Doomsday Book

Rating:
Summary: Disaster!
Review: I am a great lover of historical fiction so I started reading the Domesday Book full of enthusiasm. While there have been other good books written about the period, namely "In the Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco I was looking forward to reading The Domesday Book because it specifically dealt with the Beubonic Plague - arguably one of the most important events of the High Middle Ages.

To say that I was dissapointed and dissillusioned with this book is a huge understatement. I was looking foreward to reading a decent piece of historical fiction - instead The Domesday Book turned out to be poorly written piece of science fiction, not worthy of even a Star Trek episode.

The plot takes place in the future and in the past, with characters traveling in between the two through the use of some mystical portal that wouldn't be out of place on the Enterprise holodeck. The plot is so utterly predictable that it is insulting to one's intelligence. Girl goes to study Middle Ages, faces adversity, falls in love with the locals, who then all die in horrible, horrible, and quite predictable ways, girl is then saved by companions from the future. There, I have spared you (the potential buyer and reader) the time and patience necessary to slog through this 600 page dud. There is no character development, no plot twists or turns, no redeeming grace in this book what so ever. The scholarship is so bad as to be actually insulting. I'm sure some historian is surely rolling over in his grave at the moment, in light of all of the errors the author committed in portraying English society in the 14th century (i.e naming characters with Galic and Saxon names that fell out of use after the Norman Conquest - 300 years before the setting of the novel). I actually feel sorry that some tree had to be cut down to print this book - yes it's that bad.

Save yourself the trouble and read some of the other fantastic books written about the time period. If not Umberto Eco, then "Journeyer" by Gary Jennings, but don't waste your time and money on this.

Rating:
Summary: very good, but not as good as "To Say Nothing of the Dog"
Review: I enjoyed this book very much and read it in only one day--perhaps it was my own identification with the protagonist, but I found the story, the characters, and the method of presentation (flipping back and forth in time, the use of the journal entries, etc) to be simply terrific.

Rating:
Summary: Never seen something so close to reality
Review: Amazing cannot properly describe the book. Nor does 'the best bok ever' - It's simply too hard to grasp. But you will know what I mean after you read it. The strength of the book lies in its simply real characters and interactions. It is more real then any movie or book I've ever seen or read. The way she grasps the difficulty of understanding a spoken language you aren't fimiliar with, for example, even after you've learned the language completely, is something I was so excited about, because Its simply the way I feel, as an Israely whose written english is very well, but when I attempt to disregard the Hebrew subtitles in a TV show or movie, it required my full attention and I still don't get it all. Or the way each person is characterized. The mother's exceptional worry for her child. How lack of interest in a conversation is grasped. Those are all taken so well from reality, that the book truely grasped me, hugged me, and left me to cry when it ended. Simply and amazing masterpiece. You won't regret buying it, trust me.

Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: I picked up "The Doomsday Book" on the advice of a friend and it didn't disappoint. It is really two stories: one in the future and one in the past. I liked the story in the past quite a lot more than the future one. It really gave me an insight into how life was back then: the social pecking order, the filth and disease, and especially the things about people which do not change over centuries, such as love, lust and duty.

I recommend this book, though I don't think it is the caliber of some of the other Hugo award winning novels.

Rating:
Summary: God is in the Details
Review: Well, I have read all the reviews, so what can I offer a newbie to this book, but to say that this is a wonderful story, and once you read it, you will never forget it. Connie Willis did a masterful job. Although only two characters have a point of view in this long intense tale, all the smaller characters are so well defined, you will never forget them. Finch, William and his overwhelming mother, little Colin and great-Aunt Mary, Montoya, the Americans and their bells, and Kivrin and her medieval friends. God is in the details here, and there are so many finely drawn details. You really have two stories, both interwoven, tense, heartbreaking. It's not a book you will want to put down. And once you do, you will sigh...just sigh...because it's a great read, a story of being very human in a world that does not always care about humanity.

