The Well Of Lost Plots: Thursday Next Book 3

Jasper Fforde has tickled me again. I just love his sense of humor and the silly, nerdy, bookish stuff he writes into all his novels. I think this is my favorite of the series (though I haven't yet read Something Rotten, of course). Mr. Fforde must have had the time of his life writing this book.

My favorite part? I cracked up during the discussion about the 'had had' and 'that that' problem! Surely Mr. Fforde put a lot of effort into writing that dialogue and making sure it came out making sense. And I appreciate it. Hilarious!

As a mystery novel, it isn't great. Most of the book was used up by literary silliness, and the plot didn't really get moving until about halfway through. I didn't mind that so much, and I'm not really complaining, because I enjoyed the literature spoofs enough. But had there also been an excellent story embedded in the cleverness, the novel would have been brilliant rather than just a fun romp.

Literary detective Thursday Next requests R&R not to recover from assignments like saving the ending of Jane Eyre, but suffers from morning sickness having become pregnant by a dead Crimean War veteran. Thursday applies for a vacation assignment in the Character Exchange Program, which is approved. She travels to THE WELL OF LOST PLOTS, the sub-basements beneath the Great Library. There she will replace Mary Jones, a detective's Friday in the unpublished police procedural Caversham Heights.
Thursday feels she has a quest when she learns how much plot and character selling goes on in the black market beneath the Great Library. While she tries to do the right thing and assist her Noir-like partner without landing in the Text Sea, UltraWord is launched as the "Last Word" in Story Operating Systems. Here in the subterranean world of terrible plotting, pathetic characters, and stolen dreams, the idealistic Thursday realizes that the book world and its anti-matter opponents are as ruthless as the recycled protagonists sold on the black market.
Although not for everybody, the third Thursday Next tale is a delightful satirical fantasy that tears into anything and everything. The story line is the usual bewildering confusion that is so much fun to follow. The side plots add irony as wrong turns might be sold on the literary black market. Jasper Fforde is at his lampooning best as nothing is sacred for readers who appreciate sharp slapstick syntax-slaughtering stories snd will want to get LOST IN A GOOD BOOK.
Harriet Klausner

From the first chapter of Jasper Fforde's third novel, you can tell that the author had a blast writing this satiric mystery that explores the creation of fiction. Thursday Next - pregnant by her eradicated husband, haunted by a Hades sister intent on destroying her memory, and a Jurisfiction apprentice to none other than Miss Havisham of Dickens fame - takes refuge in a poorly written and unpublished crime novel called Caversham Heights. Thursday expects to rest there until the birth of her child, but she and Miss Havisham discover that the death of another agent by a Minotaur attack might not be the accident it seems. Meanwhile, nursery rhyme characters threaten a strike for not being treated like other fictional characters, two generic characters living with Thursday begin to become more well-rounded, and Thursday tries to save Caversham Heights from being destroyed by the Council of Genres for being so hopelessly bad.
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.

The third instalment in Jasper Fforde's mesmerising saga of the ongoing adventures of Thursday Next does not disappoint! For those that have already ventured into Thursday's world, this review will be redundant, as Fforde will already have ensnared you in his web of words (or is that a well?). For those that have yet to experience Fforde: waste not another minute! But don't start here... Each book is carefully crafted, as the author has adeptly built a world which resembles our own, but where literature remains an integral part of life. In order to understand Well of Lost Plots, you must first journey back to Thursday's first adventure (The Eyre Affair) and follow it up with her second tryst (Lost in A Good Book).
It is impossible to adequately explain exactly what these books are and what they are about... to do so would be to ruin much of the fun in discovering it for your very self. At a recent book reading, Fforde himself seemed at a loss when it came to how to describe his books. For anyone who considers him or herself a literary afficionado, this is the series for you. Fforde's love of the English literary tradition and the language is positively contagious.
This is by far the best series on the market. Experience the wit and panache of Jasper Fforde for yourself. This is what reading was meant to be.

