To Say Nothing of the Dog
by Connie Willis
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Book Reviews of To Say Nothing of the Dog
Book Review: Mystery, comedy and time-travel
Summary: 5 Stars
It isn't often that I read a book for the first time and it instantly becomes one of my favorites. "To Say Nothing of the Dog" did that, though. I love this novel! Connie Willis flawlessly combines so many elements in this book: It's part mystery novel, part sci-fi, part time-travel drama, part Victorian romance, part comedy. The characters and situations are extremely funny, but at the same time, there is a deep and serious plot going on.
Ned Henry goes back to the Victorian era to get some rest -- he is time-lagged from going back and forth from 2057 to 1940 to locate an ugly piece of Victorian art. But, he also has an important mission to complete in 1888. Verity Kindle, a fellow time-traveler, inadvertently brought something back from the past. Ned and Verity must put things right before the course of history is changed and the space-time continuum breaks down. Ms. Willis portrays the worlds of 2057, 1940 and 1888 with equal ease and vivid descriptions.
There is mystery (Why was Verity able to bring what she did through the time-travel apparatus? What was it? How does it relate to the Bishop's Bird Stump? What is the Bishop's Bird Stump and why is it important?). There is science fiction (More about the "net" and how it works than in Doomsday Book). And, there is comedy. Ms. Willis' witty characterizations are reminiscent of Oscar Wilde or Jane Austen (Tossie is Cecily from The Importance of Being Earnest. Colonel and Mrs. Mering are Mr. and Mrs. Bennett from Pride and Prejudice.) Ned is hysterical as he struggles through an era he knows nothing about.
Fans of Doomsday Book will enjoy the return of Dunworthy and Finch. But, in my opinion, To Say Nothing of the Dog is much better than Doomsday Book.
I couldn't put this book down, and I was extremely satisfied with the ending. All the mysteries are solved and the facts are presented -- but a twist at the end leaves a new mystery unsolved. A fantastic book! I hope for more time-travel novels from Connie Willis.
Book Review: Intelligent, Literate, and Funny
Summary: 5 Stars
The third reading of this book was just as good as the first two. Not being a huge Victoriana fan, I was leery going into this book, but Willis has managed to blend the wit of Austen with top-notch science fiction worthy of the masters. She manages to provide a plausible world, without getting bogged down in the details of how all this stuff is supposed to work.Our Hero, Ned Henry, is shuffled off to the Victorian Age with little more than the 21st-century equivalent of "Teach Yourself" Victorian England, an ill-fitting wardrobe, and the mother of all hangovers. Willis artfully uses Henry's (and our) initial confusion to introduce the reader to not one, but three exactingly (though, in the case of the Blitz, briefly) realized and absorbing eras. Willis has the extraordinary ability to describe a world engrossingly, with a minimum of verbiage, and she uses this ability with rare form in _To Say Nothing of the Dog_.
Willis also has an unparalleled gift for characterization, and a wicked wit. Even her annoying characters become (moderately) sympathetic. Her protagonists are breathtakingly nuanced, and again, all is done with a soft touch that is most welcome in a genre better known for its world-building and concept exploration than its characterization.
Like many Victorian novels, _To Say Nothing of the Dog_ is essentially a book about trifles, and the inordinate amount of grief and excitement the little things in life can produce. Though there are dire threats, they are muffled by the soft lights of gentility, and the knowledge that the protagonists have little choice other than to muddle through as best they can, and hope they don't destroy the world in the process. This leaves them free to obsess over misplaced kittens, hideous art, and the romantic fortunes of just about everybody but themselves. The entire work is suffused in a gentle humor that cannot help but be infectious.
Brava! I heartily recommend this book, to sci-fi fans, and non-fans alike.
Book Review: A genre-defying, hysterical romp
Summary: 5 Stars
Part Victorian comedy of manners, part science fiction, Connie Willis' "To Say Nothing of the Dog" is witty, thoughtful, often tongue-in-cheek, and always interesting. It takes place in the same near-future as her "Doomsday Book," in which historians actually travel to the past to study, and often influence, it.
