So far, we've read two pretty heavy books. I was thinking something silly for December. (I'm in charge of choosing the book.) I'm a big fan of Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next Series. It is Harry Potter for English teachers. In the series, Thursday Next is a Jurisfiction agent who helps police the bookworld (for example, she is apprenticed to Mrs. Havisham from Great Expectations and she helps lead a Wuthering Heights anger management group to sort out the anger all the characters feel towards Heathcliffe).
The first book of the series is The Eyre Affair. This book sets up her future in Jurisfiction by describing her first case of book-world crime that she handles as a government agent. It all starts when an original Dickens manuscript is stolen and the body of one of the minor characters shows up in the morgue. The mayhem eventually spreads to the much-loved Jane Eyre and the characters from the book.
It is an alternate reality set in 1980s England. Home-cloning kits have resulted in dodos being common pets, time travel is possible, and croquet is the national pasttime.
I just want to pose this question because I'm not sure how others will feel about reading a PG-13 book and I don't want to alienate anyone. Fforde tends to swear for humorous effect. I'm pretty sure the "Big F" shows up once or twice and lesser words are not unusual, but are not, in my opinion, overused. (One of the villans of the book is named Jack Schitt.)
Swearing aside, Fforde is one of the most creative and fun authors I've read. He plays with language and text in ways that I've never seen before. (Whoever thought that a bunch of commas and apostrophes could be funny?)
So let me know how you feel about this. If we choose not to, I'm going to put forth Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as an alternative. I guess I'm just in the mood for quirky British humour one way or another!
Here are links to Amazon's pages for both books:
http://www.amazon.com/Eyre-Affair-Thursday-Next-Novel/dp/0142001805/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225297348&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy-Douglas-Adams/dp/0345391802/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225300568&sr=1-1
Angela
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3 comments:
I think that sounds fun. I am fine with the Eyre Affair.
I am blogging illiterate. I have no idea how to create or respond to a blog, so I hope this works.
Thanks Angela, for getting this going. I think it is a great idea! I think the Eyre Affair would be fun.
Kathleen
I feel ready for the fun this book seems to have in it. I think we should go with it.
Renee
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