What if you could visit the world of fiction, interacting with characters like Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights and Miss Havisham from Great Expectations, all at the same time? And what if Miss Havisham was running anger-management classes for Heathcliff and his fellow Heights characters? We get to find out in The Well of Lost Plots, Jasper Fforde's third novel in his Thursday Next series, following intrepid literary detective Next as she gets involved with literary conspiracies that will affect how you and I read books, as well as teaching two blank slate "generics" how to become true fictional personalities. Fforde, as ever, is irreverent and full of great concepts. However, this time his lack of true characters hinders the reader's enjoyment just a little bit.
Jasper Fforde is the master of imagery and a very creative man. In his previous books, The Eyre Affair and Lost in a Good Book , Fforde has created a world where fiction is real and can be traveled through, but he also created an alternate reality where history isn't quite the same, where the Crimean War between Russia and Britain has been going on for 150 years. This time, while the Crimean War setting is very vital to one plot point, Fforde immerses us entirely in the fictional world, with characters from bad detective novels interacting with characters from Wuthering Heights. As always, Fforde's trademark wit and humour make the book a lot of fun and a joy to read.
In previous books, I've said that Fforde stays away from characters in favour of providing a strong setting and vivid images. In The Well of Lost Plots, Fforde does the same, but he goes a bit overboard. The one well-realized character has always been Thursday Next, but this time even she isn't that well done. Sure, she's still a strong character, but Fforde seems to be drifting on her past characterization, depending on the fact that we've probably read the previous two books to provide her character. With the exception of her having to relive the last day of her brother's life over and over again, she receives no development whatsoever. The other characters are the same way, relative ciphers that interact with the plot but that's about it. Fforde is hampered in this by the fact that all of the other characters in this novel (save one) are already established literary characters, or they are literary cliches on purpose. Inevitably, these characters are established by having a couple of traits different from their "on-screen" personalities in their books (i.e. Miss Havisham is still a prickly old lady like she is in Great Expectations, but she actually does have a true heart beneath her harsh exterior). The detective novel characters fit their stereotypes, but they are just slightly different to show off the same effect. Thus, there are not truly memorable characters. Instead, there are memorable character differences ("Oh, Prometheus is really like that!).
Without characterization, what are we left with? Plot and imagery. For a long while, there didn't seem to be much of a plot, though Fforde does an admirable job of making the wandering about in the first part of the book actually mean something. In the meantime, while we are wandering, the settings and concepts that Fforde has created are still top notch. I really enjoyed learning about all the different aspects of fiction, and how the characters are able to interact. When a character is not front stage in a book, they can do pretty much what they want. It sort of begs the question of how this is possible, considering the fact that, especially in the classics or bestsellers, each page in the book is inevitably being read by somebody somewhere. But it's a conceit the reader makes to revel in the world Fforde has created. It's a fun place, with some wacky events. Who but Fforde could imagine Miss Havisham trying to break the land-speed record in a souped-up car? Or an assassination squad trying to take out Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights because he's such an arrogant scoundrel? Fforde really brings his world alive, and the reader is carried along with the flow.
One problem that Fforde has, however, is how to tell the reader about this fabulous world. Exposition is very heavy as Fforde has the fictional characters explain what is happening to Thursday, a Jurisfiction novice. While this is much better than having two characters talk to each other about things they should already be aware of, even having them explain it to Thursday becomes old after awhile. There are just so many new things (something we probably shouldn't complain about) that I don't know how else it could have been done, but it was starting to get annoying.
Still, The Well of Lost Plots is a satisfying read, just not as much so as the previous books. I really enjoyed it, and plan on coming back for the next one. Don't worry if you're not the most literary reader. Most of the literary references are either obvious or will zoom by without you even knowing about it. Give this series a chance. I think you'll enjoy it.
David Roy

This series of books just seems to get better with every new one published. It just amazes me that the author can come up with the outlandish plots that he has, not to mention the many side characters who come and go at will. It certainly helps to have a good grounding in Literature to get some of the more obscure references (such as a land with many rabbits, where one character says Lennie likes to come on his day off). One of my favorite fictional characters makes a brief appearance in this book: J. Thaddeus Toad of Toad Hall, and that alone was worth the price of the book! I look forward to many more of the adventures of Thursday Next, and may they all be as funny as the ones before!

