#26 To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
Ned Henry is a historian. Only in the year 2057 historians are actually time travelers. Lately he’s been spending most of his time in the 
1940s searching for the Bishop’s Bird Stump, to help the autocratic Lady Schrapnell and her quest to restore a destroyed cathedral. That is until a fellow time traveler does the impossible and brings an object back from the past, something that may result in the destruction in the space time continuum. Ned is whisked back the late 19th Century where he, a long with a fellow historian named Verity, will have to set the past right. Unfortunately, no matter how much they do, events keep on getting more and more mixed up.
I’m really happy that I decided to read To Say Nothing of the Dog for calico_reaction ’s book club this month. One of the things that struck me the most about the novel is how it can easily appeal to fans of many different genres. The time travel aspect will appeal to fans of sci-fi. The exciting plot will appeal to fans of adventure stories. The “who is Mr. C” plot line will appeal to fans of mysteries. The polite 19th century setting will appeal to fans of historical fiction. Of course, the books lighthearted clever tone will appeal to fans of comedy. Having never read Jerome K. Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat, which To Say Nothing of the Dog draws heavily from, I was worried that I would not be able to understand the book. I was happy that this was not the case.
Ned Henry has a great voice, and I often found myself laughing aloud while reading his observations of events surrounding him, sometimes multiple times per chapter, which isn’t common for me. If there’s one thing that Willis has down, it’s comedic timing and clever dialogue. The characters that Ned and Verity meet in the past seem completely ridiculous by modern standards, and are also great sources of laughs. Perhaps the books one weakness is that it can be a tad be predictable at some times. I figured out who the mysterious Mr. C. was much sooner than the protagonist did, and often found myself wondering why he and Verity did not pick up on things so quickly. Despite the fact, it was still quite a lot of fun to watch them try to untangle everything. I also found the light romantic subplot between the two leads to be quite enjoyable.
When it comes to comedy, I often find that creators depend too much on gags and jokes and leave behind important storytelling elements like likable characters and an interesting plot. Connie Willis does not have that problem, making To Say Nothing of the Dog exactly the type of book I go for when looking for something funny. Although it’s my first Connie Willis book, I do plan on picking up other titles by her in the future. I can see why she has won so many awards!
Rating: four and a half stars
Length: 493 pages
Source: paperbackswap
Challenge: This book is part of the Sci-Fi Challenge
Similar Books: Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell ( my review)
Other books I've read by this author: This is my first
Xposted to
, temporaryworlds and goodreads
1940s searching for the Bishop’s Bird Stump, to help the autocratic Lady Schrapnell and her quest to restore a destroyed cathedral. That is until a fellow time traveler does the impossible and brings an object back from the past, something that may result in the destruction in the space time continuum. Ned is whisked back the late 19th Century where he, a long with a fellow historian named Verity, will have to set the past right. Unfortunately, no matter how much they do, events keep on getting more and more mixed up.
I’m really happy that I decided to read To Say Nothing of the Dog for calico_reaction ’s book club this month. One of the things that struck me the most about the novel is how it can easily appeal to fans of many different genres. The time travel aspect will appeal to fans of sci-fi. The exciting plot will appeal to fans of adventure stories. The “who is Mr. C” plot line will appeal to fans of mysteries. The polite 19th century setting will appeal to fans of historical fiction. Of course, the books lighthearted clever tone will appeal to fans of comedy. Having never read Jerome K. Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat, which To Say Nothing of the Dog draws heavily from, I was worried that I would not be able to understand the book. I was happy that this was not the case.
Ned Henry has a great voice, and I often found myself laughing aloud while reading his observations of events surrounding him, sometimes multiple times per chapter, which isn’t common for me. If there’s one thing that Willis has down, it’s comedic timing and clever dialogue. The characters that Ned and Verity meet in the past seem completely ridiculous by modern standards, and are also great sources of laughs. Perhaps the books one weakness is that it can be a tad be predictable at some times. I figured out who the mysterious Mr. C. was much sooner than the protagonist did, and often found myself wondering why he and Verity did not pick up on things so quickly. Despite the fact, it was still quite a lot of fun to watch them try to untangle everything. I also found the light romantic subplot between the two leads to be quite enjoyable.
When it comes to comedy, I often find that creators depend too much on gags and jokes and leave behind important storytelling elements like likable characters and an interesting plot. Connie Willis does not have that problem, making To Say Nothing of the Dog exactly the type of book I go for when looking for something funny. Although it’s my first Connie Willis book, I do plan on picking up other titles by her in the future. I can see why she has won so many awards!
Rating: four and a half stars
Length: 493 pages
Source: paperbackswap
Challenge: This book is part of the Sci-Fi Challenge
Similar Books: Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell ( my review)
Other books I've read by this author: This is my first
Xposted to
, temporaryworlds and goodreads