Passage

Rating:
Summary: Not Quite Thought Out to the Fullest....
Review: She gives it a good run, though. I can't say I've read Connie Willis before, so I suppose this is sort of an unbiased opinion... Passage was a novel that I thought was quite well written from the beginning up until the "twist". Some might accuse me of wanting a fuzzy happy ending, but that's not quite what I'm saying. The characters were interesting, but could have been developed more. Side plots weren't fully developed - I think she could have delved into more detail about things like Dish Night and the characters themselves, but Willis tended to deal more with the scientific writing and the details of the work as opposed to creating a really decent story. She took a few philosophical points about death, connected them with near death experiences, then plugged in a few scientists and a semi-decent plot (up to the "twist").

This was indeed a page turner, though, and I ripped through it at a blazing pace. This was one of those books you're not quite sure is good or not until you get to the end - it could have been a gem of a story, or it could have been totally disconnected and unfulfilling. Unfortunately, the latter sentiment is the true one, in my opinion.

I'm not telling you to read this book right away. But I'm also not telling you that it's trash. It's worth a read, if only to see what Willis has to say at the end.

Rating:
Summary: Simply beautiful.
Review: Perhaps I should have paid more attention reading it but . . . too long? It seems to be a common theme in these reviews, but it wasn't long enough for me! In "Passage", I found one of those rare books that left me with that vague sort of empty feeling at the end, like a good friend has moved away. My only regret was that I was so caught up in it, I read it too quickly and before I knew it there was nothing more to read.

I'm going to take a wild leap here and assume the discussions about neurotransmitters and what have you would have been a bit tedious if I didn't know what Connie was talking about, but alas, I am in the health sciences. Instead, I found myself delighted that, for once, an author had done enough research to get things half way right - but then, I have come to expect nothing less from Connie. Her research is impeccable and it shows. She never lowers herself to hedging around the facts she's uncertain about, and it makes the entire book that much better - from the medical technology to the difficulties of research to a young girl's obsession with disasters, the details are immaculate.

The main character was someone I could relate to. I felt like I'd known her forever, and I suspect I was projecting some of my own personality onto her. Some of the more amusing secondary characters are wonderfully over-the-top. (They are meant to be over-the-top, that's what makes them amusing. It's part of Connie's charm - remember "To Say Nothing of the Dog"?) But to tell you the truth, nothing seemed out of place to me. Perhaps I was too absorbed in the distinctive writing style and engaging plot to have noticed.

I think what I loved the most about the book was the ending. I read the book the day after it came out in hardcover, and I still find myself thinking about that ending when I least expect it. It fascinates, it disturbs, it makes you think. And best of all, you never quite know what happened. (And Connie gains an evil sort of pleasure from refusing to tell you if you ask!)

I've recommended this book to everyone who will listen, and I've not observed one of them who took my advice and regretted it. Read this book! It's beautiful!

Rating:
Summary: Should have been an non-fiction book instead
Review: Miss Willis' explanations of the NDE phenomenon--scientific and otherwise--were food for thought. That, to me, was all that was good about this book. The characters were one-dimentional. Joanna Landers did not interest me and her internal dialogues were repetitive. I repeat, her internal dialogues were repetitive. Richard Wright's characterization was "a really cute doctor" and he always sounded like he was reading some sort of scientific journal. Then there's this young girl, Maisie, who was nothing more than character reciting a collection of great disasters. Same with this guy who keeps talking about the Yorktown. Mr. Mandrake was a stereotype. Great characters define a good novel, and none of Miss Willis' characters were interesting. I would've gotten the same satisfaction from reading about NDEs (and great disasters) in a non-fiction book.

Rating:
Summary: Incredibly original
Review: Passages is the fourth Connie Willis book I've read---the more I read of her work, the more impressed I become. Unlike To Say Nothing of the Dog or Bellwether, Passages is very serious (much more similar to The Doomsday Book).

Johanna is a cognitive psychologist who teams up with a neurologist to invesitage near death experiences. I'm not a fan of New Age things or discussions of near death experiences and so the premise of the book did put me off reading it for a while. But because I have liked Willis so much I gave the book a chance and I'm very glad I did so. It is excellent---it avoids all of that syrupy silliness which usually characterizes books about near death experiences or even sudden death (and thankfully it also avoids the gushy hysteria which often characterizes novels set in hospitals and ERs).

