By Jasper FfordeJust recently I wrote rave reviews for Fforde's Thursday Next mystery series. Since the next book in that series isn't released yet, I thought I'd give Fforde's Nursery Crime series at try.
I just can't go another page. The storyline drags, the humor is mediocre, the characters are duds. This one is thrown over - an official Did Not Finish!
The timing for this book may have been unfortunate. Coming on the heals of The Magician's Nephew and Rises the Night means it had a lot to stand up against. Stand - It did not. Flop! The Big Over Easy himself, Humpty Dumpty, takes a mighty big fall.
17 comments:
The Big Over Easy is definitely the worst of Fforde's books. The second book in this series is MUCH better, but I don't know how you will go with it if you don't finish the first one!
I second what Marg said. I didn't like The Big Over Easy either when I read it, but last year I was surprised with The Fourth Bear. Maybe try it after a little while, see what you think.
Marg and Nat, thanks for the encouragement. Maybe I will wait and try it again later.
Oh, dear. Sorry this one was such a disappointment.
I have tried twice to read Fforde's The Eyre Affair (the first in his Tuesday Next series, right?) and just could not get into it. My sister loves them, and I just can't.
So I'm not even going to try this one!
That's too bad. I figured that Fforde would be creative and witty in anything he writes, because the Thursday Next books are so well written.
Colleen, thank you. I couldn't get into the Tuesday Next series either and was feeling inadequate. It's good that I'm not even tempted to read The Big Over Easy.
I agree with you - Big Over Easy was a dud for me - I loved the other series and fully expected to to get the same joy from this one. Sadly I didn't :(
Oh dear! I haven't read any of Fforde's books yet, sounds like this is one to give a miss though!
Oh dear! I haven't read any of Fforde's books yet, sounds like this is one to give a miss though!
I love the Thursday Next series, but doesn't sound like this one is worth a try. Thanks for letting us know!
I enjoyed The Eyre Affair and have the second in the series sitting on a shelf waiting to be read. I tried to read it at one point, but couldn't get interested. I haven't given up completely, though. Maybe I'll put it on my "determination list" next year. Sorry this one didn't work out for you.
I'm just glad to see you allow yourself to not finish books. I only recently became able to do that. For some reason, I would feel guilty, like I wasn't giving the book a fair chance unless i read every word.
It might help knowing that the Big Over Easy was written before any of the Thursday Next series. I heard JF speak last year and he mentioned that if you ever wanted your first novel published hide it until after you publish at least three others, then produce your first**CV
I found this one hard going too. The Fourth Bear isn't bad though.
Sorry you didn't enjoy it. It wasn't as good as Thursday Next but I did think it was an interesting concept. I love his look on literature. I agree with those who said The Fourth Bear was better. But too little time to waste on books that don't grab you from the get-go.
Oh, no! I love the Thursday series, but I've had TBOE on my TBR shelf since it first came out. I think I have put off reading it because I didn't want to be disappointed. Sorry it was such a case for you.
Post a Comment