To Say Nothing of the Dog; Or, How We Found the Bishop's Bird Stump at Last by Connie Willis

[lightreads]

So, it’s 2057, and a time travel device has been developed. But the corporate sponsors and big researchers gave up the project in disgust when it was discovered that, though people can go back to most times, they can not bring anything forward. History is profitless, and so it is left to the historians. When we begin, the project has been overrun by Lady Schrapnell and her enormous donation to reconstruct the cathedral of Coventry, destroyed in a 1940 German bombing. Ned Henry, a historian, and his associates are being run ragged as she sends them back and forth through time to collect details and make measurements so the re-creation will be exact. Ned has made so many time jumps in trying to track down a particularly ugly bit of ornamentation that he is time lagged, a condition which leaves the sufferer confused, slow, and with difficulty distinguishing sounds. Ned is put on medical rest, but he is ensnared in the outward spreading consequences stemming from the actions of a historian stationed in 1888, who has brought a cat forward and may just have destroyed the universe. Ned is sent back to 1888 to keep him away from Lady Schrapnell, and on an urgent mission . . . which in his time lagged state he cannot remember.

The brilliant thing about this book is that it’s a science fiction story written as a Victorian comedy of manners. No, really – in the background there are time incongruities and something is wrong with the cathedral in 1940 and something is much worse in 2018 at the beginning of the time travel project. But the story plays itself out with cats and croquet and butlers and smelling salts and jumble sales and Victorian romances. This book is a tapestry of homages, most notably to Three Men in a Boat and various mystery authors like Christie and Sayers. Willis plays the style to a fault sometimes – Ned appears not to have any personal history before the beginning of the book, the protagonists spend a great deal of time running around missing the completely freaking obvious, and the whole thing goes on about 50 pages too long. I can’t decide whether it is worse that an author consciously make these choices in pursuit of a greater stylistic ambition, or unconsciously stumble into them. But that’s all part of the package, and it also has more than its share of the giddy charm of the style and characters, to say nothing of the adorable dog.

But really, it’s a science fiction story written as a Victorian comedy, and how freaking cool is that? The journey is rather nonlinear and rambling, and the conclusion satisfying for what it says about the nature of history (though much less so for what it says about the role of individual people). The concept is brilliant, strange, and occasionally hilarious, and that alone is more than worth the price of admission. Good stuff.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I love To Say Nothing! It's my favorite Connie Willis book after Doomsday Book.

Loved the way TSN gradually reveals wheels within wheels within wheels... and near the end you get a glimpse of how freakin BIG the whole convoluted manipulation must be.

I prefer Doomsday Book (set in the same time-travelling universe) for its depth, but To Say Nothing is great fun.

[readerjane]

Duh. Sorry, didn't meant to post Anon. That was me.

[lightreads.livejournal.com]

I've just picked up Doomsday Book, and am circling it a bit warily. I've heard it's great, but much less with the Victorian and the cat and the funny. I think I need to be in a different mood for the Bubonic plague.

[readerjane]

Yes DB definitely requires the right mood. It's dark, though I feel the darkness is redeemed by the end.

Passage, OTOH, seems to require a bizarre mood... whatever that is, it's a mood I'm not capable of. I felt cheated by that book. Like CW spent most of the novel chanting a mantra to herself, then waffled.

Bellwether, while not a time-travel story, is closer to To Say Nothing in tone. If you enjoy short stories, "Even the Queen" is a gem. I read it aloud to my mother. Come to think of it, it may be time to read EtQ aloud to my daughter. But not when the menfolk are around.

[lightreads.livejournal.com]

I've been warned off one of her books, and in a twist of pretty hilarious irony, I can not now remember which one it was. Something to do with the theater or screen or something? Hmm.

[(Anonymous)]

I can't remember a CW book involving the theater or movies. But then I haven't read her latest, Inside Job, and going by the Amazon reviews that might be the one.

I would put a big caution on Passage, though. Gut-wrenching hospital story, and the ending is just weird. I can't explain much without massive spoilers.

[charlie-ego.livejournal.com]

This book is Remake, which I also didn't like, but my husband really did, so go figure. It's kind of an homage to Hollywood and the great movies of yesteryear, etc. If you're me and have not actually seen the great movies of yesteryear (or of this-year), it probably loses much of its charm. Plus which the plot is... rather mild.

[lightreads.livejournal.com]

If you're me and have not actually seen the great movies of yesteryear (or of this-year),

Or me, for that matter.

As someone I trust recently explained it to me, Willis is good for the long wind-up and fast pitch, but much less good in shorter form when she just don't have the space she seems to need to deliver. A frustrating writerly fault, though God knows I can identify.

[fuzzyboo03.livejournal.com]

I read this years ago and it's what got be started on Willis. The professor always left me giggling madly.

[lightreads.livejournal.com]

My first Willis, too, and I'm excited for the rest, though I hear it's very different.

Apropos of nothing, Spin just won the Hugo this weekend, which makes me happy.

[fuzzyboo03.livejournal.com]

They are definitely different, but I really enjoyed most of them. One that springs to mind is Promised Land, although it's been maybe 6 years since I've read it, but that's the book I always think of fondly when I think of Willis.

And yay for Spin!

[lightreads.livejournal.com]

As said above, someone has warned me off a Willis book as just not worth the time. But hilariously, I can *not* remember which one it is. Something about movies or the theater or the screen or something. *shakes head*

[fuzzyboo03.livejournal.com]

I can't really remember which one that is. I may not have gotten to it yet. Her books are many different flavors, so one may work for you while another doesn't.

[minyan.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean about the Really Freaking Obvious — especially when it could have been made far less obvious with a little pacing or shift of emphasis — but I'll say for her that I didn't work out all the connections in time, or what really happened during the bombing, or her final twist on straightening out the paths of history. And she made me want a bulldog. Cyril is marvellous.

[lightreads.livejournal.com]

The thing that drove me nuts was the endless running about wondering who Mr. C. was. I was like come on.

I do adore Cyril. I think one of my favorite little moments, which I naturally had to read out to Alanna, is when Henry finds Cyril watching as the cat tries fishing in Mr. Mering's pond. And Henry, knowing nothing about cats, is all "hey! stop that!" And the cat completely ignores him and carries on, but Cyril looks deeply guilty. Hee! That happens in my living room about three times a week.