To Say Nothing of the Dog

In this book and others, Connie Willis writes of historians for whom time travel is a routine procedure. The originating period for the travelers in To Say Nothing of the Dog (written in 1997) is in the 2050s, well after the academic discovery of time travel in 2013, and the story begins in media res in 1940, but most of the chapters take place in 1888.

Like the only other Willis book I have read (Bellwether), this novel was for me a romantic comedy with sf features more than the other way around. The discussions of fate and free will, of the role of individual decision, and the puzzling of temporal paradoxes were all adroit and engaging, but I felt like the propulsive tensions of the book, and its moments of greatest intensity, really show more stemmed from its amorous matchmaking.

As far as the theory of time travel is concerned, the story very much avoids any sort of "many worlds" system of diverging timelines. The "continuum" is practically personified, spoken of by the historians as if it had conscious agency in its homeostatic functioning. It was almost like another name for God, in a book where none of the characters--whether from the 2050s or the 1880s--seemed to think in explicitly theological terms, despite it centering on a cathedral along with a humorous subplot about Spiritualism.

Literary allusions abound, to The Moonstone, Alice in Wonderland, Agatha Christie, Wodehouse, Shakespeare, Tennyson, Arthur Conan Doyle, and others. Now that we are well past the dates of many of the events anticipated in Willis' fiction here (including "the Pandemic" sometime between 2000 and 2013), this fiercely clever book's intertextuality keeps it "real" somehow.

This novel is the second in a series, and I haven't read the first. But I honestly felt more disadvantaged from not having read Jerome K. Jerome's Victorian Three Men in a Boat, to Say Nothing of the Dog than from having skipped Willis' Doomsday Book. And surely one should be able to read a series about time travellers in any order. I did like this one well enough that I expect I will eventually get back its predecessor. show less

Book club pick ☺

I have always been fond of Three Men in a Boat. It is incredibly nice to come back to To Say Nothing of the Dog, which is basically a love letter to Jerome K. Jerome, an idealised image of Victorian England, Victorian fiction, and Golden Age mystery novels. The author turns all of the above on its head and creates a delightful time travel romp. The stakes are high, too – it’s the whole space-time continuum, no less ;)

There is something to chuckle, laugh, or smile at on every page.

“ ’What on earth were you doing in the water?’
‘Drowning’, said professor Peddick.”

I loved the effects of time-lag (it happens when you do too much time travelling), which include attacks of maudlin sentimentality. Then you say show more stuff like “It’s no wonder they call you man’s best friend. Faithful and loyal and true, you share in our sorrows and rejoice in our triumphs…” ets etc. Lovely.

There are lots of misunderstandings and people talking at each other rather than to each other, because their brains went on a holiday. Really, I wouldn’t trust any of these characters with ordering a coffee for me, let alone time travel. But it also means that you are wonderfully entertained all the way through.

Things come together very satisfyingly by the end. Don’t look too closely, though, because time travel books rarely make sense. Just go with the flow, dear reader. Enjoy the flow of the Thames... :))) show less

“That's the trouble with books. They're timeless.” — Connie Willis, “To Say Nothing of the Dog”

How can you travel into the past without changing the present? That question lies somewhere in most time-travel novels, but few writers deal with it as directly as Connie Willis does in her 1998 novel “To Say Nothing of the Dog.” Another in her series of novels about historians of the future studying history by going back into the past, this screwball comedy of a story has as its main focus an attempt to correct missteps made by other historians that might affect the outcome of World War II.

Seemingly incidental events can have big consequences, and so historians Ned Henry and Verity Kindle are sent back to 1880s England to return show more a cat and to see that the cat's owner, a girl named Tossie, marries the right man, a mysterious Mr. C. They know from a diary fragment that she is supposed to meet Mr. C on a certain date, but how can they bring them together when they don't know who Mr. C. is, especially when she is already engaged to marry another man?

This all gets very confusing for anyone who is not Connie Willis, but she maintains the comedy and the banter at such a high level that readers shouldn't mind too much. Not as satisfying as her later comic novel “Crosstalk,” this is nevertheless an enjoyable romp through time, with stops in the Coventry cathedral during the 1940 bombing, a medieval dungeon and elsewhere along the way.

The novel is filled with literary references to William Shakespeare, P.G. Wodehouse, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and other writers. Ned even sees the three men in a boat that inspired “Three Men in a Boat.”

Willis also dips into metaphysics. Religion has been ruled nonessential by Ned and Verity's time — sort of how most governors and mayors regard it during the present virus — yet time itself becomes a mystical force that rules the universe. The "continuum wanted those things to happen," we are told.

