Book Discussion: The Eyre Affair - SPOILER FREE Thread

I'll be back after I start reading.
:o)

wow this is early.

ya, my first thought was ... holy christmas ... I'd better get to work, I mean, get to reading...

no more Threads for me.

Yeah, the natives were VERY restless in the voting thread.
Apparently many people have already read it and they didn't want to wait to start discussing it.

And I don't even HAVE a copy yet, by the way. LOL

I imagine this discussion will be one of our more lively ones, and possibly (hopefully) of a longer duration than some of our more recent reads.

good book

It was a good book, I should probably look up the plot details for Jane Eyre and see which ones where made up and which were real, since I've never read it.

#7 I had to do that too. Wish I hadn't it's dull.

For those who haven't read Jane Eyre yet it isn't at all necessary. You can go ahead and read Eyre Affair first, and then if you want a complete change of pace, read Jane afterwrds.

Awww. I love Jane Eyre. I have read it and listened to it.

I was worried about that when I had first picked up Eyre Affair (not having read Jane in forever and a day) but wasn't necessary-

I read a synopsis of Jane Eyre beforehand and I was glad. I certainly wouldn't read JE again for any price. blech.

When I left the office this thread this thread hadn't been started yet. I bought the book on my way home, and lo hand behold what had happened!!!

I guess I would had skipped the whole discussion if I was yet to get hold of the book. Now I only feel stressed over the fact that the last 50 pages or so of my present read probably will take some day to finish... it's not dull but a bit... complex.

I recently read the Jane Eyre graphic novel, which I found pretty helpful (though actually I'd read The Eyre Affair back when it first came out, and had to check with the original Jane Eyre once in a while).

well, i did not finish the book last night like i thought i would. my husband got sick yesterday and i didn't get much reading done at all. i am about to start chapter 16 and haven't seen anything of Jane Eyre yet.

i am way to lazy to use capitalization properly when typing. as a self-taught typist with no real skills in the area, i type much quicker without capitals. plus, my new computer is a laptop and the capslock key is so close to the A that i usually lock in when i try to capitalize anyway. then i have to type the whole business over again. *sigh* so, apologies in advance!

Wow, glad I picked up a copy yesterday. I am glad to hear that re-reading Jane Eyre isn't a requirement, I still have nightmares about my glassy eyed English teacher in high shcool reading it out loud to to us (think Umbridge and her kittens in HP).

Well, as a big fan of Jane Eyre, I can say it isn't necessary, but just as you will get more of the little inside jokes if you are from Britain, or have a working knowledge of history, reading it enhances the story.

Don't worry Busifer, I think we all like to talk and talk in this group, so it will be fine to come into the discussion later. I always like it when someone dredges up an old reading thread we've had and adds their two cents.

Ohhhh, so much Jane Eyre unloving going on in this thread! What is the world coming to?! Anyway, there's hardly any Eyre in the affair. ISTR thinking I should have read more Dickens in fact... (that's not a spoiler, right? *hopes*)

Got my copy at B&N. Yeesh! I hate paying full price for books! Well, I get the 10% member's discount, but still. This PAINED me. LOL

I can also attest to having read The Eyre Affair and enjoyed it immensely even without having read Jane Eyre.

Ouch! I am sooo hurt by all this bashing of poor Jane Eyre. ;-) It's one of my lost-on-an-island books. Rochester! He was my high school heart throb - much like Edward whats-his-name is today I guess. But I'm glad to hear there's some people who share in the love. I haven't reached the Jane Eyre part in The Eyre Affair yet though, maybe tonight...

Good book though, it's fun so far.

Ah, nice husband got a copy from the Library - looking forward to stealing time to read.

katylit, from what you are saying in #20, it's possible I dislike Jane Eyre for the same reasons I also dislike Twilight. ;-)

I have the book, but I have to finish a couple of others first. I may be a little late in the discussion threads.

Went to the store - no book - so it's going to have to wait till I either order one (which will take ages, being as how I'm at the end of the world) or another store has one...

