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adamz24 's review for:
The Eyre Affair
by Jasper Fforde
Normally, I'd be perfectly alright with reading and disliking a book like this, but I have some serious problems with people's reaction to this book. It, of course, isn't fair to blame anything on people who happened to like this book, but I don't care.
Here's why: the mind-blown nerd in me thinks comparisons of fucking Jasper Fforde to fucking Monty Python (Monty Python!) and Douglas Adams (Douglas Adams!) are pure evil. The contemporary fiction reader in me resents being told that this is exciting and original, and the writer in me resents being told this is creative.
It's not real original or creative just to come up with quirky bullshit, which is basically what this book is. It's not real original or creative just to do a genre mash-up with no further artistic reason or intent. It's not real original or creative just to think up silly scenarios (and it's certainly not funny). It's not real original or creative just to take things that previously existed and insert them into a narrative framework that in itself is incredibly dull and cliched, and do nothing other than what I just mentioned.
This book is sort of like those dull Doctor Who episodes from the Russell T. Davies-produced first few series of the revival show, the ones that for no real reason included, say, William Shakespeare, or some other major historical figure, and some other shit thrown in, and thought that was worth putting out there for people to waste their time with. And not at all like all the brilliant Doctor Who stories over the, I don't know, 33 seasons that show's been on at this point, that have pulled off this exact kind of SF/historical/alternate world+humour kind of deal.
I don't mean to suggest that this book is entirely terrible. I didn't like it, but I didn't hate it. What annoys me is that this mediocrity was so well-received. I also don't like being specifically sold something exciting and fun only to find something staggeringly boring. Fforde could've at least provided us with another hysterically brutal artistic failure that somehow found success, instead of another mediocrity that somehow found success. Books like this are just no fun.
Here's why: the mind-blown nerd in me thinks comparisons of fucking Jasper Fforde to fucking Monty Python (Monty Python!) and Douglas Adams (Douglas Adams!) are pure evil. The contemporary fiction reader in me resents being told that this is exciting and original, and the writer in me resents being told this is creative.
It's not real original or creative just to come up with quirky bullshit, which is basically what this book is. It's not real original or creative just to do a genre mash-up with no further artistic reason or intent. It's not real original or creative just to think up silly scenarios (and it's certainly not funny). It's not real original or creative just to take things that previously existed and insert them into a narrative framework that in itself is incredibly dull and cliched, and do nothing other than what I just mentioned.
This book is sort of like those dull Doctor Who episodes from the Russell T. Davies-produced first few series of the revival show, the ones that for no real reason included, say, William Shakespeare, or some other major historical figure, and some other shit thrown in, and thought that was worth putting out there for people to waste their time with. And not at all like all the brilliant Doctor Who stories over the, I don't know, 33 seasons that show's been on at this point, that have pulled off this exact kind of SF/historical/alternate world+humour kind of deal.
I don't mean to suggest that this book is entirely terrible. I didn't like it, but I didn't hate it. What annoys me is that this mediocrity was so well-received. I also don't like being specifically sold something exciting and fun only to find something staggeringly boring. Fforde could've at least provided us with another hysterically brutal artistic failure that somehow found success, instead of another mediocrity that somehow found success. Books like this are just no fun.