Rating:
Summary: The Agelessness of Man (and Woman).
Review: I should start by saying science fiction is not my usual genre. I have recently been reading historical fiction, and the reference to the Middle Ages in The Doomsday Book is what drew me in. After reading the book, what strikes me most are the parallels I believe the author was attempting to draw between the 14th and 21st century. Not only does she lay the story lines side by side in alternating chapters, but the literary imagery of the ringing bells and ever-present weather in both centuries unifies the opposing times. It might seem that the 21st century, with its technology, in time travel and communication, it's virtual eradication of most diseases, would have little in common with the superstition and ignorance of the 14th century. Her characters, however, in both centuries, display many similar characteristics. There is lust, passion, jealousy, greed, and thirst for power. Listening to Lady Imeyne, I found myself saying, "That's Mrs. Gaddison." And when both centuries are beset with mysterious and terrifying diseases, reactions of fear, panic and misunderstanding are common. The protesting students with placards of the 21st century are the doomsayers of the 14th. What makes us fully human, our wealth of emotion, is ageless. But within ourselves is also hope, love, compassion and bravery, the Father Roches and Mr. Dunworthy's of the world. There is the innocence and wonder of Agnes and Colin. The human spirit has a remarkable ability to survive devastation, and that is for me, the message of The Doomsday Book.

Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking
Review: This is the first Connie Willis book I've read, but it will not be the last. The family of "contemps" and their everyday life is extremely thought provoking. The middle third of the story is generally character development, you get to know the contemps and the modern characters. Sometimes this is tideous to get through, but I assure you it is well worth it. Without this section of the book, it's just another time-travel novel, with this section it becomes a heartbreaking study of how people can endure the most painful of circumstances.

While the contemps are the main story, there are still modern characters that ,while not as tragic as the contemps, still capture your heart. This story will capture your heart, it is a wonderful book that should be enjoyed by many.

Rating:
Summary: A science fiction novel with with depth and heart.
Review: This is not your typical science fiction novel which is long on technology and short on character development. I think that Connie Willis has written a remarkable and ambitious novel; she has taken an time travel story and turned it into a public health mystery and a historical novel with some wit and humor thrown in for good measure. This is the story of a historian from the mid 21st century who travels to the 14th century to study medieval culture. The story is told in two parts, one in the future and the one in the past. The future part of the story involves the search for the origins of a killer flu which has descended upon Oxford, England, and the struggle to get back the historian who was sent to the past. We learn what happens to the historian, Kivrin, in the part of the story that takes place in the 14th century. In both parts of the story we learn very important human truths. That you can never completely forsee the outcome of any endeavor no matter how completely you plan, that human being will alway behave in a foolish and irrational manner when confronted with a crisis no matter how "advanced" they have become, and the love is indeed the most powerful force in the universe and perhaps our greastest gift from God. I recommend this novel highly.

Rating:
Summary: Great Novel of Time Travel and the Black Plague
Review: In Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis, a young woman from 21st century Oxford travels back to medieval times to study the culture of English life in the 1300s. What she, and no one at Oxford expected, however, was that a very modern-day epidemic might endanger the entire trip and even the life of the historian.

The story centers on Kivrin, a young historian who has eagerly awaited her chance to travel through time. Apparently in the 21st century, time travel is well understood - although it seems to have come under the control of academia rather than science or the military. The acting head of the Mediaeval department at Oxford has authorized a rushed trip. Kivrin, eager to go, is willing, but Mr. Dunworthy, her mentor from Twentieth Century (another department) isn't eager to see her go. Dunworthy is not pleased at the way Gilchrist has rushed the trip, ignoring safeguards in an effort to launch the project before the Christmas break.

As expected, nothing goes according to plan. Badri, one of the techs on the project, suddenly falls ill with a mysterious virus and can barely warn them that something has gone wrong. Soon there is an epidemic in England, and Dunworthy finds himself fighting a battle on two fronts. As he tries to help the school track down the source of this virus and contain it, he also looks for a way to retrieve Kivrin from a horribly mistaken trip to the past.

Doomsday Book is very easy to read, and enjoyable. I had to adjust myself to the English setting and the 21st century temporal location. Willis does very little explaining, forcing the reader to read carefully or reread pages to catch the significance of certain things names and places.

Willis does an excellent job of creating characters that we care about. Considering the large ensemble, she does a good job of keeping track, but some characters are better fleshed out than others. Some, like Dunworthy and Kivrin are excellent. Others, such as Mrs. Gaddson, begin as caricatures and never evolve beyond that point.

Kivrin is an excellent guide to the 1300s. She allows the reader to understand everything she sees from a modernistic point of view, noting those variations of our historical understanding of the period. I think she is one of the best understood characters, and Willis seems to put her heart into Kivrin.

I highly recommend Doomsday Book for anyone interested in the genre. After winning the Hugo and Nebula awards, it hardly needs my recommendation, but for what it's worth this is a great time travel story and a fantastic piece of science fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Great book- Hard to put down
Review: A great book from start to finish. It's one of those books that once you start you can't put it down. Very fun reading!