Willis makes the same mistake made by a number of authors writing about the future — George Orwell, for instance — by not setting her story far enough into the future. Our historians are from the year 2057, time travel was invented between 2013 and 2020 and cats became extinct in 2004. Apparently she never imagined people would still be reading her novel in 2020 and finding those dates laughable. That's the trouble with books. They're timeless. show less

If ever there was a symphony as book (Beethoven's 8th?), it would be this one. Like a symphony, To Say Nothing is a wonderful composite that is almost impossible to deconstruct. In many books, there might be a chapter that stands out, whether due to brilliance or failure; this is largely a harmonious, excellently written whole, with only one or two incongruous passages near the end.

Then there's the writing: amazingly developed and interwoven, it takes a number of disparate themes and juxtaposes them. Like a flute soaring above the rest of the orchestra, there are playful little giggles throughout, largely due to reoccurring motifs. Particular favorites include Ned's bemusement at hearing anarchoristic words ("poppycock" and "drat"), show more unfortunate couples that end in disaster, Ned's inability to read a Roman numeral pocket watch ("I dozed off again at half past V") and the fickleness of cats. There are serious undertones, and a sense of urgency; the characters need to achieve their personal mission, but are also extremely concerned about their detrimental impact on history. And, to be completely honest, like a symphony, one needs to be in the mood and willing to pay attention, otherwise it just becomes so much soporific background noise.

The almost-impossible summary: in the year 2057, Lady Schrapnell (is there a more perfectly named character?) has come to England, determined to rebuild Coventry Cathedral, where her exponentially-great grandmother experienced a life-changing event. In her zeal, she's determined to make every detail perfect ("God is in the details") and has enlisted the Temporal Physics department of the University to make it happen. The story is told by temporal historian Ned Henry, who has most recently been in 1940, looking through the burned ruins of the Cathedral for the 'bishop's bird stump,' a hideous paragon to the lack of Victorian taste ("It did, however, have twining ivy and a bas-relief of either Noah's ark or the battle of Jericho.") His partner pulls him back to normal time when it is discovered he's suffering from time lag, evidenced by "one of the first symptoms of time-lag is a tendency to maudlin sentimentality, like an Irishman in his cups or a Victorian poet cold-sober." His interview in the Infirmary always makes me laugh ("Infirmary nurses usually resemble something out of the Spanish Inquisition, but this one had an almost kindly face, the sort an assistant torturer... might have.")

Ned is sent to 1888 with the dual purpose of recovering in the pastoral Victorian English countryside and returning an object to 1888 restore an incongruity and preserve the historical timeline. He meets an Oxford undergrad, Terence, and takes a idyllic boat ride down the Thames with him, only to discover Terence is intent on meeting a new infatuation, Lady Schrapnell's great(s)-grandmother, Tossie. While she has not attained the bossy demeanor of Lady S., she nonetheless has almost everyone falling in line with her ridiculous plans that include a seance and a jumble sale.

What follows is a comedy of errors as the time-traveling historians attempt to keep the young would-be lovers separated. The historians are convinced Tossie needs to fall in love with an unknown man with the initial 'C' and begin combing the countryside for eligible (and not-so-eligible) bachelors. Accompanying them is a genuine Oxford don distracted by fish and history, a tenacious and fierce bulldog named Cyril, and a black cat. As cats are extinct in the modern era, poor Ned is particularly unskilled in managing them:

"I set her down, and she walked a few feet across the grass and then took off like a shot and disappeared round the corner of a wall.
I told you so, Cyril said.
"Well, don't just stand there. Go after her," I said.
Cyril continued sitting.
He had a point. Our chasing after her in the woods hadn't been a roaring success. "Well, what do you suggest then?"
He lay down, his muzzle against the milk bottle, and it wasn't a bad idea."

A caveat: this is not hard or traditional science-fiction. The most science fiction-like aspect supposes that time travel is possible, but only in ways that don't effect the past or allow travelers to bring objects into the future. The field is known as temporal physics, and it while it is still being explored, incongruities--artificial changes to the timeline--could "theoretically could alter the course of history, or if it were severe enough, destroy the universe." Luckily for us, the universe is self-repairing, and has lines of defense that might manifest as an increase in coincidental events. We learn this in brief scenes between the time travelers and it's artfully done.

Characterization is wonderfully done. The historians are well-developed and multi-dimensional. I confess I especially love Cyril, who is completely dog-like but provides a silent foil for Ned's thoughts.

