To Say Nothing of the Dog

Rating:
Summary: overly long in a dickens sort of way
Review: That's my main complaint, and, I must confess, my prejudice. The story is in the style of a Dickens novel, long on descriptions and characterizations. The story is big on atmosphere and morals, and truly sets up the reader in the proper period. But, since history was not my thing, or at least, wasn't when I purchased this book, I found myself bored with some of the chapters and detours that the author takes in wrapping up the tale. The characters were well detailed, but I felt somewhat predictable, and sometimes I felt the story veered on soap operaish (probably not a word).

I thought that this was a science fiction novel, but the science fiction component, or time travel, is almost irrelevant to the story. However, if Dickens was your man and you want a touch of time travel and semi-interesting theories regarding such, this is the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: great fun! I loved it.
Review: I'm one of those who adored this book. I laughed out loud, repeatedly, throughout the book, and as soon as I finished it I went back the beginning and read it again. It was just as much fun the second time (and every subsequent time.) I enjoyed the uncertainty and the constant twists and turns of the plot.

The plot is convoluted, and will frustrate readers who prefer a clear trajectory to a story. This one spends a great deal of time bouncing around at the start, through time and space, and there are many threads which threaten to remain loose up to the very end. If you have the patience to go with it, though, you are in for a treat. It's a light-hearted book, very different from _The Domesday Book_ by the same author, so if you are looking for a book similar in tone to that one, you will probably be disappointed.

I think my enjoyment was enhanced because I had read _Gaudy Night_ by Dorothy Sayers. Although the stories are quite different, the setting is the same, around Oxford University.

Rating:
Summary: Funny romance story with a time travel twist.
Review: When I first started reading this book, I couldn't stop laughing at the things that the main character was saying and the things that were happening to him. Later as the story progressed and the character started to become more lucid, the humor was gone and the plot started to pickup.

It was an interesting read and I look forward to reading another book by this author to see if it's as good.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely a fine cup of tea!
Review: Connie Willis is one of those writers who works on many levels. This book is a delight, but you must prepare yourself for a densely worded journey through VictoriaLand where character is more important then plot. Funny, insightful (is she making fun of academia), and adventurous! I love time-travels and this is better than most. If VictoriaLand doesn't excite you, check out The Doomsday Book. A Classic!

Rating:
Summary: This book is a prizewinner
Review: This book has won some of the highest awards in SF writing, so don't be surprised when you realise how good it really is. The research and background done to write this book is truly amazing to produce the time travel paradoxes in the story. And the comedy is very deliberate, and is well executed. If you don't like SF it will still be a great read, since time travel is the only SF present.

Rating:
Summary: Charming, funny and absolutelty absorbing
Review: Connie Willis's To Say Nothing of the Dog is a light hearted, though not to be mistaken for frivalous, tale set in England, alternately between Oxford of the time travel capable future and of the late 19th century. Charming, funny, and wonderful, this book cannot just be lumped into the sci-fi genre as it is so much more. highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: The Best Time Travel Book
Review: I have always been amazed by the concept of time travel and intrigued by the paradoxes that are caused from it. This book has more paradoxes than I could have ever dreamed of. A perfectly organized chaotic environment. Set in the same universe as The Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing Of The Dog actually lets you believe that time travel in the future is possible. To a person like me, somebody that adores paradoxes, this book will blow their mind. Imagine a simple kitty cat setting off events hundreds of years in the future that we would never think a simple cat could do.

This book aslo has something for everybody; Romance, Adventure, Action, Comedy, Mystery, and of course Science Fiction. The way some parts of the book are writen, it's almost as if you are reading it's namesake: Three Men In A Boat: To Say Nothing Of The Dog. Ned almost mimics Jerome, with him having almost everykind of desease and his confusion with life in general. I think that anybody that wants to read a good book, a book they won't be able to put down should read To Say Nothing Of The Dog!

Rating:
Summary: Read and enjoy !
Review: I loved this book almost as much as I hated "doomsday book". How can two books by the same author, even sharing some of the characters, be so different? I don't know. Anyway, this one is excellent, and you wouldn't want to put it down.

Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest Time Travel Novels I've Ever Read
Review: Connie Willis has written many a great book. but this time she superseded herself. Intelagent, witty, smartly constructed and plotted, DOG is Willis's best tale. Willis is one of the few Authors, who not only use the first voice narration often, but also uses it well. At her writing, the characters come to live, as they battle their way through the brilliantly realised Victorian England.

There are a few complaints, however - at points, its accessive, when Willis tries too hard to go for humour. The ending, although clever is a little bit of a cheat.

Small Potatoes. This is one of the greatest Time Travel novels I've ever read. The only one that's quite as good is Isaac Asimov's The End of Eternity.

Willis at her best is quite close to Asimov at his best, and that's possibly the ultimate complement an SF author can recieve.

Rating:
Summary: Almost as good as the sunset on St. Lucia
Review: Last week just before I left for St. Lucia, an island in the Caribbean, I stopped by a bookstore (...) to pick up some last minute reading material. After picking up some books I made my way back to the check-out line, but paused at a nearby display of paperbacks. The title of one book had caught my eye.

"To say nothing of the dog", I said to myself. I repeated it a few more times, each time stressing a different word. To say NOTHING of the dog. To say nothing of the DOG.

I had never heard of the book, the author, or of the book from which the title of this book was taken. I bought the book merely because the TITLE caught my eye. I didn't know what I was in for.

The clerk at the register told me I would love it. Now I'm telling you, you'll love it.

Once I opened it on the plane I was hooked. I had to force myself to only read a few chapters each day on the beach or by the pool, so I wouldn't spend my vacation indoors merely reading a book.

I won't rehash the plot, other reviewers have done that for you.

I will say that Connie Willis has skillfully combined characters, pace, plot, and humor. Everything comes together in the end.

Too many of the reviews these days complain that the pace was too slow or the book did not change his/herlife. Whats's wrong with just enjoying a nicely contrived and convoluted humorous mystery? In fact, is there anything wrong with reading it again? I'm doing that now---sort of like seeing the SIXTH SENSE for the second time. I read a page and say to myself "of course".

So should you read it? The answer is elementary---of course!