Book Review: The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Title:The Eyre Affair
Author:Jasper Fforde
Page:384
Genre:Fiction
Rating:4 out of 5
Source:Borrowed

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Summary:
from the book cover
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 policeman who can travel across time, a Welsh republic, a great interest in all things literary - and a woman called Thursday Next. 

In this utterly original and wonderfully funny first novel, Fforde has created a fiesty, loveable heroine and a plot of such richness and ingenuity that it will take your breath away.

Review:
Jane Eyre the Bronte's masterpiece is one of my top five novel of all time, in other words I grew up loving the classic hence any versions of this book gains my interest, one such was this one, though I didn't have much of that luck throughout the novel because of the limited scope of the novel imbibed into it...
People live in a strange world to be exact an alternate world ..People take literature far serious than they should going by it religiously, to the extend that arguments and questions regarding Shakeshpere's work inflicts gang war and murder.....Thursday Next is a literary detective who is in charge of  exposing phony and illegal works..The novel begins with Thursday being assigned the investigation of theft of Charles Dickens's original manuscript, Martin Chuzzlewit  by the notorious Acheron Hades, she comes all close to wrapping up the case, that she is injured and almost killed but for a copy of Jane Eyre's  that saves her from bullets..An enigmatic character watches over her until the rescue team arrives,the strangers leaves behind her handkerchief and jacket... Next finds out that they belong to Rochester of Jane Eyre novel because as a child Next had entered the novel... During her painful recovery her future self and her former fiancee help her out in fixing her path and goal.. She has an Uncle Mycroft , who creatively found the prose portal, which gives access to people to enter the world of fictional works..Subsequent events are Hades kidnapping Mycroft Next's aunt Polly , the Prose Portal and further blackmail to destroy the literary world and many deaths, murder of many characters of the Classic..I won't ruin the fun by explaining the story but read on for how Next rescues people and thereby the fate of the actual Jane Eyre's novel plot and her moves after entering the real world...

The idea itself I found  to be very creative, though the idea of an alternate world is not new to us, the treatment with many twists and turns  makes it to stand apart .....The literary work that encompasses the fun, humor, mystery , sci-fi may not appeal many with multiple genre in the same book, yet for me I liked for the Eyre touch ..Next's character single living with pet with not much to look forward and happiness and fun was a bit cliched yet it fit the novel well..There were not many characters that stood defined in the novel except for Next..Though I may not re read it for the complexities of multiple character that at times drove me crazy...I liked it for the freshness it offered..