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The Eyre Affair

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The Eyre Affair

By: Jasper Fforde
Narrated by: Gabrielle Kruger
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About this listen

There is another 1985, somewhere in the could-have-been, where the Crimean war still rages, dodos are regenerated in home-cloning kits and everyone is deeply disappointed by the ending of 'Jane Eyre'.

In this world there are no jet-liners or computers, but there are policemen who can travel across time, a Welsh republic, a great interest in all things literary - and a woman called Thursday Next.

In this utterly original and wonderfully funny first novel, Fforde has created a fiesty, loveable heroine and a plot of such richness and ingenuity that it will take your breath away.

©2001 Jasper Fforde (P)2013 Hodder & Stoughotn Absurdist Action & Adventure Crime Fiction Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Mystery Science Fiction Crime Witty

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Critic reviews

"What Fforde is pulling is a variation on the classic Monty Python gambit: the incongruous juxtaposition of low comedy and high erudition - this scam has not been pulled off with such off-hand finesse and manic verve since the Pythons shut up shop. The Eyre Affair is a silly book for smart people: postmodernism played as raw, howling farce." ( Independant)
All stars
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Just the sort of book I love to read. I will have to read it again to make sure I didn't misunderstand anything.

Great fun from start to finish.

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I read the printed version of this book some time ago, and decided to buy all the audio books in the series as I had enjoyed this first story so much. There are many clever references to literary fiction - lots of which were lost on me, but provided quite a challenge in trying to recognise them - and to more modern facts which sometimes surprise you when you think you are firmly set in a particular period. The names are also very witty, and the story is very unusual, but very interesting. You get to know characters from famous books in a completely new way.

What lets the book down is the narrator, who does not bring the book to life in the way I had hoped. I drive long distances and use audiobooks as the accompaniment to my journeys, and often I find I have to stay in the car park when I arrive somewhere to listen to a bit more of a story. For this book (and the others in the series), I have on occasions had to force myself to listen, because I have already paid for them, and - apart from this book - have not read the stories before. If I had, I would probably have asked for a refund.

Gabrielle Kruger's narration is difficult to describe. There are periods of excitement, but much of it is very flat and sounds as if she were uninterested in the material. There are occasional mis-speakings, and regular sounds of page-turns (especially in the later books in the series), but these would be forgivable if the overall performance was captivating enough. Sadly, it isn't.

Most of the male voices have a very similar tone to them, and even the female characters do not sound as real as I have come to expect with some of the other excellent narrators available. Trying to distinguish who is speaking is pretty much impossible from voice characterisations alone, and the narration is quite mundane and flat in many places.

This is a shame, as I imagine that - as other reviewers have mentioned they have given up part way through - Jasper Fforde's work may not reach the wider audience it deserves because of the effort required to get through the audio version of the books.

Clever story but rather flat narration

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The story and characters kept me interested. If it wasn’t for that I would have stopped listening as I did not enjoy the lady reading the book and a lot of the language was far too cliche and unrealistic.

Good story but cliched language

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This is my 2nd book by this author and as well written as the first. The variety of names made me grin and the settings were brilliant. The best way to describe it as our world with a twist. Definitely a place I would like to visit.
The narration was ok but I found it a little quick. A slightly slower pace would allow a greater impact of each twist and turn of the plot.
On the whole it’s well worth the read.

Really inventive

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Where does The Eyre Affair rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Quite a good story if you can follow in with the flat and fast narration.

How could the performance have been better?

The narration was too fast and lacking in characterisation and emphasis. It was a little like someone reading a workshop manual in a mostly flat monotone. The diction was good but the lack of emphasis on events on characters meant that I just drifted away and missed important story moments.

Interesting but poorly read.

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I read a lot of books.
I am not kidding.
it has reached the point that a book really has to pull a serious rabbit out of the hat to impress me

this book can comfortably be described as mind expanding. so clever, so fantastically well written - so many clever little touches and asides.

I truly cannot wait to read the whole series if this is just the warm up.

read it now. thank me later

best book I have read in a long time

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If you could sum up The Eyre Affair in three words, what would they be?

Fast, funny, fabulous!

What other book might you compare The Eyre Affair to, and why?

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch, it's a similar concept-alternate reality, supernatural stuff-but with a different core subject.

What about Gabrielle Kruger’s performance did you like?

Very clear to hear

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not the type of book to move you...

Any additional comments?

Will be listening to the rest of the series :)

Fabulous book, unsure about the narrator

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Absurd, intriguing, different. A great night time listen! odd that the reader read so fast but slowed down I liked her voices and the main character is likeable.

Narrator reads very fast, luckily sounds ok at 85%

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Great story telling! Rarely have I listened to an audio book and felt propelled to the time when I read the book - I loved reading it then as much as I loved listening to it now - thank you for a job well done. I hope the sequels are just as good.

Just as good as when I read the book

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refreshing as nothing like it came to mind, nice references to pop culture in the book compared to real life and generally a good listen

Different type of story

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