How many invented words are there in Jasper Fforde’s vocabulary? No one really knows… And perhaps it is incalculable. However the number of “made-up words” used in his books has been closely monitored and documented by the Goliath Corporation. In fact, if you check the dedication page of “Lost in a Good Book” you will see that officially it includes 44 made-up words.
This book allegedly contains 44 made-up words. Fact or Fiction?
This number, 44, is however suspect. There are many rumors circulating that the actual number of neologisms contained within this book may be much higher! Some fictioneers suggest that the Goliath Corporation is deliberately hiding the actual number of neologisms found within the book! (Note: The Goliath Corporation never publicly uses the word “neologism” because it has been deemed to be far too “academic” by their all-powerful, and much feared, Marketing Department.) If you do search through the book you may, or may not, find more made-up words. It is believed that this inconsistency is result of tampering by illegal fictional characters, or perhaps by the over-active imaginations of readers who have immersed themselves within Fforde’s books. If the wording has been tampered with, and the meanings changed without prior permission, we need some serious literary detection! Ergo, we are sending out the Bat Signal to Thursday Next!
Test your creative wits and play with some “made-up words”. Go to:
https://www.verbotomy.com/verbotomy.php.
If you’re funny and lucky, you can win a signed copy of Jasper Forde’s second Thursday Next novel, Lost in a Good Book.
About the book: “Lost in a Good Book”
Thursday Next, literary detective and newlywed is back to embark on an adventure that begins, quite literally on her own doorstep. It seems that Landen, her husband of four weeks, actually drowned in an accident when he was two years old. Someone, somewhere, sometime, is responsible. The sinister Goliath Corporation wants its operative Jack Schitt out of the poem in which Thursday trapped him, and it will do almost anything to achieve this – but bribing the ChronoGuard? Is that possible? Having barely caught her breath after The Eyre Affair, Thursday must battle corrupt politicians, try to save the world from extinction, and help the Neanderthals to species self-determination. Mastadon migrations, journeys into Just William, a chance meeting with the Flopsy Bunnies, and violent life-and-death struggles in the summer sales are all part of a greater plan. But whose? and why?
Reviews: “Lost in a Good Book”
“Jasper Fforde certainly rates an ‘E’ for Excellence in imagination. Asimov gave us a scientific look at future possibilities, Heinlein gave us imagination with a comic religious slant, and others have fictionally tweaked our imaginations to some degree. But no one except Jasper Fforde has opened up the vast possibilities of using characters from all fiction – fantasy, humor, scientific, adventure – whatever – to create such an incredible world as found in Lost In A Good Book.” whodunnit.com
“It may be that Fforde has succeeded in doing for the anxieties of 21st-century book lovers — nagged by the feeling that perhaps they aren’t getting as swept away by books as they used to — what Helen Fielding did for the anxieties of the 30-something single urban female. In attempting to come up with an adult Harry Potter, he may also have stumbled across that other Holy Grail of modern fiction, the male-friendly (or at least the gender-neutral) Bridget Jones — which, for everyone but Fforde’s accountant, is a fairly terrifying prospect.” New York Times
Invent some words and win a copy of Lost in a Good Book at Verbotomy
Play Verbotomy. The top player of the week starting on September 28, 2009, will win a copy of the book!
Official Stuff:
Prize: Lost in a Good Book (Paperback) by Jasper Fforde (Approximate Retail Value: $15.00 US.)
Note: The book will be awarded to the Top Scoring Player who did not win a Jasper Fforde Book in last week’s contest at Verbotomy.
Contest Start Date: September 28, 2009 at 12:01:00 am EDT
Contest End Date: October 3, 2009 at 11:59:00 pm EDT
For the Jasper Fforde: Lost in a Good Book weekly author ranking see: See: https://www.verbotomy.com/verbotomists.php?week=2009-09-28
For complete contest rules and regulations please see our Verbotomy Contest Rules and Regulations.
Be creative,
James