While I recognize the style and pace won't appeal to everyone, especially the action-adventure reader, I'm ridiculously fond of this book. I've re-read it numerous times, especially when I want to be in a book holding pattern, reading something familiar and enjoyable that didn't keep me up until 2 a.m. reading. I've read it so many times that I find myself quoting it, even if no one else gets my references. In fact, I once slightly embarrassed myself by exclaiming, "a genuine Oxford don!" courtesy of the passage, "I sat there watching him examine the fish and marvelling at what we'd caught. A genuine eccentric Oxford don. They're an extinct species, too." Well, he was a genuine eccentric don, after all--he studied voodoo and death practices.

Anyone who reads my reviews knows I have a fondness for the well-turned phrase, but while I often smile reading this book, the humor is built up over repeating passages rather than the the standard quip. This is gentle, suspenseful, silly, romantic and sophisticated reading. Filled with literary references and philosophizing on the importance of individuals in history versus scientific principles, someone with a classic background might best appreciate the wide-ranging references, but despite my own infirm education, I didn't find them inaccessible. If you enjoy Bertie Wooster, Shakespeare, Agatha Christie and Lord Peter mysteries, history, gentle comedic romance and literary references, the sly wit in this book will keep you entertained.

Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2012/12/27/to-say-nothing-of-the-dog-by-connie-wi...

Re-read March, 2016 show less

Fateful re-read 5/4/18

This is one of my all-time favorite books. From the clever phrases and deep PTSD exasperation to the total eventual collapse of the space-time continuum because of a freaking cat to THE BISHOP'S BIRD-STUMP, I find myself chortling nearly twenty years after the first read and again on the re-read.

We're catapulted through time thanks to the Oxford History Department's time machine put to the disposal of a wealthy American patron who is, let's be frank, NUTS. She's sent seemingly countless overworked historians into the Blitz to recover artifacts from the destroyed cathedral at Coventry.

What really happens is a LOT of slippage in the time-stream, a deep mystery, even more miscommunication and strange coincidences show more and classic slapstick and some of the funniest Victorian Romance I've come across.

Oh, it's definitely hardcore SF, but it's also a tribute to Jerome K Jerome's Three Men in a Boat and the spirit is very much alive and well.

What we've got is a genre-masher of epic proportions. It's a high-stakes time-continuum travel and looming disaster, a truly atrocious MacGuffin that has everyone running around like headless chickens in a slapstick comedy, and a classic 1930's Hercule Peroit Agatha Christie mystery.

All three genres are pulled off wonderfully! And she tops it all off with VERY well-turned phrases that stick with you so warmly. :)

Charming? Beyond charming. Utterly delightful. No poppycock. :) show less

Ages ago, I asked a bookstore coworker what he would recommend from the science fiction/fantasy section for someone (me) who didn't usually read that type of book and thought they didn't like them. It took me about 7 years to get around to following up on the recommendation, but only 3 days to get through the book.

It's about time travel and the space-time continuum and incongruities and rebuilding the Coventry Cathedral in the 21st century. But really all of that is an excuse to get our hero (Ned) back to Victorian England (1888, to be exact) and have a fish-out-of-water tale combined with a comedy of manners. Someone saved a drowning cat and the cascading consequences might result in the Nazis winning World War II and whatever may have show more happened after that. Or maybe not - time is a chaotic system, we're reminded frequently, and has built-in redundancies that tend to try to self-correct. It's just hard to distinguish between self-correction and a completely different timeline spinning out of control.

Lots of other works and authors are referenced, including Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey, and Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone (hopefully you've read this one beforehand if you intend to, because it's quite thoroughly spoiled here). I'd categorize the book as a light romp, and it is quite a lot of fun most of the way. I thought it dragged a little at the end, but that's really my only complaint.

Recommended for: fans of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, hopeless romantics, people who have had an extremely overbearing boss, fans of Oscar Wilde.

Quote: "One of the first symptoms of time-lag is a tendency to maudlin sentimentality, like an Irishman in his cups or a Victorian poet cold-sober." show less

Brilliant! This book is laugh-out-loud hilarious all the way through, and manages to include lots of clever references to Victorian novels, mystery novels, and history. I was shocked to discover that Willis is American - this novel is classic British humor.

I was surprised to realize that this is a mystery novel as much as a science fiction novel - I'm generally not much of a mystery fan, but I enjoyed the problem-solving involved in this book.

There is also a constant theme of the forces of causality in history. A doddering old Oxford don is always muttering about how history is caused by individual actions and personalities, not major forces. Meanwhile the time-traveling characters are trying to figure out if they've screwed up the show more course of history, and whether minuscule actions have an effect on history or not.

A really really fun read, with some good food for thought in it as well. It made a great book to read out loud as well - it was fun to share it with someone else. show less