Jasper Fforde

[Joel007]

Should he be included in the list of authors?

Personally I fell in love with his work as soon as I'd finished the first chapter of The Well Of Lost Plots (yes I didn't read the first book first). And since then I've read all of the Next books and I'm awaiting an amazon delivery of The Big Over Easy.

I was honestly surprised not to see his name included with my other favorites such as Terry Pratchett and Mark Robson.

I don't quite understand the prerequisites though.

 

[Thadlerian]

A writer needs at least 5 threads dedicated to them to get into the list. I haven't seen that many Fforde threads around here, which is strange - He is a great writer; very inventive, and with lots of great satire.

By the way, I've noticed his new book has just got published: The Fourth Bear, another NurseryCrime novel. I'll get it as soon as my next wage arrives

 

[Nesacat]

Hooray ... more people who like Jasper Fforde. I read The Big Over Easy first and very recently found a boxed set of the Thursday Next novels.

Very creative writing in realms we're all likely to be familiar with. Lots of satire and a bag of laughs to boot.

 

[Rane Longfox]

I've recently finished the four-book Thursday Next series, and "The Big OVer Easy" is waiting on my bookshelf - I'm a big fan of his stuff

 

[Joel007]

I have to admit I still don't get some of the names, although Paige Turner and Laden Parke-Laine made me laugh out loud
I had to read them once for the story, and once for the subtle jokes...

 

[Culhwch]

Wow. Four books, and I just got Landon Parke-Laine. I wonder how many else I missed.

 

[Joel007]

I'm not allowed to post links yet, but there is a jasper fforde website, (google it). It has some "special features" and hidden among them are annotations for some of the more obscure jokes...

 

[Joel007]

I figured anything less than the whole would be too confusing, this is one of my favorite Fforde moments

'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. . . . '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. 'Right,' said the Bellman with a sigh.

 

[Rane Longfox]

Brain Freeze!!!!

 

[BAYLOR]

Off the wall

 

[The Bluestocking]

Jasper's work is fabulously inventive - love 'em!

 

[StuartBurchell]

I have read the two Nursery Crimes books and a third was promised, The Last Great Tortoise Race, but still the tortoise has yet to cross the finish line...