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Posts Tagged: metafiction

Resplendence: Feuilles 52 & 53: Coda

books / literature / science fiction — No Comments
24
Jul 09

Books: The Eyre Affair

Jasper Fforde‘s The Eyre Affair is one of the most fun reads I’ve read so far. I only wish I heard about it sooner. The Eyre Affair is definitely a genre-bender in the spirit of Jonathan Lethem‘s Gun, With Occasional Music. Both are detective novels in strange worlds. Lethem’s private eye novel takes place in an odd Orwell/Huxley hybrid of a dystopia, regulated memory and genetic engineering gone haywire, definitely very post-modern. Fforde’s story definitely takes things further with Thursday Next, a literary police detective whose job it is to pay attention to literature in a world where the lines between fiction and reality have been blurred, nearly to the point of erasure. In an alternate 20th century, literature fanatics abound to the point of followers of Francis Bacon fighting over the true authorship of William Shakespeare‘s works, criminals counterfeiting major works, and a supernatural villain who wishes to alter the literary canon as a form of terrorism. And it’s Thursday’s job to stop him, even if it kills her to do so.

There is plenty for a English major or literature lover to appreciate with numerous references to English literature. It’s also a metafictional adventure done quite well, as a few of the characters literally get into texts. This activity has the power to ruin a text or improve it, as a version of Jane Eyre with a dud ending is threatened. If one’s never read Charlotte Brontë‘s famous work, there’s enough info to cue them in, alternate ending and real ending both. That said, The Eyre Affair is downright weird and crazy to keep the reader’s attention, but also engaging. Not for the faint of heart, especially those who can’t handle the fantastic in fiction.

art / creative writing / fiction / NSFW / Resplendence — No Comments
6
Oct 08

Resplendence: Feuille 11

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22
Sep 08

Resplendence: Journal 5

It’s been a few weeks since I splashed Shin with paint. I feel really bad and I asked the teacher when he’s coming back, but the teacher tells me he can’t tell me that. There’s a new teacher named Ella and she knows Shin from college. She’s very nice and smart, and she likes to have us paint. I told her about the Gold Lady and the Man with the Four-Way Hips, and she always enjoys listening to my stories. I showed her some of my drawings and she told me I should definitely make more drawings and pictures.

I asked Ella if she thought Madonna was Wonder Woman and she smiled and said, “Madonna’s a wonder woman but she’s not Wonder Woman.” I asked her about Shin and she told me he’s in a night class with her and they get to read a lot of interesting stuff. I told her to ask him if she thinks about the Gold Lady and the Man with the Four-Way Hips. I know they miss him too.

“Feuille 6″ will be posted on September 26, 2008.

creative writing / fiction / NSFW / Resplendence — No Comments
17
Sep 08

Resplendence: Journal 3

Warning: Content of “Journal 3″ definitely NSFW.

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15
Sep 08

Resplendence: Feuille 5

Here’s the Man with the 4-Way Hips. The fake Gold Lady can’t stop watching him, even though the real Gold Lady’s kicking her ass. My drawing of Madonna (lower right).