Is it too early to suggest that Jasper has jumped the shark? Maybe, but I'm less indulgent about whether Thursday Next has.

Was it sophisticated intentional irony to set a book in a world of chaotic, unfinished, badly written drafts that itself feels chaotic, unfinished and badly written? I carped at Fforde in `Lost in a Good Book' that he'd be better off dropping his pretensions of plot (particularly an `overplot' for the series) and running with enjoyable stand alone surreal episodes. Here he barely bothers: Thursday can't remember Landon but then - after a mere page of unintegrated dream flapdoodle - she can. How nice. Meanwhile she's still done nothing to attempt to restore this supposed core love of her life. OK, lets dismiss the utterly unsatisfying overplot, what about the one for this novel? UltraWord(tm). Oh, I get it - it's a bit like Microsoft. Ho ho, smirk. This joke (I think it'd be stretching things to call it satire) works for about a paragraph - yet he milks this baby dry. Pageturner 1.3. Bookmark version 2.6 (or whatever), Jasper, we get it already.

OK, so the series plot has stalled, and the central one of this particular book is weak. `Lost plots' indeed. Still, plot's never been his strong point - let's get onto some of his traditional strengths: amusing Douglas Adams style leaps of imagination, and charming characters. Well, for the former, yeah, OK, there are some cool ideas here and there (although I'm struggling a bit to recall them, um, maybe the generics. And I did like the way this book connected with `The Big Over Easy'. The mispeling vyrus was mildly amusing the first time - ah, hey, it's misspelt - Oh, Jaaaaasper) - and the whole notion of being able to wander into any book at any time has fantastic potential. But a lot of other writers do this better. For a start, Fforde's pool of books is tiny - it's like he did a couple of undergrad literature courses (Austen, Dickens, Bronte, Shakespeare) - even, perhaps just one on classic English literature - and there's not a lot more going on. We're either supposed to feel impressed that he's dropped some names we might have heard of, and/or smug that we get the reference. Hey, I got the Biggles cameo. I didn't feel that smug. More importantly, he name drops classic characters or genres or settings but that's about it. There's not even an attempt to recreate and improvise with them in novel ways. Ms Havisham is probably the one he tries hardest with, but there's not even a whiff of Dickens in more than name. Even if he had've dropped the Havisham name and tried just creating her as a character, there's very little going on of interest between her and Thursday: somehow they're supposed to have this great professional respect between mentor and acolyte, but this is assumed rather than built. So we don't get a rounded new character to enjoy, nor do we get an avatar of an old one. What we get is a lame reference - and it's not enough.

It would be really cool if we suddenly found ourself in a range of novels with a real awareness (and love of) their conventions. An Asimov novel, say, where Thursday would suddenly find herself stacked and doting on some arrogant lead male - or would deliciously subvert this. Or a few pages of Steven King desperation and suspense. Or dropping in some classic characters who act and talk like they did originally - so we're aware why they ever gained their popularity. In pops Sherlock Holmes, with his quirks and methods. Here's Bertie Wooster, and you know what, he's hilarious - no, he's not just called Bertie Wooster, he says the sort of things Bertie would say, with the same exquisite turn of phrase. Alternatively we could find out it's an act, and once he steps off set he's dry and maliciously urbane. It's not, and I think you might have got my point by now, merely Fforde pulling a name of a book and dropping it into this one. It's not enough.

