great library and is guided by the librarian (the Cat formerly known as Cheshire) and apprentices with Miss Havisham.

I enjoyed finding references to earlier (or later) books, and even references (and/or introduction) to his new series of Nursery Crimes in book 3. It was also fun to try to identify all the works of literature referenced, (get an extra thrill if I’d actually read it) and try to guess or remember if what they are talking about is the original story line or maybe will be fixed by the book end. One of the greatest feats of these books is it got me to read Jane Eyre. I know I know I’m over 30 and had never read the great, and now I can say with confidence, GREAT, Jane Eyre. The Eyre Affair was quite a different affair to me when I read it again after reading Jane Eyre. Three cheers for Jasper. (who has no idea who I am but I feel close enough to, to refer to him by his first name)

Wel of Lost Plots Quote from a Jurisfiction role call meeting.

"Good. Item seven. The had had and that that problem. Lady Cavendish, weren't you working on this?" Lady Cavendish stood up and gathered her thoughts. "Indeed. The use of had had and that that has to be strictly controlled; they can interrupt the ImaginoTransference quite dramatically, causing readers to go back over the sentence in confusion, something we try to avoid." "Go on." "It's mostly an unlicensed usage problem. At the last count David Copperfield alone had had had had sixty-three times, all but ten unapproved. Pilgrim's Progress may also be a problem owing to its had had / that that ratio." "So what's the problem in Progress?" "That that had that that ten times but had had had had only thrice. Increased had had usage had had to be overlooked but not if the number exceeds that that that usage." "Hmm," said the Bellman. "I thought had had had had TGC's approval for use in Dickens? What's the problem?" "Take the first had had and that that in the book by way of example," explained Lady Cavendish. "You would have thought that that first had had had had good occasion to be seen as had, had you not? Had had had approval but had had had not; equally it is true to say that that that that had had approval but that that other that that had not." "So the problem with that other that that was that--?" "That that other-other that that had had approval." "Okay," said the Bellman, whose head was in danger of falling apart like a chocolate orange, "let me get this straight: David Copperfield, unlike Pilgrim's Progress, which had had had, had had had had. Had had had had TGC's approval?" There was a very long pause.