It's in transit at the library.

#22 -- Quite possible. We could probably draw some interesting comparisons between Jane and Rochester's relationship, and Edward and Bella's. Jane's definitely a stronger character than Bella, though.

I read The Eyre Affair a couple years ago. I loved it, and have every intention of rereading for this discussion . . . eventually. ;-)

#26 Agreed. My problem is not with Jane at all, I just don't get why I'm supposed to be happy she married a psycho.

Gimme Trollope or Austen or Eliot, please. You can have your Brontes.

#27 - Well, a woman in that age was a non-person if she stayed alone, so she could either marry that psycho, or the other psycho, right? I dunno, whenever I read Jane Eyre, I keep seeing this particular Mr. Rochester in my head:

#28 clam, you really need to read some Trollope.

Yeah, I know. Let me go 'book bucket list' him...

I finished the eyre affair last night. i enjoyed it. there was a point in the narrative where they gave a good description of the plot of jane eyre, so no need to dig out your copies of bronte and panic.

I haven't read any trollope. i must be ignorant. what did he (she?) write?

Anthony Trollope was a contemporary of Dickens and wrote many, many novels, including two series, the Barset novels and the Palliser novels. His main strength as a novelist is character. His understanding of women is quite astute, and his female characters are not one-dimensional "must marry or die" that many other Victorians indulged in.

I recommend Barchester Towers to start with.

I'll second the Trollope recommendation, but if you enjoy that Gothic-suspense-moody-tragic sort of thing, Trollope doesn't do that. He is more of a droll, dry humor. I love them both.

*Disclaimer, I do not like Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.

*Tugging the thread back to topic, sort of* The Eyre Affair is more like Trollop's humor than Charlotte's tragedy/romance. :)

If you like Victorian Goth, Wilkie Collins is your man.

Why don't authors touchstone anymore?

Well I just like all of them, Trollope, Collins, Dickens, Eliot, Gaskell, and ALL the Brontes! I guess I'm not very discerning when it comes to Victorian authors. While Jane Eyre is my most favourite, Wuthering Heights doesn't fall too far behind, nor does The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, nor Shirley nor The Professor.

The more I'm reading of The Eyre Affair the more I'm loving it. I'm so glad there's more books, I'm definitely hooked now!

34> I read my first Wilkie Collins a couple of years ago and thought it was total genius. I have been saving up buying The Moonstone because I'm clearly only going to be able to read it while on holiday because otherwise I'll get all cranky cos I'll stay up all night reading it and then have to get up in the morning.

MrsLee> Me neither: I wasn't a fan of Wuthering Heights. I can see why it's a classic but it was all just a bit too bleak for me. Maybe I only like Jane Eyre because I first fell in love with Rochester aged 10 and it's difficult to get over that. I never thought he was a psycho, just a bit tortured. I even managed to keep this idea going through Wide Sargasso Sea, although I appear to be the only person on the planet. (Good book by the way, even if you haven't read JE.)

And one day I will manage to read some Trollope. I have The Way We Live Now waiting for me on Mount TBR!

#36 The Way We Live Now is a real "plus ca change, plus le meme chose" kind of experience. Well, most Trollope is but that one particularly.

Woo-hoo! The library found a copy of The Eyre Affair and it's on order for me! So I'll be able to join the other thread not much more than a few months behind everybody else!

#38 - Don't sweat too much, hfglen. I'm only on page 5! I'm hoping to spend a bit of quality time with the book before everyone else wakes up this morning.

Oh ho! I am almost at the halfway point, and I am LOVING this book. What a HOOT!

Hopefully I can pick it up at the library tomorrow after work. I'm eager to start.

The series holds up pretty good, although some are a bit better than others. If you like this one, you'll probably want to keep going!

I've read a third of the book. Quite good but I do wonder what the fuss is all about. Pace and tone feels much like the Dresden books - that is, written for the TV-series and gaming generation. Unlike Dresden it seems to be intentionally funny, and with a wee bit more depth.

