Hi there, Saloners! Hope you all had a great reading week. Mine was hectic, to say the least. I put in some serious overtime hours on a project I’ve been working on for a long time, and it cut quite a bit into my blogging time. So much so, in fact, that I had to get my daughter to write a guest post. ;-) The biggest thing I didn’t have time to do this week (yet) was write about City of Glass. You guys left such great questions and I plan to answer them all. Any day now.
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So, anyway. I read Geek Love this week. This is one of those books that’s been on my mental TBR list for years. Chartroose’s terrific post about conformity and alienation prompted me to finally read it.
Whoa! This was an amazing book. I can’t say I liked it, exactly, but it was amazing. Not an easy read, but worth the effort.
If you aren’t a fan of Traveling Show Lit, you may not be aware that the word geek has its origin in seedy carnival sideshows. Geeks were people who would bite the heads off of live chickens or snakes and drink the blood, for the public’s viewing pleasure. How the word ever came to have its current meaning I can’t imagine.
In Geek Love, the owner of the traveling show marries a geek and they decide to create a family of sideshow freaks. The wife takes drugs, exposes herself to radiation, etc., while pregnant, with the hope that her babies will have marketable deformities. And they do. One has flippers instead of arms and legs; two are conjoined twins, another is a bald albino hunchback, and the last appears normal… but isn’t.
The novel is about this family — how they relate with each other, how they relate to “norms,” how they get along in the world. There is much grotesquerie; I found it almost impossible to eat while reading. Chartroose is absolutely right that this book is about conformity and alienation, but not in the way you might expect. It’s not the freaks that are alienated, it’s the norms. No, scratch that. It’s the whole world that’s alienated. Freaks and norms alike. And people will go to horrifying (and futile) extremes trying to conform and find happiness.
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Aaaaaand I’m in the middle of The Eyre Affair. Also not an easy read, but for very different reasons. See, in order for alternate history to make sense, you have to know actual history. I keep scratching my head going “wait, is that right?” It took me a while (I’m sorry to say) to catch on that this story is taking place in an alternate universe. I mean, I’m pretty sure the Crimean War was over long ago, and I’m almost positive Napoleon lost at Waterloo. And I am nearly certain that at the end of the book Jane Eyre does hook up with Mr. Rochester.
Speaking of which, I’ve been racking my brain to dredge up what I can remember of Jane Eyre, which I haven’t read since I was a teenager. Let’s see… Jane starts out in an orphanage where she makes friends with a girl who dies of tuberculosis, excuse me I mean consumption, then she goes to be a governess. Somehow she ends up living in Mr. Rochester’s house, employed in some capacity which I can’t recall. Then what? She discovers his wife in the attic, right? And she leaves? And I don’t know what happens next but eventually she ends up with Mr. Rochester again — she does, doesn’t she? — and now his wife is dead and his house is burned down. Oh, and I think he is blind now, but he recognizes her voice because he loved her all along. Did I get it right? Please, if you can fill in the gaps, let me know in the comments.
Although I keep worrying that I’m missing out on clever humorous details (e.g. I read the name Millon DeFloss about five times before I saw the joke) I do like the way the plot is unfolding. I don’t like a book that makes me feel dumb, as this one does, but on the other hand the idea of fictional characters coming to life is too good to resist.
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It looks like it’s going to be a gorgeous day here in southeastern Michigan. I hope to spend a good portion of it in the hammock with my book. What does your day have in store for you?
16 Comments
Geek Love is on the TBR mountain. One argument for the change in meaning is that a popular 70’s series, Super Friends had G.E.E.C robots who run the IT systems which got used to describe any one odd enough to like working with computers, But the word has roots back to the 15th century and Shakespeare uses it as Geck meaning a fool, the link to the early days of IT was that a Geek was someone not up to being a Hacker
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“There is much grotesquerie; I found it almost impossible to eat while reading.” I read this 15 or more years ago, but I remember that exact feeling!
The Eyre Affair sounds interesting, like you I can’t remember much of Jane Eyre but I think there is some very dubious plot twist that when she runs away she end up at her cousins although she doesn;t know they’re her cousins – could be wrong though :)
Oh how I wish I could lay in a hammock outside and read! Here in Florida its almost 90′ and the humidity is suffocatingly annoying! The Eyre Affair soundss interesting to me. I hadn’t heard of that one. Enjoy your day and happy reading!
