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kelseypickering's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
tildy08's review against another edition
3.0
I found it to be an interesting read, because it involved time-travel, but at times it was quite heavy on the sci-fi. However, it was interesting seeing how everything seemed to connect together even though it seemed completely random.
This book follows a main character by the name of Ned Henry who is a historian/time-traveller from the future. His main job was to bring back an ugly vase (I guess you could call it that haha) for the consecration of a cathedral. He was sent back however, into the 19th century to fix an incongruity that had occurred because of a fellow historian. He tried to fix it, and yet seemed to make things worse. The time-space continuum fixed the incongruity itself without the help of Ned. After the 19th century incongruity was fixed, Ned focused his attention on trying to find the bishop bird's stump (the ugly vase), which in the end he found.
Anyway, as you can see the plot of this book is incredibly complicated, and at times hard to follow. But as long as you don't take long pauses between chapters/reading it, you can make out just fine. HOWEVER, if you do, then you're kind of sort of screwed. Even though it was complex, I still enjoyed reading it. I don't think I'd recommend it to anyone, unless they had a lot of time to read it.
This book follows a main character by the name of Ned Henry who is a historian/time-traveller from the future. His main job was to bring back an ugly vase (I guess you could call it that haha) for the consecration of a cathedral. He was sent back however, into the 19th century to fix an incongruity that had occurred because of a fellow historian. He tried to fix it, and yet seemed to make things worse. The time-space continuum fixed the incongruity itself without the help of Ned. After the 19th century incongruity was fixed, Ned focused his attention on trying to find the bishop bird's stump (the ugly vase), which in the end he found.
Anyway, as you can see the plot of this book is incredibly complicated, and at times hard to follow. But as long as you don't take long pauses between chapters/reading it, you can make out just fine. HOWEVER, if you do, then you're kind of sort of screwed. Even though it was complex, I still enjoyed reading it. I don't think I'd recommend it to anyone, unless they had a lot of time to read it.
midwifereading's review against another edition
3.0
I liked it! Pretty sure a lot went over my head, because I am not English. It's incredibly entertaining, complex, and believable.
misstwosense's review against another edition
4.0
Amusing, Well Written, kind of a waste of time
Only read this if you can enjoy the journey more than the destination. It's an amusing farce but the mysteries at its core are EXTREMELY easy to decipher and it even kind of ends up being a shaggy dog story in its conclusion. I don't completely know if the former was intended or not, but it takes a lot of the drive away to complete it when you know exactly what all the answers are going to be. But it was still an enjoyable read nonetheless. More like three and a half stars. Inessential but enjoyable.
Only read this if you can enjoy the journey more than the destination. It's an amusing farce but the mysteries at its core are EXTREMELY easy to decipher and it even kind of ends up being a shaggy dog story in its conclusion. I don't completely know if the former was intended or not, but it takes a lot of the drive away to complete it when you know exactly what all the answers are going to be. But it was still an enjoyable read nonetheless. More like three and a half stars. Inessential but enjoyable.
jputzi's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I love this series! Nothing compares to the first book though.
rachelmp's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
shinycrochet's review against another edition
3.0
This took me longer to read than I expected. I ended up really enjoying the book, but in the third quarter was feeling really lost. I'm glad I stuck it out though as the ending really wrapped things up really well. I do recommend this as a read, but probably not immediately after reading Doomsday Book as they are completely different story types.
To Say Nothing of the Dog has a lot of tangents and loop holes and dry kooky comedy. Where as Doomsday Book is all emotion and human.
All that being said, I have to give Connie Willis massive props: I've actually learned some historical dates and know more now about these various eras than I did before.
To Say Nothing of the Dog has a lot of tangents and loop holes and dry kooky comedy. Where as Doomsday Book is all emotion and human.
All that being said, I have to give Connie Willis massive props: I've actually learned some historical dates and know more now about these various eras than I did before.
her_eyes_flashed's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
hinesight's review against another edition
5.0
Loved it so much - a charming, funny wander through various mystery genres, Oscar Wilde and all the timey-wimey-ness. I will say it made a lot more sense after having read, and loved, The Doomsday Book first. I tried to read this on its own a while ago, and got lost and impatient. So read the books in order, please.
katieinca's review against another edition
5.0
Time travel and Victorian England. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE BETTER?? Oh, right, throw in a bunch of references to Poirot and Peter Wimsey, that helps. Also pets.
Connie Willis is officially on the list with [a:Kate Atkinson|10015|Kate Atkinson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1363801830p2/10015.jpg] now, where I berate myself for not yet having made the time to read EVERYTHING they've ever written.
Connie Willis is officially on the list with [a:Kate Atkinson|10015|Kate Atkinson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1363801830p2/10015.jpg] now, where I berate myself for not yet having made the time to read EVERYTHING they've ever written.