Charm? It feels a bit like Groundhog Day (not overall - this was, in contrast, generally a clever, charming film. Stick with me, I mean it feels like a bit in the film. You'll get it. Sorry, am I going on a bit long in these parentheses?). You know, where Bill Murray has had some lovely romantic moments with Andy McDowell one night, but in trying to recreate them on the next and the one after that he loses the magic, "OK, OK, c'mon, I pat the dog, you laugh, we slip on the snow into each others arms, you're happy, blah blah, can we get on with it." Thursday's friends and family sometimes used to do and say some charming things, here they more sort of hint at them. Most of the dialogue is transactional, "Hey, look out, it's going to get you." Instead of building emotional ties, Jasper goes for the cheap soap opera technique, "Who will die tonight?" Nobody feels much for these characters, but surely if we kill one of them we'll get some sort of response?! Well, Jasper kills a few (again the irritating conventional clanger of suddenly killing off several characters in a week that have supposedly survived lifetimes of danger and intrigue, while the rookie inexplicably lives on to solve the crime), but we have to manufacture the emotion.

Finally, somewhere along the line I stopped liking Thursday. I really was quite fond of her in `The Eyre Affair', but now I'd really rather hang out with someone else. She's still smart, I suppose, but she's not a particularly sympathetic character. "Plock, plock", says Jasper, "I gave her a pregnant dodo, for goodness sake - how much more charm can you want!?" Sorry, it's trimming, it's not enough.

I recently inherited a large library from my grandmother, and this book was among the novels. In a rush one morning, I pulled it at random from the bookshelf to take to work for some lunch-time reading. Once at lunch, I discovered that this was third in a series of books, but as it was either read this book or go bookless (which always ruins my day and results in a too-short lunch), I dove in. Luckily there is a short synopsis at the beginning of the book, which was really helpful. I went back and read the first two later, but really, I didn't feel like I missed out on anything by reading this one first.

This book has the most "magic" of the series. I think it's the most clever, and it made me giggle the most times. A delightful grab off the bookshelf! I would (and have been, probably annoyingly so) recommend this book to anyone, anytime.

This is undoubtedly the best book of the Thursday Next series. I found Mr. Ffordes' created world to be believable. I have never laughed out loud so much when reading a book as I have this one. The introduction of ibb and obb, Jack Sprat and getting to know Miss Havisham in more detail are just a few of the fun parts of this book.

While it may seem like a tangent in the series, what occurs in this book is important to the storyline of Something Rotten (book #4).

My wife just started the Thursday Next series and can't wait to get to this one after watching me read it.

Jasper Fforde has an amazing well of creative ideas and there are very few repeats in this book from his others. Sit back and enjoy!

Jam packed with plot and characters, this book is almost too clever for it's own good.About two thirds of the way through I gave up trying to tie all the loose ends together and just let myself be swept along by the flow of ideas and images - and I really enjoyed the ride.

The jokes are mostly literary but there are some lovely original characters, like the heroine Thursday Next and her wonderfully bumbling pet dodo, Pickwick.

I won't give this book five stars because I suspect that Thursday isn't strong enough to survive without the plots and characters borrowed from other writers.

I have to agree with the "Icing without the Cake" reviewer. While the latest installment is a highly enjoyable read the substance and heart of the story just isn't there. In the previous two books Mr. Fforde not only provided wit and entertainment but also depth in both characters and plot.
I can't help but feel that the lack of action in Thursday's "real world Swindon" has deprived this book of the urgency and impact of The Eyre Affair and Lost in a Good Book. I also miss the Next family and her cohorts at Spec Ops; without them a little of the magic gets lost.
This latest novel reads very much like the later Piers Anthony Xanth books. Amusing yes, but not gut wrenchingly compelling. The Well of Lost Plots comes off very much as a bridging book in the series and doesn't seriously move the macro story arc along. Don't expect Thursday's troubles with Goliath Corporation to be resolved nor the return of Laden. By all means read this latest installment but for first time readers of Fforde I wouldn't recommend starting here. I very much hope that the next book will return us to Swindon, the quirky characters, and the literary references tempered by substantive story.

