The Well of Lost Plots [Hardcover]

The more you know about literature, the more hilarious you'll find this fantasy. Characters are being manufactured in record numbers because Vikram Seth is planning a new novel, and no one wants a return to minimalism simply because of a character shortage. Heathcliff, Catherine, and the rest of the characters from Wuthering Heights attend anger management classes, and Mr. Toad is relentless in his competition with Miss Havisham for the fastest driver in both the Book World and the Outland. And if you're interesting in writing, you'll gain tips for keeping your novel out of the Text Sea, as Fforde pokes fun at hackneyed writing and incomplete character development.

Because this is my first Fforde novel, I started reading this without any knowledge of what has happened previously in the series, but the author provides enough of a synopsis in the beginning to give a new reader the proper bearings. Despite this, there remains a disjointedness at times as so much satire is pumped into the book that does little to advance the plot. Sometimes Thursday seems to be there purely as a straight man, raising the question that perhaps Fforde should have heeded some of his own lessons in fiction writing. Fortunately, these lapses are few and don't hinder the enjoyment of the novel as a whole. This relatively long novel is not demanding and can be read more quickly than the page count might indicate.

As a literary joke, The Well of Lost Plots is a triumph. As a mystery/fantasy, it is less successful. Readers will nonetheless delight in Fforde's imagination as he takes them through the land of the unpublished and the more solid, though more turbulent, ground of the classics.

As an English major graduate with a good knowledge of classic fiction under my belt, what I love most about the Thursday Next series is the amount of humor in the text. Fforde sprinkles witty tongue-in-cheek jokes about all kinds of literature and literary characters throughout the story. The cast of Wuthering Heights is enrolled in a rage counselling group, everyone ends up waiting for Agent Godot, and a multitude of other characters from well known novels have cameos in this book.

My only complaint about this novel is that I was eager to have the plot regarding Thursday's erradiacated husband Landen furthered more than it was. This novel mainly deals with Thursday's own inner battles against her mindworm and the murders in the Well of Lost Plots. --But perhaps I'm too eager. The next Next book is slated for release this August...so the rest will come in time.

I would highly recommend this novel to fans of the Thursday Next series. For those unfamiliar, read The Eyre Affair!

Thursday Next is back! Hoorah! Being in grave danger from the Hades girl and having been unsuccessful in the recovery of her eradicated husband, she has left the real world (a/k/a the Outland) to spend her gestation period in the Book World. Thanks to her position as Jurisfiction apprentice, she takes advantage of the "character exchange program" to hide out in Caversham Heights (a not-very-good, detective novel that is still under construction in the Well). Thursday mistakenly assumes that this will give her a peaceful year in which to be pregnant, have the child of a man that never existed, and decide just how to get that man's existence back.

Jurisfiction (the policing agency of the fiction world) turns out to be much more exciting than anticipated, what with the Pro Catherine faction trying to kill Heathcliff, the Minotaur disappearing and something odd and dangerous going on with the new UltraWord testings--not to mention the everyday adventures of training under Miss Havisham!

On top of that, she's billeting two Generics in her home, attempting to defeat a memory thief, studying for her Jurisfiction exam, having morning sickness, presenting the Bookie for "Best Chapter Opening in the English Language" and giving advice to a lady gorilla.

Sure, the storyline's a bit unbelievable, there's a lot to keep up with, and I didn't always get the jokes, but all in all The Well of Lost Plots is another gem! Fforde keeps the funnies coming so fast, it's hard to breathe in between them. His Douglas Adams-esq humor, literary jokes and just darn good writing skills make this an A-1 book! But remember, you MUST read The Eyre Affair and Lost in a Good Book before attempting this one. If you ignore this warning, it'll be like reading Macbeth for Yeast* and not at all the pleasant experience it was for me.

*"///..//..///// ......///// .../ ./ .......// ..// ..// ./// ...///////"
excerpt from Macbeth for Yeast, translated by ..//// ..///..