Well, I'm 'fussing' because Literature was my second major in college. (Next to Mathematics.) All the little literature references, including things like quotes from someone named 'Millon De Floss' (The Mill on the Floss) have me dweebishly delirious. Not to mention that the idea of rival gangs made up of the obsessed followers of great writers, like the Baconians and the Shakespeareans, warring with each other in the street is just too wonderful.

Well, I'm wondering what he's telling us about freedom of speech, etcetera.

(The literary references ARE fun, only I didn't major in English Lit. In school we only discussed the Brontës as a symbol of women having to write under pseudonym to be taken seriously. Possibly I'd thought the book more fun if it had referenced Scandinavian writers, lol)

"Possibly I'd thought the book more fun if it had referenced Scandinavian writers, lol"

Too true, but then it would most likely be written in a language that most of us couldn't understand!

#44. Every name in the nextian universe is a reference to something else in our world. If you think you've missed some try Jasper's annoyingly complex website. There is an explanation of the references in each book.

#45 - probably a better discussion on the spoilers thread? But basically you are free to speak - but this doesn't mean anyone will listen. Or broadcast your words, if they own the media and dislike what you say. Not that different to our world really.

I've been enjoying the names too (Braxton Hicks!)and the obsessions with classic authors and manuscripts and how they've influenced the whole of society - it's so wonderful and has had me laughing out loud. Last night at one part I was in tears I was laughing so hard, trying to read it to my husband, just must have hit me at a particularly good moment I guess.

I'm just into chapter ten...

Just saying I'm more interested in the underlying ideas than in the comic effects ;-)
(And maybe the jokes works to disguise some underlying concepts working in the background? Just a thought.)

I'm only just halfway so have no idea if my thoughts are relevant to the whole... thus on the spoiler free thread. But let's just say it wouldn't be interesting if it wasn't relevant to our own world. What I really think will go in the spoiler thread once I've finished the book.

#46 - Well, most of them are translated to English. But as they're not indigenous not much emphasis are put on them in lit classes... just like English language authors are viewed as irrelevant to the Scandinavian canon.
;-)

Some of them made it in to films also screened overseas, though, but then most of you know them as films, not books.

Whoops - cut the post because it needed to go in the spoiler bit.

Good catch, Janny!
:o)

Finally got my copy from the library last night and read through the first few chapters! Hope to make more progress tonight.

Question: I've been avoiding the spoilerific thread -- should I avoid it entirely until I've finished the book or are things progressing over there on a chapterly basis?

Avoid, avoid!!!

Yeah, we let the cat (Pinky, possibly?) out of the bag right off the bat.

Don't worry, missylc, the thread will keep. Plus, you'll probably get sucked right in and be done in a day or two. :oD

Thanks, clam and lg!

No problemo!
:oD

>57 clamairy: we let the cat (Pinky, possibly?) out of the bag *snort* I do think Pinky should be GD's pet mascot :D

The Eyre Affair - I'm a few chapters in and LOVING it! The names, the switches from the world we know today, and of course the references to Swindon are so fun because I know the streets and can picture everything so clearly.
I'm relying on all your literary smarties to help me along with the other stuff.

#60 - Great idea! He can cavort with the Roombas. :oD

He might be spooked by the puffins though...

Not if we sprinkle them with catnip. ;o)

I foresee our puffin and smurf population dwindling rapidly.

How would he handle a dodo? (Plonk!)

*runs to the spoiler thread*

LOL! I do love the "Plonk" :-D

(hangs head) Except I was doing it from memory, not having read any of the books in the last year, and got it wrong--it's "plock".

Oh, I thought you were "plonking" a dodo into the Green Dragon menagerie! Meaning that you were cleverly using a variation on the "plock" sound. ;)

I wish! Yes, surely that's what I meant to do, MrsLee!

I think both are equally clever, plonk and plock, they both make me laugh! *giggle*

Me too. Plonk away...