Jasper Fforde is currently the person I'd most like to have lunch with -- that is, if there's any chance he's as funny, erudite, and entertaining as his novels. The action is a bit slower in The Well of Lost Plots than in the previous two Thursday Next novels, but Fforde makes up for this with creative detail and sly wit. I love the Star Wars reminiscent pub scene which brings many of my favorite frightening literary creatures to life-- all in one place. A slight aside -- what's up with the U.S. edition's cover? I was given a U.K edition of the novel, which has a bold, colorful, and graphically interesting cover. The U.S. cover makes the book look like a high-end romance novel.

Fforde does it again. Thursday Next, still missing her husband and very pregnant, decides to take over for a character in a book. Good idea while she's pregnant. She is still active with the Jurisfiction detectives in Bookworld. But because she has taken over for a character she has to watch for her role everytime it comes up, or she could change the book forever. Aornis, the mind erasing menace, is trying her best to make Thursday forget her husband, but to no avail. I will probably cry when I am done with this series!

Undercover operative.

Or perhaps between covers, as there is a lot of hiding out in books and exploring the alternate fictional reality for new agent Next.

A detective of course, in these non-realistic fluffier type mysteries has to have a murder (or several), and that is certainly what she gets, in amongst the book shows and libraries of anything, and bad guys out to get her.

Quirky, but the mystery part isn't too interesting.

3 out of 5

I still cannot believe I read this entire book just to find out if Thursday finds Landen (I peeked and still read it!). What this means is that Jaspar Fforde can write, I just don't care for this novel. If he couldn't write worth beans, I wouldn't have finished the first chapter of The Eyre Affair. So what this means is that while I don't like this book, there is obviously something about it that kept me reading and I do have to say that the fourth book isn't nearly as bad as this one (yes, crazy me, I'm reading that one to find out if she gets Landen back, and then I'm done.)

Jasper Fforde is as clever as ever in further developing Thursday's world, but for much of this book things feel seriously off track. The plot meanders and there were several times that I came dangerously close to putting this book down and not picking it up again. Instead of being sucked into Thursday's story I was content to pay the occasional visit and enjoy Fforde's latest clever concoction, but I never felt the compelling need to pick the book up and see what happened next. I wound up returning this book late to the library _ evidence enough that WOLP lacked the can't-put-it-down quality of the previous two outings.

An unputdownable read! Other reviewers are saying there is too little plot advancement with regard to the main character, Thursday, but I didn't notice. I was so busy revelling in the amazing mind of Jasper Fforde, which keeps you utterly entranced, laughing out loud, and blown away by the sheer inventiveness of his imagination.

I love all his books, but for me this is one of his best (along with Shades of Grey). And far from being too long, as some are saying, I didn't want it to end! I consoled myself by rereading favourite parts, like the chapter on the anger-management session Miss Havisham conducted with the characters from Wuthering Heights--which made me laugh out loud, even the second time round.

This is another truly amazing literary romp by one of the most original minds on the planet. Keep them coming, Jasper!

In the postmodern era of British humor/fantasy, Jasper Fforde is its most overrated practitioner. Too many have hailed him as the heir apparent of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, but Fforde possesses neither their blazing originality or narrative dexterity.

While the best of the series--"The Eyre Affair" and "Something Rotten" are entertaining, one is always conscious that Fforde is trying to emerge from the shadows of Adams and Pratchett by tossing in as many cleverly warped ideas as possible. But this is just self-conscious riffing.

In "The Well of Lost Plots," Fforde's very evident limitations as writer and narrator become readilty apparent. Its tedious story takes places entirely in the literary netherworld. The 'plot,' such as it is, is little more than a patchwork of episodic setpieces. You can almost imagine Fforde conceiving this in terms of the inevitable movie or BBC series that will be made out of these books.