Johanna's experience as she delves into death is fascinating---it's very rare to read a book and not be able to guess at what will come next but Willis manages to pull it off. So while it is true that the book can be, at times, rather wordy, I was never really tempted to put it down. In fact I began it on the metro ride to work and had a difficult day focusing on my job I was so tempted to sneak off and read!

This is not for the weak of heart but I strongly recommend it!

Rating:
Summary: Slow Pain and Anguish.
Review: After reading Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog, I couldn't wait to start reading Passage. Unfortunately, after struggling through three hundred pages of the main characters constant 'rehashing' I realized I was wasting my time. I skimmed the next fifty pages, decided it wasn't worth skimming, read the last chapter and threw it in the trash so nobody else could read it. I do not recommend this book to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Willis does it again!
Review: I too became a fan of Connie Willis after reading the Doomsday Book, but it's only recently that I've been reading her other works. Passage is phenomenal. The way Willis presents the characters is just unbelievable. She has a gift for characterization and dialogue. I also love the way she presents the techniques of researching, clinical or otherwise. The explanations for the NDE (Near Death Experiences) is just incredible. She examines a really delicate subject with an innovative mind. I couldn't put the book down. It's over 700 pages long, but I could've read another 800.

Rating:
Summary: What a wretched book
Review: I loved Doomsday Book. When I saw another Connie Willis book, I bought it without question. How disappointed I was. It starts off with pages after pages of contrived impediments to two main characters meeting and getting together. Then it moves on to hundreds of pages of "oohh if I could just think of something." Back and forth, driving around and back, doing the same thing over and over again. We have two MDs who are supposed to be smart, but they are so willfully ignorant that they can't learn anything about anything. AARGH! I finally gave up after about five hundred pages. I skimmed the rest of the book to confirm that it was going to be as tedious and boring as the first part. It was! Into the trash can! With a good editor, this book could have easily been reduced to a hundred pages or less. It might have been good then. As it was it was a terribly overlong, contrived, tooth extraction.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but wordy
Review: This was my first book by Willis so I had no preconceived ideas. It was too wordy and hard to be interested in the first 200 pages plus too full of medical babble. The characters were well thought out and the plot surprise midway through worked - got me hooked! Without giving away anything, her recurring theme for death seemed a bit overdone - I was waterlogged by the end. I enjoyed her writing style and quirks of humor; she has the underused ability to write dialogue that actually sounds as if people would talk that way. It's worth your time if you already like her writing or near death interests you.

Rating:
Summary: Slow and pointless
Review: I found this book WAY to long and dull beyond my words to convey. It's so drawn out and slow. Finally after about 200 pages it becomes a little intresting when they start the near death experiments. You wonder what's at the end of the tunnel. When I found out it was the Titanic my recation was; is that it? Then there is about 400 odd pages to wade though of the same things over and over and over again until you reach the end. The end was the worst thing about the whole book and left me feeling that I had really wasted my time actually getting though this boring book to get to THIS?

Rating:
Summary: One of the greats
Review: This is the second Connie Willis book I have read. The first was the Doomsday Book, which was extremely well-written if somewhat depressing. Passage is unlike anything I've ever read. The first thing that hit me is that Connie Willis is without a doubt an exceptional writer--a literary genius.

The story is captivating and unique. I know there have been countless novels published that deal with life after death from various approaches, but this is the most scientific, believable treatment of the subject that I've encountered. Those who hold strong religious convictions such as I (I'm Catholic) may be disappointed that there is no moral lesson or religious message in the book. In fact, I got the impression that the author is probably an agnostic. Nevertheless, this book is not anti-religious but leaves a lot of questions open. Besides--it is a novel, not a book on theology.

The rich symbolism, ponderings, mysteries, and superb characterizations make this a remarkable book in my opinion. It is for people who like to think, and not going to appeal as much to those who are looking for a sensational action adventure or a book that will reinforce their religious convictions about an afterlife.

One thing that especially entranced me was the symbolism of the Titanic. I absolutely marvel at this author's imagination and ability to construct such vivid pictures in the reader's mind. I felt like I was there. That is SO RARE in a book!

I really recommend this as one of the greats...unless you just want a super-light read with a trite plot and shallow stereotypical characters (the content of most novels), I heartily recommend that you buy this book and curl up on the sofa with it for a most enjoyable voyage.