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Shades of Grey: A Novel by Jasper Fforde
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Shades of Grey: A Novel (edition 2009)

by Jasper Fforde

Series: Shades of Grey (1)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
4,0522652,945 (4.08)1 / 415
Welcome to Chromatacia, where for as long as anyone can remember society has been ruled by a Colortocracy. Social hierachy is based upon one's limited color perception. society is dominated by color. In this world, you are what you can see, and Eddie Russett, a better-than-average red perception wants to move up.… (more)
Member:Auggie
Title:Shades of Grey: A Novel
Authors:Jasper Fforde
Info:Viking Adult (2009), Edition: First Edition, Hardcover, 400 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:****
Tags:3/07/2010

Work Information

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde

Recently added byLARA335, Tosta, Rini55, mikymono, Catlin848, nicoleemmons, erin4, private library, JFB87
  1. 160
    The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (shallihavemydwarf)
  2. 102
    Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (Othemts, TomWaitsTables)
    TomWaitsTables: The dystopic comedy by by Jasper Fforde, not the adult novel read by housewives.
  3. 40
    The Island of the Colorblind by Oliver Sacks (bertilak)
  4. 86
    The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (Othemts)
  5. 20
    Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith (simon211175)
  6. 11
    The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry (ahstrick)
  7. 12
    Theory of Colours by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (bertilak)
    bertilak: In particular, see Goethe's section on pathological colours.
  8. 04
    Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder (Yells)
  9. 16
    Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (KCLibrarian)
    KCLibrarian: Both books create believable societies unlike our own in some ways, but recognizably human in other ways. Both raise challenging societal questions and have some surprise twists and turns along the way. Both authors deftly ease their readers into the fantasy worlds they create, and by the time the story ends, leave readers wanting more.… (more)
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Group TopicMessagesLast Message 
 Fforde Ffans: Shades of Grey19 unread / 19krazy4katz, March 2012

» See also 415 mentions

English (263)  Dutch (2)  French (1)  Spanish (1)  All languages (267)
Showing 1-5 of 263 (next | show all)
A reluctant 4****. On the positive, it is inventive, imaginative, clever. This distopian colour-obsessed future made me reflect on the many nonsensical rules we have to live by today. But on the negative, I don’t appreciate sentences like ‘the perpetulite spalled at the centre of the bridge where the organoplastoid had been cut’. The writing reminded me of Terry Pratchett, loved by many, but I’m not a fan. This took me tedious ages to plough through. Not a fan.S ( )
  LARA335 | Mar 27, 2024 |
I know I started this when it came out, remember it being weird and hard to get into, but during this re-read/listen I suspect I abandoned it unfinished. John Lee's performance is terrific, and i think it's easier to get into this knowing the basics of the chromatic social structure up front.

I'm looking forward to "Red Side Story." ( )
  yarmando | Mar 16, 2024 |
I was thoroughly entertained by the quirkiness of and clever satirical social commentary within Jasper Fforde’s The Eyre Affair and Early Riser. So, I have had this novel on my wish list for some time. Plus, the upcoming release of its long-awaited sequel, Red Side Story, gave me the extra push needed.

Shades of Grey lacks a little momentum in its early stages – for me its only noteworthy weakness. But, this novel’s latter half is a real page turner. There were two clear contributing factors to the slow start, which oddly, turn out to actually be strengths in the long run.

The first is Jasper Fforde’s detailed focus and time spent on world-building. To an extent, one could argue this is a necessity for readers to get their bearings in dystopic fiction. But as we know, there are numerous fantasy authors such as Mark Lawrence penning fast-paced openings to epic sagas. Ultimately though, it was not long before I was enthralled in the mysteries of this chromatically challenged world. In some ways this dystopian society is a larger ‘character’ than all those contained within it. Continue reading: https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/2024/01/jasper-fforde-shades-of-grey.html ( )
  BookloverBookReviews | Jan 6, 2024 |
Jasper Fforde always brings something out of the box to the reader, and the politely dystopian future based on color perception is precisely that. Looking forward to the next (snerk) book, as our main character realizes he's only scratching the surface of repressed knowledge. ( )
  Daumari | Dec 28, 2023 |
I don't know why I finally read this... At first I thought that after gritty reality of Temperance Brennan series it will be fun to read something crazy otherworldly but then this book started to get the real current of social commentary going. And we all know where all stories about humanity, society and freedom are usually going.

