A couple of book reviews

[lathany]

Both these books were birthday presents. Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart was from ao_lai whilst The Eyre Affair by Jasper Ffords was from ealuscerwen.

Bridge of Birds is described on the cover as "A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was" and this is a rather good description. It is a mixture of myth, magic and detective work and I found it very enjoyable. Number Ten Ox ("My surname is Lu and my personal name is Yu but I am not to be confused with the eminent author of The Classic of Tea and everyone calls me Number Ten Ox") and Master Li ("my surname is Li and my personal name is Kao, and there is a slight flaw in my character") travel China looking to solve the mysteries behind an illness that has afflicted the children of Ox's village.

The book makes an excellent job of introducing the world, the village and the main characters before entering my favourite part - the description of the arrival of the illness, Master Li's investigations and the actual reasons for it. The tale then goes on to introduce other characters and their stories, never too many to grasp at once, and all are interesting.

The ending is equally good, it tied up all the threads nicely, explained plenty that I expected to remain opaque and generally gave me a feeling of satisfaction - as though the tale had been completed properly.

My only complaint is that the middle is rather rambling and seems pointless at the time (although the ending does make its purpose clear). However I got through the section without too much trouble.

Definitely recommended, particularly to anyone who likes myths and their solutions.



The Eyre Affair stars Thursday Next as a literary detective who, among other things, investigates the theft of original manuscripts. She is soon on the trail of villain Acheron Hades and the book details her chase.

The story is fast, plot-heavy and easy to get into. It is very much my sort of thing, even though I don't remember either Jane Eyre or Martin Chuzzlewit that well (actually, this doesn't matter)! Thursday is a great protagonist for this type of book as she has the intelligence to solve the plot (you're never screaming at her to spot the obvious) and the impetuous to keep things moving. My favourite section is her initial encounter with Hades when she joins SpecOps 5, particularly the way in which she eventually tells it. I also liked the various tie-ups and the history changes.

However, much as I liked Thursday for most of the book, she became a dead loss every time a hint of romance was on the scene. Suddenly the quick-witted, independent, practical-minded Thursday Next would be transformed into some sort of Bridget Jones stereotype, unable to speak her mind or express her true feelings. Consequently every time Landen appeared I found myself gritting my teeth. The other problem was Thursday's partners. Whilst it was nice not to have the action delayed by hefty working-relationship problems, it has to be said that her work partners were pretty interchangeable and generally lacking much in the way of individual personality.

Overall, though, this is a book put together by someone who cares about plot and consistency and, again, highly recommended.

Comments

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

and the impetuous to keep things moving

This is a Dawn-ism, you mean 'impetus' !