To Say Nothing of the Dog / Connie Willis

 

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, that was fun. A wonderful time travel whodunnit. I forget where I read that this book was informed by Three Men in a Boat, which I read earlier this year in preparation for reading this novel. Although I didn't find Jerome K. Jerome's tale too engaging, I loved Connie Willis' version. I’m so glad I was familiar with Mr. Jerome's work, as it provided a great deal of humour. Although this novel features the same university department as Willis' Doomsday Book, it had an entirely different tone. This one is practically slapstick by comparison.

Ms. Willis obviously shares some literary interests with me. I loved the references to Conan Doyle & Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie & Poirot, Dorothy Sayers & Lord Peter Wimsey & Harriet Vane, P.G. Wodehouse & Jeeves & Wooster, not to mention Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone. This kind of thing is just catnip to me. So many of my favourites alluded to all in one place. Not to mention the sighting of Jerome out on the river!

Willis also has a talent for names—what else do you call the rich, pushy woman who has taken over everything and destroyed the regular work of the history department? Why, Lady Schrapnell, of course! Perfect. I think that Jodi Taylor must have read this before writing her own time travel romp Just One Damned Thing After Another, another book that I've enjoyed a lot.

It took me a couple of attempts to really get going in this book just because of life matters, but once I reached a certain point, I couldn't set it down until I was finished.

Book number 382 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.


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