Why I finished this now? Why?

I really should have waited for at least second or better – whole series. ( )
  WorkLastDay | Dec 17, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 263 (next | show all)
In structure, Shades of Grey moves like most other books in the sci-fi/fantasy genre, but in tone, it has more in common with comic novels such as Catch-22.
 
Fforde is an author of immense imagination. Not satisfied with just a few layers of Dickensian jokes and revisions of the physical universe, he creates an archeological treasure trove for readers.
 
All this is serenely silly, but to dispel a black mood and chase away the blues, this witty novel offers an eye-popping spectrum of remedies.
added by Katya0133 | editKirkus (Dec 15, 2009)
 
It's all brilliantly original, lf his complex world building sometimes slows the plot and the balance of silly and serious is uneasy, we're still completely won over.
added by Katya0133 | editBooklist, Keir Graff (Dec 15, 2009)
 
Eddie navigates a vividly imagined landscape whose every facet is steeped in the author's remarkably detailed color scheme. Sometimes, though, it's hard to see the story for the chromotechnics.
added by Katya0133 | editPublishers Weekly (Nov 23, 2009)
 

» Add other authors (5 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Jasper Ffordeprimary authorall editionscalculated
Buckley, PaulCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Garduno, KenIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lagin, DanielDesignersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lee, JohnNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Wilson, StevenCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Epigraph
There is no light or colour as a fact in external nature. There is merely motion of material...When the light enters your eyes and falls on the retina, there is motion of material. Then your nerves are affected and your brain is affected, and again this is merely motion of material...The mind in apprehending experiences sensations which, properly speaking, are qualities of the mind alone. —Alfred North Whitehead
Dedication
Tabitha
Welcoming you to the undeniably
enjoyable and generally underrated
sense of being known as existence
First words
2.4.16.55.021: Males are to wear dress code #6 during inter-Collective travel. Hats are encouraged but not mandatory.
Quotations
It began with my father not wanting to see the Last Rabbit and ended up with my being eaten by a carnivorous plant. It wasn't really what I'd planned for myself—I'd hoped to marry into the Oxbloods and join their dynastic string empire. But that was four days ago, before I met Jane, retrieved the Caravaggio and explored High Saffron. So instead of enjoying aspirations of Chromatic advancement, I was wholly immersed within the digestive soup of a yataveo tree. It was all frightfully inconvenient.
Apart we are together.
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Welcome to Chromatacia, where for as long as anyone can remember society has been ruled by a Colortocracy. Social hierachy is based upon one's limited color perception. society is dominated by color. In this world, you are what you can see, and Eddie Russett, a better-than-average red perception wants to move up.

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Book description
Welcome to Chromatacia, where the Colortocracy rules society through a social hierarchy based upon one's limited color perception. In this world, you are what you can see.

But Eddie Russet wants to move up. When he and his father relocate to the backwater village of East Carmine, his carefully cultivated plans to leverage his better-than-average red perception and marry into a powerful family are quickly upended. Eddie must contend with lethal swans, sneaky Yellows, inviolable rules, an enforced marriage to hideous Violet deMauve, and a risky friendship with an intriguing Grey named Jane who shows Eddie that the apparent peace of his world is as much an illusion as color itself. Will Eddie be able to tread the fine line between total conformity—accepting the path, partner, and career delineated by his hue—and his instinctive curiosity that is bound to get him into trouble?
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