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To Say Nothing of the Dog

Or How We Found the Bishop's Bird Stump at Last

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To Say Nothing of the Dog

By: Connie Willis
Narrated by: Steven Crossley
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Connie Willis' Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Doomsday Book uses time travel for a serious look at how people connect with each other. In this Hugo-winning companion to that novel, she offers a completely different kind of time travel adventure: a delightful romantic comedy that pays hilarious homage to Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat.

When too many jumps back to 1940 leave 21st century Oxford history student Ned Henry exhausted, a relaxing trip to Victorian England seems the perfect solution. But complexities like recalcitrant rowboats, missing cats, and love at first sight make Ned's holiday anything but restful—to say nothing of the way hideous pieces of Victorian art can jeopardize the entire course of history.

Delightfully aided by the perfect comedic timing of narrator Steven Crossley, To Say Nothing of the Dog shows once again why Connie Willis is one of the most talented writers working today.

©1998 Connie Willis (P)2000 Recorded Books Action & Adventure Fantasy Fiction Science Fiction Time Travel Witty Funny Cats
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Critic reviews

  • Hugo Award, Best Novel, 1999

"Willis effortlessly juggles comedy of manners, chaos theory and a wide range of literary allusions [with a] near flawlessness of plot, character and prose." (Publishers Weekly)
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It took me a while to get into as it is not really science fiction as I would have expected. I nearly gave up at an early stage but I'm glad I didn't.
I would describe it as a blend of historical mystery and romance, with satire and some rather amusing characters. Plenty of clues are given out as the well thought out plot develops. The story moves at a good pace and at all stages there is a lot going on, but I never lost the thread. It is witty with many twists and surprises.
A mixture of genres and not the sort of thing that would normally appeal to my taste, but good enough to keep me entertained.

Not what I expected but good,

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Clever, funny, romantic and exciting... loved it from beginning to end (especially the phrase "kissed her for 169 years").

Outstanding

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A lovely gentle story, just what I needed to take me away from stressful times.

Lovely

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Oh, strap in because describing this book is like explaining why cats are afraid of cucumbers - it's peculiar, it's funny, and if you've never seen it in action, you're just not living life to its fullest.

Listening to/reading this book was akin to embarking on a treasure hunt where the map is drawn in invisible ink, and the X marking the spot keeps moving.

To say I enjoyed it would be an understatement. It felt like being at a high school reunion but with people, you want to see. There's this delightful sense of familiarity as if the writer and I had been best friends in another life, and this was just our peculiar way of catching up over coffee.
The characters felt like those friends you make while standing in line for a roller coaster—strangers one moment, and the next, you're screaming together.

And now, finding myself at the end of this wild ride, I can't help but feel a bit like a book pirate on the hunt for more treasure. If this journey was anything to go by, I'm ready to dive headfirst into the rest of this writer's work. I need to know if the magic of this first read was a fluke or if I've just discovered my new favourite literary sorcerer.

wish I had come across this sooner

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The story could have been improved by removing the historical lectures which almost made me listen at double speed.However it was a good story with a twist and some romance. There was gentle humour throughout and references to Three Men in a Boat which I enjoyed.
I was baffled by some of the technical stuff - possibly I just needed to concentrate a bit harder.
I really liked the narrator and found his characters clearly defined and realistic. Princess Arjamon's voice was especially good.

Baffling in places

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