I had lots of fun reading The Eyre Affair way back (although to be frank I unfortunately read the third book in the series first, had an awesome time with it before I doubled back and read from the start).
I haven’t even read Jane Eyre but from the start Fforde managed to capture my imagination. I hope you have fun with it though.
My memories of Jane Eyre are rather sketchy, too, but I do recall that she ends up at Rochester’s because she’s to tutor his daughter. She leaves after discovering the crazy wife, but I can’t remember how she amuses herself away from Rochester. Eventually she ends up with Rochester; like you said he’s blind or something at that point.
The Eyre Affair is a book I’m eager to read. Haven’t gotten my hands on it yet, tho’.
Geek Love sounds interesting. I tried reading The Eyre Affair when I was in high school. I twas good and entertaining but it just didn’t hold my interest at the time.
John, I didn’t know the word went that far back. Very interesting!
SmallWorld, I believe it. I know this book will stick with me for a long time.
Alix, I’ll take your word for it, because I don’t remember at all!
Lisa, sorry to hear it. Actually this summer has been uncharacteristically dry — we normally get a lot of humidity too.
Lightheaded, thanks. I am having fun with it and definitely plan to continue with the series.
Suzi, I hope you do get a copy. It’s really good!
Mish, if you do read Geek Love I’d love to hear your thoughts on it. Definitely much to ponder…
I actually read Jane Eyre after The Eyre Affair, and don’t feel bad! I probably wouldn’t have figured out it was an alternate history on my own – I only knew upon reading it because I’d read a summary or review of it beforehand that mentioned that aspect. I hope you enjoy the rest of the book – I really liked the second book in the series, Lost in A Good Book. The third one, Well of Lost Plots was good too and didn’t have quite as many literary references but was still bookish, but the second is my favorite.
It took me a while to get into The Eyre Affair as well, but now I am a certified Fforde fan. I think the 2nd book cemented it for me. If you have read or happen to pick up his other series, we’ll have to compare the two :)
Jane starts out in her Aunt Reed’s house where she is thoroughly abused, then goes to Lowood (the boarding school). She advertises for a position and Mrs. Fairfax answers, employing her as governess for Adele, Mr. Rochester’s “ward.”
When she finds out about the wife, she leaves and since she has little money she becomes, essentially, a beggar. She goes to a house and begs for food and a place to sleep and is about to be turned away by the maid when the man of the house says to take her in. She stays with these people – one religious man and his two sisters – for some time. Then she becomes a teacher at the local school.
Turns out that these folks are Jane’s cousins and that her late uncle Eyre left her all his fortune. She splits it with the cousins. St. John (the male cousin) is going to India as a missionary and wants Jane to marry him. She doesn’t want to – they don’t love each other – and when she is tempted she hears a voice call out, “Jane! Jane! Jane!” It is some psychic moment between her and Mr. Rochester.
This prompts her to go back where she learns what happened and finds the poor, blind Mr. Rochester and the end is history :)
I’m a committed fan of Jasper Fforde, put on to him by my uncle in between the second and third Thursday Nexts, but haven’t got into the Nursery Crimes series at all. I think I miss a lot of the literary jokes, having failed to read most of the classics (Jane Eyre included) but what I have found is that, like M said, there’ll be something there that interests me, and I find out more about it. So I have thought of reading Jane Eyre for completeness, but haven’t managed it yet. Sadly I’m not reading much right now, but I have got to a few pages of my current novel over the last few nights, after Mr Screamy has gone to sleep but before I have to crash.
Yay, I’m glad you appreciated “Geek Love.” And you totally understood it too! Wasn’t the ending something else?
Do you own Geek Love? It’s on my bookmooch wishlist (hint, hint) Honestly, I don’t think I am up for the Eyre Affair but the Geek Love book sounds cool.
M — good to know! I definitely want to continue through the series!
Rachel, book 2 is already on my wishlist!
April, thanks for filling in the gaps!
Crit, it’s hard to get much reading done when you have a newborn, isn’t it. I’ll check out Nursery Crimes…
Chartroose, yes indeed!
Care, so sorry! I got it from the library. :-(
Sorry to be doing this so late, but I had to add in a few plot details from Jane Eyre. An important one (I think) is that Jane and Mr. Rochester already loved each other when she left… she found out about his wife on the eve of their wedding. Another little thing, the wife died in the fire, so Mr. Rochester was not committing bigamy. Just thought I’d ad those in… It’s a really good book, and well worth re-reading if you ever get the time.