sirinrob

Yes - just thought I'd point it out being a pedant (been called worse )

Thank you both for the kind comments. Using you example BJ of asking someone is crying, has a dimension as well, since the enquirer could have various meanings for asking the question e.g commiseration, disgust, scornful etc. I've found that seeing the meaning in poetry often involves elucidating the author's meaning in using a word, often with multiple possible meanings. Maybe its that elucidation process that non-poetry readers find troublesome.

Picking up on the 'Art is communication' point, imvho the reader of literature (in its widest sense), does interpret what is presented, since how a character, word, concept etc is presented by the author, the reader is going to clothe that with the memory of his own experiences, which are by definition unique. The message is important, but from the reader's point of view is going to be coloured as I have indicated.

This is the sequel to 'Lost in a Good Book' and continues Thursday Next's adventures. Like its predecesor it is chock full of literary references, puns, in-jokes and general silliness. Once again, Jasper seems to have elected to use several books as key references within the novel. The books I identified are 'Great Expectations' Charles Dickens 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Alice Through the Looking Glass' Lewis Carroll 'Macbeth' William Shakespeare 'Sense and Sensibility' Jane Austen The Lewis Carroll material is used extensively, for instance the Cheshire Cat plays a major part. 'Great Expectations' features heavily with Miss Havisham. Besides the main books noted, I spotted references to: 'David Copperfield' 'Much Ado about Nothing' (and an opera by Berlioz) 'Twelfth Night' Sense and Sensibility' -Austen 'The Library of Babel' - Borges(as a concept) 'Rebecca' du Maurier 'Tess of the Dubervilles' 'Hamlet' William Shakespeare 'Wuthering Heights' Emily Bront

Just finished 'The Well of Lost Plots' - really enjoyed this:mrgreen: link to my review, which is not exhaustive as that would spoil the fun,here. I'm now reading 'Something Rotten'

This is one of my favourite poems - thanks for posting:mrgreen:

About halfway through 'Well of Lost Plots' by Jasper Fforde and reveling in it

I'm guessing its the same interview posted on Jasper's website - intriquing. looking forward to the 25th Jan. on that.....

The Grammeristes feature in Well of Lost plots alot - one way of warding them off is the WI anthem.... nice quip Jasper.

Jasper's rendition of Miss Havisham isn't that far off Dickens's own. In GE she is a bitter twisted tyrant and very dismissive of men. I liked the Adjectivore feeding on GE - removing all the adjectives. Now if that really happened then Dickens would be readable

Just finished 'Lost in a good Book' by Jasper Fforde, now onto the sequel ' Well of Lost Plots'

I've put together a review link here. Its not exhaustive - that would spoil the fun, but hope it gives a taste of the lunacy

This is the sequel to 'The Eyre Affair' and continues Thursday Next's adventures. Like its predecesor it is chock full of literary references, puns, in-jokes and general silliness. This time round, Jasper seems to have elected to use several books as key references within the novel. The books I identified are 'Great Expectations' Charles Dickens 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Alice Through the Looking Glass' Lewis Carroll 'The Trial' Franz Kafka Surprisingly he doesn't make a lot of the Lewis Carroll material other than the Red Queen and the UAoW (Cheshire) Cat. 'Great Expectations features heavily with Miss Havisham. The chapter that features Thursday Next's trial is a wonderful parody of chapters 1 and 2 of Kafka's 'The Trail'. Jasper has taken that material and twisted it so he can use direct quotes from it, and also make a very sly reference to 'Bleak house' Charles Dickens. In my view he had real fun with this because he was involved in a BBC production of 'TheTrial'. There are traces of the the Kafka scattered around as well - the interview with Flanker is an example. Besides the main books noted, I spotted references to: 'David Copperfield' 'Our Mutual Friend' 'Bleak House' Sense and Sensibility' -Austen 'The Library of Babel' - Borges 'Rebecca' du Maurier 'Tess of the Dubervilles' 'Twelfth Night' Shakespeare 'Jerry Cornelius' Micheal Moorcock There are others but I'll leave them to others to spot I wont attempt to list all the puns etc as a) there are a lot and it would spoil the fun. Generally , Jasper takes a pot shot at all sorts of targets, yuppies, middle class grumpies, politicians (including the nice Mr Blair), corporations etc. Lots of aircraft references (can't think why ). I didn't see the twist concerning Miles coming either - Jasper is a rotter:tong: I thoroughly enjoyed this and now onto 'Well of Lost Plots' . To reiterate a point made by BJ, you have to read these in order or it wont make sense. Also for this one I'd recommend reading chapters 1 and 2 of the 'The Trial' by Kafka.

