6, WG6, M4, E6 / NG0, F2, MF0, B0, D0, Frz0, C0, NA0

Jasper Fforde, Lost in a good Book, Thursday Next series Book II

Im zweiten Band kommt die Serie mit Thursdays Anfängen als Jurisfiction-Agentin richtig in Schwung. Hier verzichtet Fforde ganz auf fremde POVs, sondern erzählt alles ausschließlich aus Thurdays Sicht. Immer wieder traurig zu lesen ist Landens Verschwinden und die geballten "Zufälle" wann immer Aornis auftaucht, sind gerade zu beklemmend.
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Victor used to say that Shakespeare forgery was inherently impossible because the act of copying overrode the act of inspired creation - the heart being squeezed out by the mind, so to speak.
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(Jasper Fforde, Lost in a good Book, 2002)

5, WG5, M3, E5 / NG0, F2, MF0, B0, D0, Frz0, C0, NA0

Jasper Fforde, The Eyre Affair, Thursday Next series Book I

Von Thursdays Anfängen zu lesen, ihren ersten großen Niederlagen und Erfolgen, der ersten Begegnung und dem Schlagabtausch mit Jack Schitt und dem Sieg über Acheron Hades, ist immer wieder ein Vergnügen, auch wenn die BookWorld - außer in Jane Eyre und dem Gedicht von Wordsworth - noch nicht so präsent ist. Immer wieder staunenswert ist was für eine gute Grundlage der Band bildet, auf dem Fforde eine so faszinierende Welt aufgebaut hat, mit Luftschiffen, Neanderthalern, Dodos, Spezialpolizei für u.a. Zeitreisen und Literaturverbrechen, Daueraufführungen von Richard III, etc. etc.
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'GSD?' murmured Mycroft. 'What in heaven's name is that?'
'Global Standard Deity,' answered Polly. 'It's a mixture of all the religions. I think it's meant to stop religious wars.'
Mycroft grunted again.
'Religion isn't the cause of wars, it's the excuse.'
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(Jasper Fforde, The Eyre Affair, 2001)

4, WG4, M2, E4 / NG0, F2, MF0, B0, D0, Frz0, C0, NA0

Jasper Fforde, The Woman who Died a Lot, Thursday Next series, Book VII

Wenn ich einen Thursday Next-Band lese, bleibt es selten dabei - vielleicht fange ich die ganze Serie nochmal von vorne an. Mein Bankkonto wird es mir zumindest danken :-/ Auch in diesem Band sind so viele Passagen, die ich immer wieder lesen kann, wie Thursdays Erfahrungen als Chief Librarian, als "Day Player" in einem synthetischen Körper, und wie sie mit Jack Schitt und Aornis zwei ihrer Erzfeinde endlich zur Strecke bringt. Immer wieder so klasse.
Und je länger ich über die Sache mit der Dark Reading Matter nachdenke, desto mehr hoffe ich, dass Fforde doch irgendwann mal einen siebten Band zustande bringt. Auch wenn keine Erzfeinde mehr übrig sind.
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The Wingco's research work involved finding some evidence of the disputed Dark Reading Matter. Theoretical storyologists had calculated that the readable BookWorld makes up only 22 per cent of visible reading matter - the remainder is thought to be the unobservable remnants of long-lost books, forgotten oral tradition and ideas locked in writer's heads when they died. A way to enter the Dark Reading Matter was keenly sought as it might offer a vast number of new ideas, plots and characters as well as a better understanding of the very nature of human imagination, and why STORY exists at all.
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The libraries were a treasured institution and so central to everyday life that government and commerce rarely did anything that might upset them. Some say they were more powerful than the military, or if not, then certainly quieter. As they say: don't mess with librarians. Only they use a stronger word than 'mess'.
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'Okay, let me get this straight in my mind. Imaginary Childhood Friends go to the DRM because they're like living fiction?'
'That's about it,' said the Wingco, 'but we think that everything that has been unrecorded within a deceased person's mind also transfers to the Dark Reading Matter. I think that's why the Dark Reading Matter is so big. It's not just books that have been destroyed, but is packed with memories. In fact, with seventy or so billion people having already died, the fabric of the DRM might be composed entirely of lost moments.'
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Mycroft had often theorised that the whole of existence was so large and hideously complex that it must be sentient. And if this was so, then it must have a truly warped sense of humour and have an abiding love of maths and hydrogen - and a deep loathing for order.
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(Jasper Fforde, The Woman who Died a Lot, 2012)

