I’ve taken a few days off from work in honor of my birthday since no one has yet seen fit to make it a federal holiday. I don’t understand what’s taking so long. Anyway, I had planned to spend time really digging into Briane Greene (his book, not the actual man), hours of focused, deliberate, science. Well, I’ve had hours of focused, deliberate reading of science fiction instead.
I tried to read Greene but got sleepy, even after a cup of coffee. Not a good sign. So I planned on sneaking up on the book by reading To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis for awhile. I’ve been reading the Willis book in bits and pieces up until now. Once I actually spent time with it I couldn’t put it down. This book was fun!
In brief, the book takes place in the future when time travel is possible. “The net, ” the time travel network that gets historians back and forth through time–they can only go into the past, not into the future–has safeguards and backups and theories galore to protect inadvertent and purposeful attempts at altering the past. At the beginning of the story the net is being used to collect information in order to build an exact replica of Coventry Cathedral at the behest of a very rich woman who could probably make a Marine drill sergeant cry. In this future time all cats are extinct. A historian doing research back in 1888 accidentally brings a cat back with her. They hastily return the cat, but it is too late. An incongruity has been created and if it isn’t fixed the course of history will be radically altered.
Most of the book takes place in 1888 Victorian England with plot twists and turns like you wouldn’t believe. The title of the book is taken from Jerome K Jerome’s novel Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog). Willis does a wonderful job of incorporating references to Jerome’s book in her own. She also does a great job with character as well as capturing the frequently bizarre aspects of Victorian life. The book also manages to ruminate on history–is history made by individual character or through forces that are part of a Grand Design?
The book is technically science fiction, but if you are afraid of scifi, you have nothing to be afraid of in this book. Along with the science fiction aspect we’ve also got a historical fiction aspect and Willis even works in a mystery with many references to Agatha Christie and other classic mysteries of the 1930s. And there is Jeeves as well. I think the only thing she forgets is the kitchen sink. Have I said how much fun this book is?
You don’t have to have read Jerome K Jerome’s book to enjoy To Say Nothing of the Dog, but I would recommend reading both of them. You won’t regret it.
Sounds great! Thanks for the review. I am a little afraid of sci fi, sometimes π I think I’ll pick this up soon…
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I have this book on my list but wasn’t sure about it. When I saw it on your “in progress” list I thought about asking your opinion of it but decided to be patient. Thanks for the review! Now I’m looking forward to your review of The Histories and finding out which translation you read.
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Sounds like a good one, Stefanie. I’m always on the lookout for fun time travel novels, so this one goes on the infamous TBR list as soon as I can find a copy.
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You’re right: SUCH a fun book. Of course, I’m a huge fan of both THREE MEN IN A BOAT and time travel, so it was a perfect fit for me.
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Wow Stefanie, it sounds like a great book. I love all manner of apocalyptical and/or time-travelish sort of themes. It is why I have been also interested in reading this Cormac McCarthy one, The Road. Something about after the world has ended?
I have now added this Willis book to my apocalyptically lengthy Wishlist!
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This sounds like a lot of fun — good plot, big ideas — what more could you want?
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I would characterize a lot of Willis’ books as ‘science-in-fiction’, or a variety of lab lit in some cases, due to the preponderance of scientists as characters, and Big Ideas. Definitely not space opera or cyberpunk kinds of things. Lots of humor. The Doomsday Book is another one with time travel, and Passage is really outstanding as a half-humorous, half-serious meditation on death.
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Oh, this sounds like fun! I tend not to pick up sci-fi, but sometimes I hate that books needed to be categorized as I feel like I miss out on good stuff! I am adding this to my bookmooch list!
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Sounds good to me π
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Gentle Reader, there is nothing to be afraid of in this scifi books. I hope you enjoy it when you get to it.
Matt, this was a fun book you’re sure to enjoy. I’ll be a while longer at The Histories, it’s slow going, so I’ll tell you that I am reading the Barnes and Noble classics edition. The translator is G. C. Macaulay with corrections by Donald Lateiner.
This is definitely a time travel novel worth reading Sam.
Emily, Jerome and Willis, one of the best book pairings ever! π
Cipriano, if you’ve not read The Doomsday Book, add that one to your list too. It’s by Connie Willis as well and involves time travel and a plague.
Dorothy, this is one of those books to read when you want something with ideas but not too taxing.
John, yes, lab lit is a good description of this one. I loved The Doomsday Book and have Passages sitting on my shelf to read at a future time.
A good choice for a mooch Danielle!
Thanks for stopping by BookRat.
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I’m so glad I chose this one as one of my reads for the Once Upon a Time challenge. I would like to read Three Men in a Boat first though. Maybe I’ll try to get that one off of BookMooch. So any more book buying done to continue with the birthday celebration? π
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I read To Say Nothing of the Dog a few years back and loved it. It inspired me to read Three Men in a Boat – which I finally got around to this past month. I am just finishing it now. Iliana – you don’t have to wait for it on BookMooch – you can read it online or download it at Project Gutenberg:
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/308
I am a huge fan of Time travel books, although The Doomsday book made me sad for a week.
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You’ll definitely enjoy the book Iliana. And of course there was more book buying π
Dorie, aren’t the books great fun? I don’t remember being sad at Doomsday Book but I certainly remember it being inense.
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This sounds a lot like the Jasper Fforde books. I really liked his first one, called The Eyre Affair, which is sort of Hitchhiker’s Guide meets the classics. It’s very clever. I wrote a blurb about it on my blog: http://serendipitousreader.blogspot.com/2003/12/eyre-affair-by-jasper-fforde.html
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