Outside of a Dog: Willis, Connie: To Say Nothing of the Dog (audio)

David Tate

David Tate wrote on October 5, 2007 at 12:57 PM:

The time travel in the beginning reminded me vaguely of Kage Baker's Company series, and so I was expecting something sinister to be lurking the background.

Had you read Doomsday Book before this? Reading that had certainly colored my expectations for ...TSNAtD.

Kate

Kate wrote on October 5, 2007 at 1:00 PM:

Nope, this is my first Willis novel. But yeah, that must've been some serious whiplash, going between the two.

Cyphomandra

Cyphomandra wrote on October 7, 2007 at 9:03 AM:

Oh, I do like this book, and it's been far too long since I re-read it. It's funny and kind, and it references so many other books I've read and loved, although the only problem with that was that I was halfway through Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone when I first read TSNoftD, and it spoiled the ending for me. I haven't been able to finish The Moonstone since, but it seems a bit unfair to blame Willis for spoiling. anything that had been in print for that long.

Every so often I go and rifle through the internet in the hope that there's a release date for the next Willis novel (ideally, All Clear, a WWII one she read from at Worldcon in 2002), and every time (I've just done it again) I am disappointed. I'm sure this is teaching me valuable moral lessons.

Kate

Kate wrote on October 7, 2007 at 3:22 PM:

Hmm, now I can't remember if there are any spoilers for the Wimsey/Vane mysteries, rather than relationships. Some for Agatha Christie, I think.

David Tate

David Tate wrote on October 8, 2007 at 9:50 AM:

Nope, this is my first Willis novel.

I would humbly recommend that, before reading Doomsday Book, you first read the novella "Fire Watch". I think that might mitigate the whiplash a bit, and the three works make a set.

(But do by all means read Doomsday Book.)

Kate

Kate wrote on October 8, 2007 at 8:15 PM:

Enh, I'm really not interested in reading _Doomsday_. It's long, it's depressing, and it sounds a little too much like another book I read recently.

Jeane

Jeane wrote on October 9, 2007 at 8:15 PM:

I liked Doomsday Book much better than TSNotD, which I couldn't finish.

Kate

Kate wrote on October 9, 2007 at 9:30 PM:

Jeane: welcome, and sorry you were temporarily trapped in the spam filter; it shouldn't happen again.

I can definitely see that the two books would have very different appeals. And comedy is quite a matter of personal taste.

David Tate

David Tate wrote on October 10, 2007 at 2:04 PM:

Doomsday Book is long, yes, though not so long by modern standards. And it is depressing, even cathartic (for me). But it is not without its moments of humor, and of beauty, and of sensawunda. I agree with Jeane -- I liked it much better than TSNotD, even after calibrating for the very different intent of the two works.

I'd still recommend "Fire Watch". If you don't like that, then you can be reasonably certain that you wouldn't like DB, and you won't have invested so much in finding out.

Kate

Kate wrote on October 10, 2007 at 2:11 PM:

Well, the story is online, so I've bookmarked it for future reading.