Bookish Thoughts

I read this one for book club, which is another nod to book club pulling me out of my comfort zone. I'm not sure I ever would have picked this one up if not for book club. It follows two woman and the New York Public Library, flipping back and forth between the 1910s and the 1990s. It's about a decades-spanning mystery of missing books. But it's also about the feminist movement and generational trauma and loneliness.  Most interesting to me was the question at the heart of artists choosing to destroy their unpublished works upon death versus historians' desire to preserve them for posterity. It's easy to see how the perspective can shift over generations, as prominent people begin to fade into the past, becoming more symbols or icons than actual people. I do think some of the plots went a bit too far in order to tie the ending up with a neat bow. Henry's story, in particular, took me out of the book a little with how contrived it felt. But overall I enjoyed the ...

This was my second time through Jane Eyre, and I liked it a whole lot better this time. Part of that is because I've grown as a person, and I understand the context of this book more now. But part of it is because I read The Eyre Affair , and it changed my mind about the ending. When I first read this book, I was upset that Eyre went back to Mr Rochester after everything. But then Fforde argues pretty effectively that any other ending would be unsatisfactory and anti-climactic. He made me appreciate Mr Rochester a bit more. So this time through I was rooting for them. And I was happy that they ended up together. I suppose my changing reaction is part of what makes this book such a classic.