Doomsday Book by Connie Willis Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.38 You Save: $3.61 (45%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Doomsday Book
Book Review: A science fiction novel with with depth and heart.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is not your typical science fiction novel which is long on technology and short on character development. I think that Connie Willis has written a remarkable and ambitious novel; she has taken an time travel story and turned it into a public health mystery and a historical novel with some wit and humor thrown in for good measure. This is the story of a historian from the mid 21st century who travels to the 14th century to study medieval culture. The story is told in two parts, one in the future and the one in the past. The future part of the story involves the search for the origins of a killer flu which has descended upon Oxford, England, and the struggle to get back the historian who was sent to the past. We learn what happens to the historian, Kivrin, in the part of the story that takes place in the 14th century. In both parts of the story we learn very important human truths. That you can never completely forsee the outcome of any endeavor no matter how completely you plan, that human being will alway behave in a foolish and irrational manner when confronted with a crisis no matter how "advanced" they have become, and the love is indeed the most powerful force in the universe and perhaps our greastest gift from God. I recommend this novel highly.Book Review: A slow beginning but all around deep and rich book...
Summary: 4 Stars
I've found from my own reading of Doomsday Book and from a quick perusal of other reviews that it is a love/hate relationship. I myself went through this very same feelings as I pushed through Doomsday Book. Ultimately, though, I found that as the book progressed that it matured in such a way that I was floored by the time I finished.
The cons are glaring in the beginning of the book and they almost make you want to put the book down and stop reading. The two major turnoffs for me were the repetitive and annoying characters and the paradox time machine. Willis has a habit of writing her characters really annoying. Some might say that if that was what she intended than she did her job. But when I say annoying I mean I see that they are annoying, but I am annoyed with how strongly Willis pushed them at us. There is only so much Gilchrist, Gaddstone, Imayne and Finch you can take before you get frustrated. But having read a previous book of Willis' (Bellwether) I knew that this is just how she writes. Very quirky and annoying characters that do stuff that people wouldn't normally do. I could only assume that this is done on purpose since it has now happened in both books. It is her style of writing, her quirky storytelling that shines through. The other major con is the paradox time travel machine. It is stated early on that it will not let diseases or bacteria or whatever that would affect history in anyway, and to a lesser extent would not let the person go through if they were to intend to alter it (i.e. assassinate Hitler), yet the obvious assumption that Kivrin could have easily killed anyone unintentionally or changed the paths of many a man or woman (which she undoubtedly did) leaves such a huge whole in the time travel concept that it was hard to get around.
It was these two major cons that slowed the book down for me through the first hundred pages, but I pushed on. From there the book grew on me. Willis is classified as sci fi, but her writing certainly is not. Just as many of the other Hugo and Nebula award winners do, Willis' books have sci fi as a loose base and background for the story, with the real action/storyline being the focus of the characters and the plot. The sci fi part is a vessel, nothing more. You are not going to see predictions of technological advances (as many a reviewer has complained about), but you will see a story told and told well. Kivrin in England in 1348, Dunworthy in England in 2055, both dealing with their own catastrophic diseases and going through their own personal ordeals. We are treated to a great story with a lot of history that intertwines so well together that by the time I reached the end I was 100% invested in the characters and what they were going through. I did not want the book to end because I loved living in the Middle Ages through the eyes of Kivrin and the lives of Agnes, Rosemund, Father Roche and company.
Overall I couldn't have been more surprised by how the book ended and had my interest completely despite the first 100 pages of repetitive and annoying characters. Because of the first 100 pages I can only give 4 stars, but the book as a whole is just a fantastic book. Don't pick it up thinking you're getting a prediction of the future of technology, or you are going to visit planets and meet aliens. As with most of the Hugo and Nebula winners the sci fi element is simply a vessel to tell the story and nothing more, but be ready for a great story that paints a great, albeit sad, story. A definite recommend if you can push through the first 100 pages.
4 stars.
Book Review: A superb tale of time-quirks
Summary: 5 Stars
I picked this book up at my local library, and could not put
it down! The tale of a seemingly unprepared history student,
Kivrin, transported back to the Black Plague, and the unusual
plague that struck her hometime, capitvated me. The depths of
human evils, adaptations, and the good inherent in all of us
fill this book and make it come alive. The size of the novel is
forbidding, but once into the story, the lights don't go out
until the book is finished! The only part I did not like was
how the author jumped back and forth between times. That was
understandably necessry, but it confused me a little. The idea
of a recording chip activated by a semblance of prayer caught
my attention right away. It is only one of the intriguing ideas
and inventions Connie Willis details in her book. A very good read.Book Review: A tale of the Black Death comes alive!
Summary: 5 Stars
Time travel at its best. The story shows what life was like at that time when disease and sanitation were concepts that did not yet exist.The characters of the young girl and the priest are ones I will never forget. Well doneBook Review: A time-travel/mediaval history/sci-fi adventure/mystery
Summary: 5 Stars
Hello,Is Kate Winslet there?
Yes, Kate, you were BORN to play Kivrin Engle in Doomsday Book!
Yes, its another "period piece" but listen, there's a catch!
This time you're playing a 21st century history student sent back in time to study the 14th century. But something goes wrong and instead of being sent back to 1320, you're sent to 1348 at the beginning of the Black Plague!
Think 'Outbreak' meets 'Excalibur' !
Its part mystery, and part science fiction thriller, yet it also has the twist of experiencing life in 14th century England.
The book was great! Yeah, I'll sent a copy over to you right away. You'll love it!