The Borrowers - Mary Nichols

ISBN: 978-0140364514

Over my Christmas break, I thought it necessary to relive this charming classic. In fact, I started reading it aloud to my family. However, after the first chapter nobody seemed available to listen to it... Rest assured, this is certainly due to my over-emphatic reading voice, rather than this gripping tale.

And it is gripping; the plot moves quickly which makes it highly accessible for children, and the characters are more than endearing. Despite the small scale of these heroes, they have enormous personalities which glow through the pages like a night light, reassuringly present throughout. Each of us, I'm sure will have somebody we know who is encapsulated in the character of each Borrower.

This novel is interesting from a literary standpoint too, with it's exquisite frame narration. We are told this story by a girl, who pretends to be Kate, who is told it by Mrs. May, who was told it by her brother! This of course has interesting implications on the reliability of the plot, which is so important in a story where many of the characters feel the need to be believed. This has elements of meta fiction too, with the storyteller coming out of the tale at the end, reminding us that it is, in fact, just a story.

Rating: 8/10

The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde

ISBN: 034073356X

Literary humour sparkles through this novel that will make any book lover smile knowingly and feel proud that they have spotted the jokes. For me, this was the main attraction of the book, the constant allusions to other literature made me feel at home; reading this felt like browsing my own bookshelf on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

The eccentric characters are immensely likeable, if not entirely true to life. The bizarre happenings of the plot will keep you tripping through the pages even though you determined to stop for a cup of tea half an hour ago.

I felt that the voice of the narrator was overpoweringly male, though, considering the main character is a woman. I also felt that the tone suited that of an American detective novel, which I found slightly irritating. Also, considering the title directly mentions Jane Eyre, that novel doesn't really come into the plot until near the end, which I was disappointed with.

This is a very clever book, though, and highly readable.

Rating: 7/10

The Princess Bride - William Goldman

ISBN: 9780747545187

Goldman intelligently entwines meta fiction into this seemingly traditional adventure story. The narrative hops from romance to danger to camaraderie to sword fights to explorations to palaces with no more difficulty or jarring than a dragonfly flitting in and out of a pond. Whilst juggling with this in one hand, Goldman balances a critique of the genre in the other.

However, I found the constant interruption of the author's voice irritating because of its frequency, and I felt that he was being disparaging to similar tales. Perhaps I was longing for a traditional adventure, but I felt that there was too much jumping up and down of the author so that the characters became just that--characters.

It was all too clear that this what was happening was only a story. Other instances where this is far more successful is the subtlety of Edgeworth's Belinda, and the jumping-in-with-both-feet approach of Calvino's If on a Winter's Night a Traveller. I suppose I wanted Goldman to either tone it down or crank it up.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy the story and one cannot deny that it is well written, with originality of expression in a traditional genre that could easily become jaded. I would have been happier if the book had finished off without the additional 'Buttercup's Baby' section, which I felt dampened the rest.

Rating: 6/10