Review: Lost in a Good Book

I have just finished reading Jasper Ffordes second book in the Thursday Next series. This is a review I found of the book. I liked this one even better than the first one - and boy was it fun being lost!

The inventive, exuberant, and totally original literary fun that began with The Eyre Affair continues with Jasper Fforde's magnificent second adventure starring the resourceful, fearless literary sleuth Thursday Next. When Landen, the love of her life, is eradicated by the corrupt multinational Goliath Corporation, Thursday must moonlight as a Prose Resource Operative of Jurisfiction—the police force inside books. She is apprenticed to the man-hating Miss Havisham from Dickens's Great Expectations, who grudgingly shows Thursday the ropes. And she gains just enough skill to get herself in a real mess entering the pages of Poe's “The Raven.” What she really wants is to get Landen back. But this latest mission is not without further complications. Along with jumping into the works of Kafka and Austen, and even Beatrix Potter's The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies, Thursday finds herself the target of a series of potentially lethal coincidences, the authenticator of a newly discovered play by the Bard himself, and the only one who can prevent an unidentifiable pink sludge from engulfing all life on Earth.

Review: Jane Eyre Affair

I haven't read a book quite like this in a while! Despite being science fiction (which I generally don't like too much), the surreal world he creates and the way he writes makes it very believable and extremely witty.

Background: Great Britain circa 1985 - time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. Baconians are trying to convince the world that Francis Bacon really wrote Shakespeare, there are riots between the Surrealists and Impressionists, and thousands of men are named John Milton, an homage to the real Milton and a very confusing situation for the police. The country is close to being a police state. The Crimean War has dragged on for more than 130 years and Wales is self-governing. It is a place where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense.

Plot: Acheron Hades, Third Most Wanted Man in the World, steals the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit and kills a minor character, who then disappears from every volume of the novel ever printed! But that's just a prelude . . . Jane Eyre is next on his list. Thursday Next is a literary detective who handles security of original manuscripts, piracy and other crimes related to the literary world.

Some parts of the book are just hilarious. I laughed out loud while reading the incident where bookworms expel apostrophes, hyphens and em-dashes. Other post-modern satirical twists include the footnoter phone, an ubiquitous communication device in the BookWorld. A footnote number pops up in a dialogue, the visual equivalent of a cell phone beep, and the character receives a message via footnote at the bottom of the page - which is there on the page (literally:-)
All in all, the dizzying pace made me feel like I was web surfing through a huge library with Alice in Wonderland as my guide. Whacky, intelligent, and wonderful. Read it if you can. I am sure some of you would love it....

Updates: Larisa

I met friends of Felix yesterday, Larisa and her lovely daughter Vera. They were here to visit her sister who lives in Bangkok. After a lot of missed communication we managed to meet for drinks on Sukhumvit a few hours before they were to fly back to Europe. She was really nice to talk to, but most of all I loved hearing about how she knows Felix and their stories together - it brought me closer to my father despite the kilometres distancing us....

Updates: Ruby Ring

I just have to show off my new ruby ring! :-)

After firmly swearing that we wouldn't buy each other any Christmas presents this year (we had already bought our new computer before we left for Portugal), Amandio turned around and surprised me with a little red box under the Christmas tree with my name marked on it. Cunning little devil, we had killed some of our time waiting at the airports looking at jewellery cases and 'playing a game' of him guessing which rings I would choose. We had of course discussed rubies since the first day we arrived in Thailand when we were snapped up in a tourist trap and bundled to a jewellers. Sapphires and rubies are mined in Thailand (the mines are now exhausted) so naturally the prices are much cheaper here. During our time wandering aimlessly into jewellery shops we have been taught the 5 Cs of choosing gemstones... oh, lets see if I remember: Clarity, Cut, Colour, Carat - erm.. have to look up the fifth one -oh, there are only four! LOL

Well, this one, as far as budget goes naturally, is gorgeous (a little cloudy perhaps but invisible to the naked eye). Amandio did a great job in choosing, just how I like it - single stone, not too small, with either other surrounding stones or a double flank/side with a design, and a higher relief - portruding slightly. My style can vary between romantic old fashioned, neoclassical and extremely modern with those variables. Perfect!!

It must have been bought on a last minute whim (he hadn't taken one of my own rings to check size) and it was 5 sizes too small - so torture, I had to wait over a week to take it back to the jewellers here to get it enlarged! I finally got it back today and I am like a child - showing off my new shiny gift. Okay, okay.. enough said :-)

Updates: Happy New Year

So back in Thailand... well, in body anyway. After a fantastic New Year's Eve dinner (smoked salmon, lumpfish caviar, snails, pate, shrimp, cheeses, dark chocolate mousse and wine and champagne...mmmm) with siblings we left Portugal with heavy hearts and suitcases on 1st January. I didn't sleep a wink on the plane, crammed, a crying baby behind us, an annoying person who kept on switching on the light, and an energetic sleeper beside me and erm.. digesting. As a result, we are both suffering from serious jetlag, worse than ever and combined with a period and a cold makes for some discomfort and listless moods. Waking up after only one hours sleep, dreams that go nowhere, hunger pangs at odd hours.. urghh! I need a holiday!! LOL
Luckily, I only start back at work on Monday but poor Amandio had to brave it the following morning. Isla, who is enroute back to Scotland via South East Asia and an Indian tour after a year in Sydney, is coming to stay with us. I will also get to meet Zain, her now fiancee (CONGRATULATIONS!!! - proposed while skydiving - sounds very adventurous). I am so excited to catch up with her again - it has been TOO long. Julie, a great school and university friend also got engaged over the holidays. Congrats to you both too! Love must be in the air....
It was so lovely to see Sandra, Antonio and Alex and meet the newest addition to the family, Rafael. It was so warm and 'cosy' to be a part of the family for one day. Hugs :-)
I have unpacked all the goodies we brought back from Portugal and had fun putting them in their new homes, ie. books, photos, embroidered cloths and am slowly uploading the videos and sorting out photographs. I love that part - indulging in reminiscence. Happy New Year to all of you and wish you peace, love and happiness for 2008....

Wedding Rings

Why should the wedding ring be worn on the fourth finger?

There is a beautiful and convincing explanation given by the Chinese Legend...

Thumb represents your Parents
Second (Index) finger represents your Siblings
Middle finger represents your-Self
Fourth (Ring) finger represents your Life Partner
& the Last (Little) finger represents your children

Firstly, open your palms (face to face), bend the middle fingers and hold them together - back to back
Secondly, open and hold the remaining three fingers and the thumb - tip to tip

Now, try to separate your thumbs (representing the parents)..., they will open, because your parents are not destined to live with you lifelong, and have to leave you sooner or later.
Please join your thumbs as before and separate your Index fingers (representing siblings), they will also open, because your brothers and sisters will have their own families and will have to lead their own separate lives.

Now join the Index fingers and separate your Little fingers (representing your children),they will open too, because the children also will get married and settle down on their own some day.

Finally, join your Little fingers, and try to separate your Ring fingers (representing your spouse).
You will be surprised to see that you just CANNOT...

ISN'T THIS A LOVELY THEORY? At least it makes for a nice 'useless bit of information' party piece :-)