Monday, April 12, 2010

Extremes

Just as I pulled into the parking lot of the library on Saturday morning for The Big Book Sale, I listened to the last lines of Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. The most I will say about the book is that it was profoundly moving and I recommend that you read it. No. That's not quite right, either. I urge you to read it. I would almost pay you to read it. Why? Because I care about you. As you begin to read you may wonder how the whole thing will tie together in the end. But be patient. Thou shalt be rewarded.

The audio book I listened to was beautifully read by several voices - at least three that I could discern. It might actually be the sort of book better experienced in audio than read in the traditional way. I'll leave that up to you.

Feeling the need for something totally light-hearted after Extremely Loud, and on the advice of the librarian, I picked up the audio version of The Well Of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde and am loving loving loving my daily commute because of it. (Remind me to send that librarian flowers). Why oh why haven't I heard of this series starring literary detective Tuesday Next? I think I should probably have started with the first book, The Eyre Affair, but it's too late now. No jumping out of the roller coaster in mid-roll. Thursday, a JurisFiction agent, has applied for a vacation assignment through the Character Exchange Program (a program designed to allow bookpeople a change of scenery; there had been a spate of characters actually escaping from their books, you see, and one simply can't have that!) and she has been assigned to Caversham Heights, an unpublished crime novel in the Well Of Lost Plots. The Well is comprised of 26 floors of "dingy sub-basements" beneath the Great Library. It is here that unpublished books are "constructed, honed and polished" to make them ready for a place in the library, where they can then be read by Outlanders (people in the real world). As Tuesday explains, "The failure rate is high."

An added delight is the reading by Elizabeth Saztre, who has a lovely voice and a bright British accent absolutely perfect for the task.

Bibliophiles of the world, rejoice. From thought provoking and wrenching to sheer unbounded fun - what a wild ride is reading!

16 comments:

  1. I've heard one of the characters in Extremely loud is vegan. Is it true? One doesn't come across vegans in literature very often unless they are crazy hippy people. I want to read the book anyway but if the vegan character is true it will be even more enticing.

    And yay that you have found Thursday! Certainly finish this one but you really must read the first one. I'd love to have a dodo named Pickwick :)

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  2. Oskar Schell, the precocious nine-year old narrator, refers to himself as a vegan. He also refers to himself as a Francophile, a pacifist, a Beatles fan, and a former atheist. He's is a truly wonderful character. Please do read the book. Oh, and Thursday!! I must have been under a rock someplace. Got to finish this one, but then I'll pick them up in sequence (although I've already cheated a bit. Went out at lunch and checked out Lost In A Good Book. I'll try to get Eyre Affair to read first.)

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  3. The Eyre Affair has been on my to-read list for a while. Looks like it's time for me to work it in! And I just added Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close to my ever expanding list of book to read. Thanks! I'm glad you have had such pleasant reading experiences lately - I always love when a book lives up to high expectations, or when it's even better than I hoped!

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  4. I really do hope you send that librarian flowers. I had heard that The Eyre Affair was really good, and your post seals the deal -- it is now on my TBR list...

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  5. Janell, you will never guess what I found at The Big Book Sale! Walk Two Moons! Can you believe it? I told you I'd look for it and there it was - it was simply meant to be. Thanks for suggesting it. I really will get down to reading it, probably this summer at the beach.

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  6. Bibliophiliac, librarians are wonderful beings, aren't they?! Long live them all.

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  7. i am a huge fan of Fforde -- I'll second and third and fourth the recommendation! So entertaining and unpretentiously smart.

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  8. Charlotte, and so very very clever and imaginative. I'm having a wonderful time with my first venture into Fforde! Fairyland for grown-ups.

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  9. As always you're giving me great ideas for reading! And I seem to recall that my first time reading you was around LAST YEAR's book sale. So I have a good feeling about it. Keep on reading, Grad.......

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  10. I loved Extremely Loud too, Graddikins - I cried. Several times, from memory. And giggled quite a lot too. Very impressive novel. Haven't heard of the other (except I think The Eyre Affair does ring a bell...) - do you think it's especially suited to the audio option?? As you know I am an audio virgin, but I think I do need to start listening more in general. More radio. More music. And maybe a whole novel.

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  11. Tinky, you are very supportive and I thank you. In turn, YOU always give me great ideas for good food, always with a super background story attached.

    Doctordi, I was supremely choked up and had to walk around outside the library a bit before I went in. You will love the Thursday Next series. I love audio books because I can read books while I drive. How great is that? I do miss Led Zeppelin, though. I generally had to have my "D'yer Mak'er" or "Stairway to Heaven" fix every morning, but I'm tapering off.

    Stefanie, dear, I bet you figured it out, but my first comment above was directed to you. Haven't figured out how to edit comments once posted yet.

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  12. Jasper Fforde is so much fun, though you might have to be English to appreciate how just unlikely a setting Swindon is... I particularly love him for rehabilitating Miss Haversham as a gun-toting adventuress. (And for a joke about the Decameron that was a pure throwaway line for a taxi driver, but it made ME feel clever, and that doesn't happen a lot.)
    Despite owning the Safran Foer, I haven't actually read it yet, so thank you; I shall prepare to be wrecked. If Stefanie's reading this - he's just written a non-fiction book called 'Eating Animals', about the horrors of the meat industry, although in her case it sounds like he'd be preaching to the choir...

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  13. This post was so poetic that I decided to give you the Beautiful Blogger and Honest scrap awards. Post 10 things about you and pass the awards on to 10 blogs you admire (Book Quoter awarded me). I hope you have fun with this...

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  14. Fugitive, Fforde is out of this world - literally - creating his own. I think the series is even more clever than Harry Potter (and that is saying something since I want to enroll in Hogwarts). Swindon...I'll have to Google Swindon. Even though I know I'm missing some of the clever word play (there are references to some works I've not read), it is still loads of fun. And, I have the feeling I'm going to like anything Foer writes.

    Bibliophiliac, Wizard! Thanks. Although I hate talking about myself as I am really quite boring. Oh! Now, that could be the first of the ten come to think of it. Now, let me go and count the ways....

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  15. Um, Grad? Don't Google Swindon. It'll depress you. Briefly imagine a lot of greyness, cement and ugly industrial buildings, then snap your mind shut. Whenever we had to drive through the place, we referred to it as "The Land of Many Roundabouts" (traffic circles) which makes it sound kind of magical, but no - hence the very English humour in Fforde's choice of setting. He chose the most boring, anodyne place imaginable, and set the crazy time-bending literary adventure there. It's so unlikely, it's almost plausible.

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  16. Speaking of watching dust settle......

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