3, WG3, M1, E3 / NG0, F2, MF0, B0, D0, Frz0, C0, NA0

Jasper Fforde, One of our Thursdays is Missing, Thursday Next series, Book VI

Mittlerweile glaube ich, dass dieser Band, der nahezu komplett in der Bookworld spielt, mein Lieblingsband der Serie ist. Wie die "written Thursday" mit der realen immer weiter verschmilzt und es ihr gelingt ihren verschollenen Counterpart wieder ausfindig zu machen ist so faszinierend wie ihre ersten Erfahrungen in der realen Welt. Und die neue Geografie der Bookworld und besonders des Fiction Island hab ich von Anfang bewundert. Insbesondere die Ortsnamen und geografisch- wie geologischen Besonderheiten sind immer wieder klasse.
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To a text-based life-form, unpredictable syntax and poor grammar are sources of huge discomfort. Ill-fitting grammar are like ill-fitting shoes. You can get used to it for a bit, but then one day your toes fall off and you can't walk to the bathroom. Poor syntax is even worse. Change word order and sentence useless that for anyone Yada except you have.
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We took the Dickens expressway through HumDram, avoided the afternoon jam at the Brontë-Austen interchange and took a short cut through Shrive Plaza to rejoin the expressway at Picoult Junction, and from there to the Carnegie Underpass, part of the network of tunnels that connected the various islands that made up the observable BookWorld.
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We halted briefly at Gaiman Junction before steaming on a wide arc to terminate at Shakespeare Terminus.
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We entered Comedy a few miles farther on by way of the Thurber Freeway, then took a funny turn at Bad Joke and bumped along a back road of compacted mother-in-law one-liners. We passed the Knock-Knock quarry, where we were held up for a few minutes while they did some blasting, then continued on past Limericks, Amusing Anecdotes and Talking-Horse Gags to the empty wilderness known as the Burlesque Depression. The huge influx of stand-up comedians in the RealWorld had overjoked the stocks of natural glee, and the stony comedic landscape was now almost barren. As an emergency measure, unfunny comedy sneakily branded 'alternative' was now flooding the RealWorld until the natural stock of jokes had replenished itself. The lack of comedy in Comedy was no laughing matter.
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(Jasper Fforde, One of our Thursdays is Missing, 2011)

103, WG57, M54, E97 / NG46, F45, MF4, B1, D6, C0, NA1

Jasper Fforde, The Eye of Zoltar. The Last Dragonslayer Chronicles, Book 3

Der dritte Band mit dieser unglaublichen Beschreibung des Tourismus im Cambrian Empire, in der Reisende mit einer 50%iger Sterbensrate rechnen müssen und den vielen skurrilen Eigenheiten und Gebräuchen ist immer wieder faszinierend - und überaus vergnüglich. Ich freu mich schon jetzt darauf die Serie in ein paar Jahren wiederzulesen.
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Most sorcerers believed in what they called 'The Balance'. Simply put, all life requires equilibrium to survive. For every death there is birth, for every light there is dark, for every ugliness there is something that shines with the greatest lustre. And for every truly heinous act, there are always multiple good acts to compensate. It's why evil despots are always defeated, and why a truly awful reality TV show can never go on forever.
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(Jasper Fforde, The Eye of Zoltar, 2014)

102, WG56, M53, E96 / NG46, F45, MF4, B1, D6, C0, NA1

Jasper Fforde, The Song of the Quarkbeast. The Last Dragonslayer Chronicles Book 2

Das Wiederlesen des zweiten Bandes bereitete mir genauso viel Vergnügen wie das des ersten, wenn nicht mehr, besonders das wiederentdecken von vergessenen Partien wie die versteinerten Magier und Magnificent Boos wiederaufgefundene Zeigefinger. Wie sich das tot geglaubte Quarkbeast wieder einfindet ist auch immer wieder schön.

'You can transfer your memories into inanimate objects?'
'Certainly. And the stronger you feel for something, the longer it will stick around. Some people think that objects like jewellery and paintings and vintage cars actually have a soul, but as far as we know they don't - just the memories of the people who have been around them. The more something is loved, enjoyed and valued, the stronger the memory, and the more we can read into it.'

(Jasper Fforde, The Song of the Quarkbeast, 2011)

101, WG55, M52, E95 / NG46, F45, MF4, B1, D6, C0, NA1

Jasper Fforde, The Last Dragonslayer. The Last Dragonslayer Chronicles, Book 1

Mein 100. Buch dieses Jahr und der erste Band der Abenteuer von Jennifer Strange machte beim Wiederlesen genauso viel Spaß wie beim ersten Mal - wenn nicht noch mehr, weil bei Fforde soviele Nuancen und Anspielungen erst beim mehrfachen Lesen auffallen. Die Unterhaltung mit Maltcassion, dem letzten Drachen, war wieder fast das Beste.
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'I don't think mammals are on the way out, Maltcassion.'
'That's what the giant reptiles said. What are they now? Birds. One moment you're tearing a Stegosaurus to bits with rows of razor-sharp fangs, next thing your name's Joey and you're sharing a cage with a bell, a ladder and a dried cuttlefish. Bit of a come-down for a mighty thunder lizard, don't you think?'

(Jasper Fforde, The Last Dragonslayer, 2010)