My book club's November selection was To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis.Winner of the 1999 Hugo Award for Best Novel, To Say Nothing of the Dog is a time travel story set in England, primarily during the 21st Century and the Victorian era.
Publishers Weekly says of it: "Willis effortlessly juggles comedy of manners, chaos theory and a wide range of literary allusions [with a] near flawlessness of plot, character and prose." Personally, I thought the novel was overly long. I think some editing to make it shorter and more concise would yielded a much better endproduct.
I was a little disappointed in the romance between the two main characters (I liked how it concluded, but I think that there wasn't as much build up as I would have liked). One the other hand, I did enjoy the story and its premise. The time-lag was an especially good touch (so amusing to see its effect on the characters). And, being a cat lover, I appreciated the role that Princess Arjumand played in the comedy of errors.
Soooo... if I liked Time Traveler's Wife, should I give this one a shot? Hmmm... yeah, like I need another book on my list.
ReplyDeleteIt's really nothing at all like _The Time Traveler's Wife_
ReplyDeleteIt's very much a Victorian comedy of errors with some time travel stuff thrown in, but you may like it.
I can send you my copy if you'd like ;)
Karen, this sounds pretty good. I read a Connie Willis book sometime ago and didn't care for it, but I think I'll put this on the list.
ReplyDelete