To Say Nothing of the Dog
by Connie Willis
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.33 You Save: $3.66 (46%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.18 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of To Say Nothing of the Dog
Book Review: This. Is. So. Funny.
Summary: 5 Stars
OK, I'm a lit geek. I've read a lot of nineteenth- and late-eighteenth-century novels and plays (Austen, Eliot, Dickens, Hardy, Wilde, assorted Brontės, etc.), and a fair bit of fantasy and SF; I also have reasonably extensive knowledge on WWII and its era, and have read nearly everything there is to read by Christie, Sayers, Allingham, Marsh and other mystery novelists of the time. And I've actually read -- three times -- Jerome K. Jerome's *Three Men in a Boat (to Say Nothing of the Dog)*. So it would be hard to imagine a reader more likely to love this book, or to get all the jokes in it.
But the only thing I had previously read by Connie Willis was *The Doomsday Book*, so I was unprepared for just exactly how funny TSNOTD is. It's so funny that when I read it on the bus or subway, people stared at me because I was laughing out loud. It's so funny that I kept reading bits of it out loud to my husband (who didn't think they were *that* funny -- he is a different kind of geek). I've lost track of how many times I've read this book, but I'm sure we're in double digits by now. I lost my book-club hardcover copy on the subway midway through my fifth or sixth read, and I just had to go buy a paperback copy so I could finish reading it (and, of course, because I knew I'd want to read it again).
I've enjoyed everything I've ever read by Connie Willis, but TSNOTD is my hands-down favourite (next in line is *Bellwether*). I think she does serious fiction well, but she's brilliant at comedy. Buy this book! You won't regret it!
Book Review: The Dog is not Doomsday
Summary: 2 Stars
I made a point of choosing a relaxed, vacation time to pick up "The Dog", having been forewarned that it could be "hard to get into". As an avid reader of not just Science Fiction, but also historical fiction, classic literature and turn of the century tomes, I was looking forward to proving how much better than average I would be at appreciating the nuances of Willis' much-acclaimed work. To be precise, it took until page 56 to begin to shake that feeling of: "Should have checked this one out of the library, not purchased it!". Unfortunately, while fast-flipping by the final 50 pages, that buyer's remorse returned. For those who read Doomsday, and wished it wouldn't end quite so soon, be forewarned: This is no Doomsday. Willis is not as adept at carrying "light hearted humour" as the other reviews imply, in my opinion. What is lost, are characters with the kind of depth and development that Willis has shown masterfully in even her short stories. 400+ pages worth of Victorian-style slapstick is a challenge, indeed, and it is because Willis can do so much better that I rated this book so low. Imagine the Three Stooges blended with Bridges of Madison County, into a 3.50 hour movie, and you have "The Dog". Finally, if time travel as a quasi-science fiction subject is of interest, there is, in fact, more conceptual material here than I had expected. It by no means carries the book. If you like Willis, like the sound of the positive reviews, by all means read the book. Try to borrow it.Book Review: A rare gem
Summary: 5 Stars
I wish l lived in a parallel universe where every book in the world was written by Connie Willis. And, if possible, was a prequel or sequel to To Say Nothing of the Dog.
Denied that, I'll just continue with my life, reading the book again from time to time just in order to remind myself how witty, multi-layered and joyable a work of science fiction can be. It's a masterpiece, and to quote the Man in the Black Mask looking at Inigo Montoya's blade in the Princess Bride, "I have never seen its equal".
It's one of the best time travel books I've read; Willis' explanation of how the universe allows time travel is so brilliant that at times I think it's actually true.
It's also one of the best detective stories set in a sci-fi environment I read. Asimov did it many times, but never to this extent.
It's also a charming love story.
It's definitely a tome of knowledge on day to day life in the Victorian Era, making you wonder if this wasn't the best time you could have ended up in if your time machine left you stranded.
It's also the funniest fiction book I ever read. In fact, To Say Nothing of the Dog is so full of wit, humor, intelligence and charm that if someone photos you as you're reading, chances are the photo will come up with you having a grin on your face.
Bottom line: this is a must for every sci-fi reader. Unless you're completely lacking a sense of humor and devoid of any shred of intelligence, you will LOVE this book.
Book Review: Intelligent, funny and damned clever all at the same time
Summary: 4 Stars
To Say Nothing of the Dog allegedly is a rethinking of the 1888 vaudevillian-like 'novel' by Jerome K Jerome, Three Men in a Boat. In fact, Connie Willis has combined chaos theory, time travel, Victorian sensibilities (with a Jane Austen type flair)and really funny bits into a plot that would make an engineer proud. This is a terrific book! Our hero is trying to straighten out an historical incongruity which arose through an oversight by a fellow time traveler. The pace begins with a leaisurely, absurd river trip (a la Jerome) but pace and purpose subtly change through the pages to become a scientific thriller, a love story or two, a consideration of chaos theory and history, and ends with a masterful blending of all of the elements into a congruent whole (including one plotline that ends with an appropriate Victorian melodramatic twist). This was my first try at Connie Willis, but I immediately picked up Lincoln's Dreams (which also starts slowly and picks up both emotional and plotting impact through its pages)and Uncharted Territory. Each of the books is very different than the next. If you like an author who is well informed in science, history, is sensitive to character, has her tongue firmly planted in her cheek with wit and grace and best of all can actually write well, I enthusiastically recommend To Say Nothing of the Dog. It may well start you, too, on ferreting out the rest of the books by this writer whose biggest fault is that she is under-prolific.
Book Review: I hate it. Well, I will read some more. Can't Stop
Summary: 4 Stars
I read this book after reading reviews of it on amazon.com, and having seen it referred to in reviews of other books I had liked.At first, I could not stand the writing style. It just dumps the story and characters into your lap. That is not to say it involves you in the story right off. It takes awhile for you to see any semblance of plot. In the first few chapters there are no less than two people whom you hope are killed in gruesome manners, and the sooner the better. But I kept reading.
I still did not particularly like the book, but I had read enough to understand the plot (or so I thought) and I needed to have some answers before I could stop reading and start a new book. I was well into the last third of the book before I realized that I cared about the characters and their fates as much as I needed answers to the questions of the plot.
Some people have said this book is a comedy. It is light-hearted, and has some good situational comedy that, if you were watching it as a TV show, would probably make you laugh very hard; However, even though I could see the humor, for me it only pushed the plot ahead faster.
I doubt any of you have read my other reviews, but I do not go into characters, or the plot, and I will not here. But, I will tell you that if you dislike this book to begin with, just keep reading and you will be suprised.
In addition, for those people who say the book is inaccurate at times, I did notice some inaccuracies, but it is fiction. Get over it.