Doomsday Book by Connie Willis Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Doomsday Book
Book Review: A good read
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Book Review: A good read while in the airport/on the plane...
Summary: 4 Stars
Just finished reading this after a coast-to-coast round trip, which seems to be the best way to digest this treatise... I agree with previous comments regarding the near future. It's as if this book were written in the 1960's by someone who would have no concept of the communications revolution. Thought it would have been cool if Roche had turned out to be a traveller from even further in the future who happened to cross paths with Kivrin. He would have recognized her origins from her modern English ravings while she was ill, and they could have worked together to aid those they cared about without upsetting the space-time continuum. I could see this being made into a movie assuming improvements to the year 2054 situations and a more satisfying ending.Book Review: A good yarn.
Summary: 4 Stars
This book stands as a counterpoint to Crichton's Timeline. However, it is much, much, much better. If you like the thought of time travel, the period of the Black Death, in-depth (and highly plausible) tidbits of the psychology that the plague had on the people of the time, then this book is for you. It doesn't really get too "gross" until the end, and the last chapter is a bit of an anticlimax (although it is quite expected). Still, well worth an 80% grade.Book Review: A haunting book that stains your soul
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very moving book. Yes, some of the characterizations of the modern day characters are sterotypical. Yes, the book starts out rather slow. I had heard these criticisms before I read this book. But don't let them prevent you from reading one of the best reads around. This book is richly detailed with period nuances that make you smell the stink and feel the hardships of medieval England. You will be drawn into this haunting time. This book has made a lasting imact on me. I read it over a year ago, and I still think of the pitifully described people often. I've never written an endorsement for a book, but I had to come back to pitch this. You'll be glad you bought it.Book Review: A heart-rending favorite
Summary: 5 Stars
Connie Willis' Doomsday Book is one of my favorite books of all time. This is something my young adult children can't understand--there is too much sickness and death for them and they think it's a depressing book. But for me, the compelling characters and their concern for each other is redemptive in the midst of both the Black Death of the past and a pandemic in the future. I love the characters, the story and the writing. It is Willis at her best. It is sci fi at its best. I highly recommend it to anyone who can stomach graphic stories about illness.