In this case, historian Ned Henry is pulled off his frustrating job helping search for the lost "bishops bird stump" of Coventry Cathedral (the delightfully named Lady Schrapnell has commissioned its renovation and will not rest until every lost artifact is accounted for). Desperately in need of rest, Ned is given a simple but crucial assignment: return a cat that has been brought (against all natural laws of time travel) out of the Victorian era and into the future by a fellow historian, fix whatever incongruities result from the unauthorized removal, and then take a well-deserved vacation.
Which, obviously, is not what happens. Ned and cat-thief Verity race around madly, desperately trying to restore the space-time continuum by manipulating a cast of lovable, eccentric, stubbornly unhelpful characters. There's Tossie, the cat's owner (and eventual ancestress of Lady Schrapnell), Terence, her poetry-quoting fiancé, Col. Mering, Tossie's fish-loving father, and Mrs. Mering, her overbearing mother. To say nothing of Cyril - the bulldog, that is.
And through it all, Ned and Verity have to figure out the answers to a host of questions: How did Verity manage to take the cat into the future in the first place? Will their actions in the past spell disaster for the future? And - most importantly of all - where the heck is the bishop's bird stump?
Occasionally confusing, often hysterically funny, always entertaining, "To Say Nothing of the Dog" is a great read.
Book Review: Screwball comedy and Chaos theory in the Victorian era
Summary: 5 Stars
Connie Willis' books tend to combine her love of history, literature, chaos theory and Preston Sturges-type screwball comedies to varying effect. In "To Say Nothing of the Dog," her sort-of-squel to "The Doomsday Book," she finally perfects the combination. Following the format of Victorian era books such as Jerome K. Jerome's "Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)", from which she takes the books name, Connie takes us on a romp through time to locate an urn called the Bishop's Bird Stump, which a wealthy American crackpot wants for her true-to-the-tiniest-detail 22nd century reconstruction of Coventry Cathedtral, which was bombed during World War II. But a time traveller coming back from the Victorian era has made a critical and previously thought impossible mistake by bringing something back through with her, something that must be returned or the entire space time conintinuum might fall apart.Ned Henry is sent back to the Victorian era to rest and recover from a bad case of time lag, and to return the object before it's absend can rip apart the fabric of time and causality. But almost from the moment of his arrival, things go wrong, and Ned and the beautiful time-travelling Verity have to think on their feet, while juggling an overbearing Victorian matricarch, a possibily murderous butler, thieving mediums, a bulldog, a cat that likes exotic fish, and Verity's ditzy "cousin" Tossie, an ideal example of Victorian womanhood and the nexus around whom everything turns.
History, science, math, poetry, chaos theory, time travel and animal husbandry all come together in a terribly clever way to help Ned and Verity solve a mystery, while several young loves blossom in spite of a host of obstacles. A clever, engaging and literate adventure that just gets better everytime I read it.
Book Review: Fun Victorian satire
Summary: 3 Stars
Ned Henry has been thrown around in time from one jumble sale to the next, looking for a bizarre object named the bishop's bird stump. This is all in an effort to rebuild the Coventry Cathedral, at a time when religion is pretty much obsolete, but money buys everything. Lady Schrapnell is intent on rebuilding the Cathedral, the site where her great-great-great-grandmother had an epiphany when she first laid eyes on the bishop's bird stump.On one of Ned's return trips, he runs into Verity Kindle, another time-travelling historian, and is instantly enchanted by her. Verity has a problem, however. She brought back an item through the time-travelling portal, and in doing so, could have changed the course of history forever. Now it's up to Ned and Verity to bring the item back, and straighten out any incongruities that might have resulted from her impulsive move, in order to save the world as we know it.
TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG is a humorous science fiction story, with a Victorian twist. As Ned and Verity spend a lot of their time in the Victorian era, a lot of the conversation centers around Victorian poetry and literature. English Majors will be thrilled to understand the references to some of the poetry and literary works quoted, while other reads will be left shaking their heads in wonder. The satire on the Victorian era is very well done, however, and all readers should be able to appreciate that.
The characterization is superb, which makes up for the slow-moving plot. Ms. Willis' writing style is full of British wit and humor, making this a very funny read. For fans of Ms. Willis' DOOMSDAY BOOK, this might come as a surprise, since TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG doesn't contain the same level of emotional involvement and satisfaction as the aforementioned novel. Still, a fun read if you have the patience.