I just wanted to say that I've finished The Eyre Affair and quite enjoyed it. I really like the way Fforde takes us into the novel itself--and sets up an interaction between the characters in Bronte's novel and those in his own. While it has some humorous scenes and interactions with text(s), it's clear that Fforde appreciates and respects Bronte's work. I think that was something I was worried about when I started the Fforde novel--that he would take the "original" too lightly. Since it's a book I've loved since I was a child, I didn't want to see it mis-applied or manipulated in an unkind way. But, while I'm glad I read this novel, I doubt that I'll re-read it--maybe bits of it. It isn't a Bronte novel--that's for sure. The characters are much more caricatures than anything Bronte ever wrote. I love Bronte's novel for its realism and depth of character development, for the fact that Jane becomes a real person for me--someone I truly admire and empathize with, for the carefully developed and intertwining plot(s), for the celebration of moral goodness and strength--and love of course.
Fforde perhaps celebrates these things, but he does so in a light-hearted--sometimes frivolous (?)--way which is very enjoyable but hardly endearing.
OK. Really back to Tolkien tomorrow!
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