The Big over Easy

I just finished this book, and it was beautiful.

For those of you to whom I have not gushed incessantly about this book, it is by Jasper Fforde, who also wrote an excellent series on the spunky and fun Thursday Next.

It's the first book in his Nursery Crimes series, a reinvention of old, beloved nursery rhymes in the world of detective Jack Spratt (yes, yes, the one who would eat no fat) and his assistant Mary Mary.

Fforde's books seem to take forever to read, but then they're over too soon. Just when I thought I'd figured out the plot, he threw me a curveball. I loved every minute of it; I rarely read a book in which I cannot guess most of the major twists.

For anyone who is interested, this book finally answered the age-old question, "How did Humpty Dumpty REALLY die?"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Over_Easy

The Story of the Trapp Family Singers

Very few people can say that they have not seen Roger's and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music, which starred Julie Andrews as Maria Von Trapp. On the other hand, many people can say that they have not read The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, written by Maria Augusta Trapp. I once was one of those, until I completed the book last week.

I must say, the movie does a decent job at keeping in line with the book, but the book is written with such humor, joy, sadness, and all kinds of emotion that I feel it is a greater representation of reality--without even including the fact that the book possesses the true, honest-to-goodness story.

Furthermore, the movie only covers about a third of the book. What happens to the Trapps after they leave Austria? That question is thoroughly answered in the book. So rather than continuing to tell you all the reasons why I immensely enjoyed the book, I'll just include an excerpt from it for your pleasure.

Peter had been a Major in the Imperial Prussian Army. He was a lovely person with a heart as big as himself, which made it easy to get along with him. When it came to duty, however, Peter was made of iron and steel, and as everything in his daily life was classified either as a duty towards God, or his fellow men, or himself, there was a lot of duty to go around.

Peter also loved handbooks.

When Peter was newly married and they were expecting their first baby, he immediately got the proper handbook, which would guide him safely through the next nine months. In the seventh month the handbook said: "Carpets and curtains should be removed from the bedroom, and the walls and floor washed with antiseptic." Peter who, as a Major, had two orderlies at his command, was standing in the middle of the bedroom, book in hand, supervising these activities. At the same time Laura, his wife, slipped on the kitchen floor and, feeling a strange pain, went upstairs, heading for bed, saying to Peter:

"Please, dear, call Mrs. X"--her Frau Vogl [midwife]--"at once."

Peter merely glanced at her, amazed. Then, looking over the rim of his spectacles, he uttered in a helpless tone of voice:

"Laura--impossible! I am only in the seventh month!" (84)

Maria then goes on to tell of a camping adventure she and her family had with Uncle Peter and his family--an experience full of laughs.

P.S. If the reader is Protestant, he must be aware that the author is a devout Catholic and many Catholic practices come out in her writing. On the other hand, the family's devotion to God and Jesus Christ is also genuine and admirable.