Bellwether
by Connie Willis

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Book Reviews of Bellwether

Book Review: Baaaaah.... Baaaaahhhh....
Summary: 5 Stars

As the story opens (and progresses, and even ends), Sandra is researching trends--especially WHY they start and, in her mind, why they're usually of little or no significance to humanity: "why doesn't thinking for oneself or being nice for a change ever become a trend?" she wonders (for myself, I finished the book in the food court of the local mall and found myself wondering about the current trends of clunky-heeled shoes, floppy-legged jeans and Mendi bracelets/necklaces). Through a series of random events, the initus being a misdelivered package by the oft-promoted but never competent Flip, she is brought into contact with a chaos theorist who is so UN-trendy that a friendship is immediately formed (note: Dr. Ben is not ANTI-trend, as Sandra quickly points out, like the hippies growing long hair in protest of the short buzzcuts of the 50's, but seems IMMUNE to them).

At first, she is merely curious as to why he, of all people, seems so impervious to trends, and then discovers--in a flurry of ridiculous but easily recognized management and social trends--that chaos theory and the sociology of trends are actually much more linked than either of them had originally thought. That is, until Flip looses Dr. Ben's funding form (and, of course, Management believes the claim of the mohawked, duct taped lackey that she never GOT it), and enter the sheep, stage left...

As an amateur student of sociology, I personally loved the book and the fun it poked at modern society. However, sometimes Ms. Willis's character's fads DID get a bit out of hand, and the trends in the book seemed TOO trendy. Flip, of course, being a main character SHOULD have the latest trend, like putting swatches of duct tape around a brand of the letter "I" between her eyes and going off on an anti-smoking campaign. However, when EVERYONE starts rolling their eyes, flipping their hair, and sporting swatches of tape just like Flip-and I mean EVERYONE-the book looses some of it's realism. Even within trends, there's got to be room for individual variation (like KAKHI pants that completely cover the wearer's shoes vs. denim). Also, sometimes my reality got in the way of the book. For example, as "Dilbertian" as HiTek may be as a company, and though I know first hand and through the works of Mr. Scott Adams that MOST companies, no matter how big or small, have complete dunderheads making decisions, it took me the longest time to be convinced that Flip--with her appearance alone, to say nothing of her inability to do her work, etc--would ever be EMPLOYED by any large company, let alone PROMOTED... Multiple times.

"Bellwether", like Ms. Willis's other works (I especially enjoyed "Doomsday Book" and "Uncharted Territory") is a fine read, desipite the occasional difficulty I had in "willingly suspending disbelief." I recommend it highly. I ESPECIALLY recommend it to anyone who has ever gone to the mall and wondered why on earth people (especially teens who, like sheep, tend to travel in tight herds and follow their own bellwether) feel the need to do what everyone else is doing.

Summary of Bellwether

Literature & Fiction Books

• Subjects > Literature & Fiction
• Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction