One of Our Thursdays is Missing

One of Our Thursdays Is Missing

by Jasper Fforde

★★★★

This is the sixth book in the Thursday Next series and it’s the first in the series to have a protagonist other than the Thursday we’ve come to know and love. Instead the story is told from the point-of-view of Thursday Next, the written version from the books about the RealWorld Thursday’s work as a Jurisfaction agent. That will all make sense if you are already familiar with the series. If you haven’t read the first five books I’m sure that sounded incredibly confusing.

We’ve met this Thursday before, in the last book she was the tree-hugging hippie who couldn’t make it as an actual agent. In this book she’s on a hunt for the real Thursday Next who has gone missing in the midst of a mission. A war is brewing between different genres in BookWorld and both Thursdays are trying to solve the crisis. We get to know BookWorld Thursday as she plays her part honorably, despite her misgivings about her talent as an agent.

To appreciate these books you have to embrace the concept with open arms and just enjoy the ride. They are at times confusing, especially this latest installment, (though the reason why is fully and satisfactorily explained in the end) but they are always entertaining. Bibliophiles can have a blast with the book references and characters. Fforde pokes fun at the literary world in a way that only someone who truly loves it can do.

BOTTOM LINE: I love this series. It’s clever, original and completely unique. There have been some books in the series that I loved more than others, but overall it’s a strong finish to a series that I have really enjoyed.

“The RealWorld was a sprawling mess of a book in need of a good editor.”

Previous Thursday Next review:

First Among Sequels 

Fforde's Other Work:

Shades of Grey

*Map of Fiction Island from the book.

Top Ten Favorite Romances

This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks for my Top Ten Favorite Romances. There will be some SPOILERS if you haven’t read these books.

1) Anne and Captain Wentworth in Persuasion – Their love withstands years of separation and rekindles in the most beautiful way.

2) Anne and Gilbert in the Anne of Green Gables series – I love that we get to see their whole relationship, from courtship through marriage and children throughout the series.

3) Henry and Clare in The Time Traveler’s Wife – Spanning almost Clare’s entire life, these two had a romance that defied fate.

4) Jo and Professor Bhaer in Little Women – I know most people rooted for Laurie and Jo, but re-reading this as an adult made me fall in love with Bhaer along with Jo. They were perfectly suited for each other and they both thought they would probably never find love.

5) Thursday and Landon in the Thursday Next series – What would you do if the man you loved was completely erased from existence? Thursday has to deal with this, yet the books are still hilarious.

6) Levin and Kitty in Anna Karenina – Sure, Anna’s romance is more dramatic, but Levin and Kitty were always my favorite. Their relationship was not an easy one. They both had to mature before they could be together. Their relationship shows that real love is hard work, but worth every second of it!

7) Lucy and George in A Room with a View – The ultimate question in a good romance; do you marry the sensible guy or do you throw caution to the wind and follow your heart? This book has one of the best examples of this kind of romance that I’ve ever read. Plus, they meet in Florence, which is just a lovely bonus.

8) Marco and Celia in The Night Circus – A ridiculously difficult obstacle to overcome, magic in the air, what more could you want?

9) Arwen and Aragorn in Lord of the Rings – A romance that was relegated to the Appendix for the most part, but undoubtedly swoon-worthy. To be together Arwen must give up eternal life, but she knows that a short lifetime with him is better than an eternity without him.

10) Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester – Of course they made my list! Their love is undeniable, yet Jane still walks away because she won’t compromise her belief system for any man. Then comes one of literature’s most irresistible lines … “Reader, I married him.”

Image from here. 

First Among Sequels

First Among Sequels

by Jasper Fforde

★★★★★

 

I love this series so much. I’ve shamefully waited almost three year to read the fifth book, but luckily I wasn’t disappointed. Fourteen years have passed since the end of the 4th book and Thursday has adjusted to her life as a wife and mother, though she may not have given up her work as a literary detective quite as completely as she led her husband to believe. Thursday Next, a literary detective, lives with her husband and kids, Friday, Tuesday and Jenny.

 

I am constantly astounded by Fforde’s cleverness. He must have such a brilliant mind. His plots are so complex and he always manages to tie everything together beautifully. He’s like the strange literary child of Douglas Adams and P.G. Wodehouse. My favorite part of his books is always the humor and the fantastic literary jokes. For example in one scene Next is talking about a new cadet being inexperienced and said …

 

“This one was as green as Brighton Rock.”

 

I know that it’s this very cleverness that is what some readers don’t like and I think he’s one of those authors you either adore or just don’t like. One thing I’ve discovered is that I appreciate these books more now that I’ve had a chance to dig farther into the classics. I get more of the references and humor.

 

In this Thursday Next book there’s a strange paradox of the other Thursday Next books being referenced within the book. They are part of Book World, just like any book, but it’s odd to wrap your head around. There is Book World, the land inside of books and there is “Outland” the real world. There’s a great explanation about why Outland is so wonderful. There’s a richness in detail in Outland that can’t be matched in the Book World, because in books things like carrots are described simply as a rods of orange, there’s no detail or difference from one carrot to another. Thursday describes it as “living in Lego Land.”

 

A few fantastic bits that I enjoyed:

 

1) At one meeting in the Book World Harry Potter is unable to attend because of copyright restrictions.

 

2) There’s an illegal cheese market, because seriously guys, good cheese is worth buying illegally, it just is.

 

3) There’s a terrorist threat from the Racy Novels genre, they threaten to drop a “dirty bomb” into serious book. Imagine a sex scene popping up in the middle of a scientific text book or something, hilarious!

 

4) A serial killer, like a book series… get it. Bahahaha.

 

5) Generic characters in books often assimilate to the strongest personality, so there are armies of Danverclones, Generics who became Miss Danvers from Rebecca.

 

BOTTOM LINE: Start with The Eyre Affair, if you like it then keep going with the series because it just gets better. If you don’t like the first one then it’s probably not for you.

 

"She was the sort of parent you would want to have living close by, but only on the grounds that she would then never come to stay."

 

“Reading, I had learned, was as creative a process as writing, sometimes more so. 

 

p.s. Thursday Next is a literary detective and her series is made up of mysteries, so I read this for the R.I.P. Challenge.