Ryan's review
The Fourth Bear (Nursery Crime, Book 2) by Jasper Fforde
Ryan's review
rating:
recommended for: People that can handle odd-ball stories
status: Read in September, 2007
rating:
recommended for: People that can handle odd-ball stories
status: Read in September, 2007
A very imaginative spin-off of your standard issue nursery rhymes! It has elements of Douglas Adams in that you just have to accept some extra-ordinary events and roll with the odd-ball logic of the whole thing. If you sit back and just enjoy the book, it's really rewarding. If you think too much about it, it looses its charm.
It's amazing that Fforde has woven so much detail into the characters that populate nursery rhymes. If someone told me about the concept of the book ahead of time, I'd be skeptical that it could be pulled off effectively. But it does work really well. It is a send-up of your standard crime-noir and nursery rhyme stories (and acknowledges this by reference to plot devices that are so standard that the characters refer to them by number). It has some conspiracy theory elements, animal rights, elements, corrupt politics elements, marijuana policy commentary (disguised as the regulation of porridge to ursines) and competitive cucumber growing elements.
Overall,...more
It's amazing that Fforde has woven so much detail into the characters that populate nursery rhymes. If someone told me about the concept of the book ahead of time, I'd be skeptical that it could be pulled off effectively. But it does work really well. It is a send-up of your standard crime-noir and nursery rhyme stories (and acknowledges this by reference to plot devices that are so standard that the characters refer to them by number). It has some conspiracy theory elements, animal rights, elements, corrupt politics elements, marijuana policy commentary (disguised as the regulation of porridge to ursines) and competitive cucumber growing elements.
Overall,...more