Just finished 'Lost in a good Book'. Thoroughly enjoyed, chuckled, groaned, smirked throughout. I'll put a review soon. W

This chronicles the move made by Ivy and Jim and their two daughters, Liz and Pauline from the South Wales coast to a mining village in the Rhondda. Its set during the Second World War. Their move is instigated by Jim, as hes worried about possible German bombing. Ivy his wife hates the move since she has to give up her new council house for a old terrace house. In the village they move to there are a number of colourful characters, including Ivy's Mum and Dad, the local doctor, Vera and Betsy-Ann to name a few. As the novel progresses Ivy settles in and starts to like the village. The family face lots of events some comic others tragic. The style is straightforward but effective, capturing the atmosphere well. There is lots of humour which helps move the novel forward. The Olicka Bolicka part of the title refers to a childrens play rhyme, that apparently is Dutch in origin. This is Sheila Morgan's debut novel and in my view is praiseworthy. She is a local (to me ) author and I look forward to her next offering.

Since I haven't been able to get a copy of 'Lost in a Good Book' - Jasper Fforde yet, decided to read some more Kafka. Settled on 'Der Verschollene' which is his third novel. Just finished - enjoyed it. Going to read 'Olicka Bolicka and pink Bluebells' by Sheila Morgan next as a complete contrast.

This is the third of Kafka's novels, and was published by his editor and friend Brod under the title 'America'. The tone of this novel is not so dark as 'The Trial', but still has a sense of unease about it. It chronicles the arrival in America and subsequent events in the life of an emigre, Karl Ro

i'm not surprised at your reaction - in my view most people miss the humour, albeit black , in Kafka. I'm reading 'The Missing Man (America)' in the critical edition and its witty, slyly so, but there are dark undertones as well. I*accept your contention that the 'The Trial' is not the underpin to 'Lost in a Good Book' , but im intrigued how Jasper deals with/utilises the material. Once I've read LiaGB, then given my exposure to 'The Trial' and 'Great Expectations' , i'll be in a better position to comment. My intention is to review LiaGB, in my inimitable fashion:smile2:, so your comments/views on that will be enlightening.

This was a reread for me. I read the critical edition on the Kafka Project website. The critical edition uses Kafka's manuscript as opposed to the version produced by Brod after Kafka's death. Throughout the novel, there is a sense of the little man struggling against the system. It has been frequently asserted that this struggle represents Kafka's own struggle, but from my reading the struggles depicted are a reflection of how people invent their own struggles. There is current of surreal humour present in much of the novel, which I found amusing - especially the chapter with the Uncle/the Advocat and Leni. The description of the legal proceedings, though they seem bizarre and alieniating are based on legal poceedings in Austria and Germany at the time - Kafka was an insurance lawyer and took a keen interest in the legal debates. Josef K comes across as an unpleasant, arrogant buffon. Anyone who he percieves as being socially inferior he treats with comtempt. I'll be rereading this at some point and it will be interesting to see how Jasper Fforde treats this novel in 'Lost in a Good Book'

Just finished 'The Trial' by Kafka - found it dark and thought provoking.

Be interested to see the reference. From reading this work, I hesitate in calling it a novel. Hesse himself indicated it was an attempted biography of Josek Knecht and doesn't seem to label it as a 'Roman = novel at all. I found it read more like an essay.

second Hermann Hesse's Narcissus and Goldmund - first Hesse novel I read, found it very evocative

the only thing I'll add dont be scared to try 'unfashionable' regions. For instance Austria/Hungary are unfashionable, but they do produce high quality and exciting wines. There are areas of France that get tutted over as they dont fall into the Bordeaux/Burgundy/Champagne sphere. In my experience wines from the Loire/SW France can compete in terms of value and quality with that sphere, and in fact surpass the supposed standard bearers (In my opinion 95% of Bordeaux is rubbish)

Rereading 'The Trial' - Kafka, to refresh my memory before tackling 'Lost in a Good Book' - Jasper Fforde.

just browsing on jasperfforde.com and hes put up the original chapter 9 for LiaGB - he changed it later. It is absolutely hilarious. Spotted another book reference to add to the list 'Little Dorrit' - Charles Dickens. Link to original chapter here. Enjoy