The shallowness of this well would be somewhere more palatable if there were any signs of development in Thursday Next's persona. But there aren't She's still the self-absorbed waif she was in the first two books. Truth to tell, in satire character development isn't always necessarily, but when a masters like Pratchett can create characters of amazing complexity on a world that rests on the backs of four elephants riding a giant turtle, it seems a bit odd that Fforde is incapable of bringing any dimension to Thursday. Speaking of Pratchett, it's rather amazing to see how transparently Fforde bases the climax of this story on a rather transparent appropriation of a climactic scene from "The Wee Free Men."

If you're going to read the series, you'll have to get through this at some point or another. It's tough going, but the payoff is that Fforde rebounds nicely with the next Thursday novel, "Something Rotten." Tread into this well, but not too deeply.

This book was full of witticisms and puns, but the plot and character development definitely took a back seat. I got the feeling that the author was so in love with the cleverness of his invention that he stopped caring very much about the narrative line or characters.

This series reminds me of "A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and "Monty Python," and maybe that's the niche he's going for... quite inventive, intermittently funny and fairly diverting, but not even slightly compelling or moving. Ideally I like to care a bit more about what happens to the characters I'm reading about.

In short, while it's not the kind of thing I'd keep in my library forever and want to re-read (once is enough), I might read another in the same series if I didn't have anything more immediately compelling lined up.

Such mindblowing ideas! A sea of letters being tossed about like a rough ocean, then forming the hilariously random word "saxophone", only to become a real sax once reaching the written book. Wonderful exercise for the brain - I absolutely love this author. The British humor is a treat as well. I plan to read everything Fforde has written - Bravo!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. No criticisms, except I occasionally had to take a break and recharge my brain before continuing on. As always, these books challenge the reader - if you are not already familiar with much classical or contemporary English literature and culture, you too will be lost in good book.

Fforde is a fantastic writer ! Like they say: a true original ! His imagination is bottomless... his explanation terrific.

Maybe you are under the impression that you could actually write a book ? Read Fforde and you will discover that it is quite impossible ! It all happens in the Well of lost Plots and they just make the "author" believe he invented it all himself...

Read about the inventions that made reading possible: OralTrad, SCROLL, BOOK,...

Escape in a whole new world, and try not to get lost...

While I thoroughly enjoyed the first two Thursday Next novels, I had a lot of trouble falling into Jasper Fforde's world the third time. There was very little advancement of the story; instead most of the book involved the description of the world-within-a-world, The Well of Lost Plots. I felt like I was watching one of those movies that rely far too much on special effects: all the razzle-dazzle of the gramasites, the Text Sea, plots being sold on the black market, etc. try to distract the reader from the lack of an actual STORY. Here's hoping the next book is better.

Elizabeth Saztre does a very good job reading the audio version of this book. I especially enjoyed the voice of Miss Haversham. The book and the series are wonderfully imaginative, and a refreshing change from other fiction.

Yes, the Well of Los Plots is dazzlingly imaginative. But it delivers precious little of the Thursday Next we know and love from Fforde's previous two (delightful) efforts. Here she is little more than a projectile careening from one madcap scene to the next. The hilarity, too, is sadly superficial. Ultimately, the alternative world of The Well of Lost Plots is a joyless place, where literature is, really, just another dreary industrial product. This novel feels like an unwelcome digression from the REAL story, which, hopefully, will resume very soon.

Jasper Fforde's third installment of the Thursday Next series continues a wonderful story in his witty and intellectual style. In this book, Fforde takes his readers into the BookWorld and creates a fantastic world inside the world of 1985 England. In The Well, Next is faced with new and imaginative challenges that only Fforde can weave into the story to make them real. A sterling addition to any library!

All of the Thursday Next novels by Jasper Fforde are rollicking literate adventures through a parallel universe of Jurisfiction Detectives and Special Operations work around the slightly wonky town of Swindon, England. As a fan of airships, speeding motorcars, literary references and toast with jam, I find the series worth reading over and over until the next Next installment.

I enjoyed this book, though found it harder to get into then the rest. It takes a while for a real mystery/plot to show up. Even though background is given within the story I would highly recommend you start with The Eyre Affair and read the Thursday Next series in order.