Sign in with Facebook
Conrad's Reviews > Doomsday Book
Doomsday Book (Oxford Time Travel, #1)
by
by
What I find most objectionable about this book is its apparent lack of editing. Half the novel consists of people panicking over the phone about other phone conversations other people have had about people getting on and off trains who are the children of WHO CARES. Willis has no sense of perspective, no skill for inventing the suggestive detail; consequently, this novel is a monument to the gods of boredom. This on top of the implausible premise that if time travel were available as a technology, historians would have a monopoly on its use. I have found in my travels that most historians are much better at infighting than they are at obtaining control of proprietary technologies. More red herring than a Norwegian fishing boat, it's like a Clan McGuffin family reunion. Totally useless.
Sign into 欧宝娱乐 to see if any of your friends have read
Doomsday Book.
Sign In 禄
Reading Progress
Comments Showing 1-46 of 46 (46 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Krissa
(last edited Aug 25, 2016 10:54AM)
(new)
-
rated it 4 stars
Mar 24, 2007 08:04AM
*sigh*. Just.. *sigh*. We don't usually disagree this diametrically.
reply
|
flag
Yeah, I know. That's why I gave it a shot. I'm actually not finished with it, but it's like pulling teeth.
OMG I haven't ever even heard of this book but Conrad's review kept me laughing for a solid minute. Bravo.
I think I'm with Krissa . . . one of my useless degrees is in medieval history (earned back when medieval history was known as "current events") and I found this book totally engrossing. And this genre doesn't usually hold my attention at all.
In a stunning example of irony, I'm now reading this book. Basically because I'll read nearly anything put before me. Krissa knows I find the prose kind of painful (and that I found Conrad's review hysterical), but honestly the story so far is fine with me. Granted, I'm only 46 pages in (started it this morning)... we'll see how I feel once it's all said and done.
I agree with your review. This book could have benefitted from losing a few hundred pages.
Amen, brother. This book was such a disappointment.
Half the novel consists of people panicking over the phone about other phone conversations other people have had about people getting on and off trains who are the children of WHO CARES.Oh, it's so very, VERY true.
I agree! I made it through the first boring half of the book. This book gets such great reviews that the second half must be spectacular. I'm not going to waste more time to find out. Back to the library with you Doomsday Book.
I wish I read your review before I picked this thing up, I'm on page 300 and I still don't get what was wrong with that idiot Badri.
My thoughts on this book are echoed in your review. I just finished it today and while I didnt hate it as much as you did I did remark to my son that finally on page 520 something actually happened. I would also add that if time travel technology were available, wouldnt you also expect to see cell phones?
I agree! I think I liked the overall story better than you did, I was driven to distraction with the American bell ringers, the multiple times we'd run to Badri's side - just as he'd say one more word then pass out, the same conversations over and over about the missing Head of the University..... It was only the overwhelmingly positive reviews that kept me going. And ironies of ironies -- I thought the last section was rushed!!!!!
I'm only 87 pages in, and your clever review seems to sum it up. However, I keep reading because I'm still somehow intrigued.I will say that I try not to get too irritated with sci-fi when the author *doesn't* get technology right - sci-fi doesn't have to prognosticate, only explore. IMO then again, when SF DOES get it right, well, that's the good stuff.
Willis has won a shit-ton of Hugo/Nebulas, so how do we account for that?
I know what you mean Crystal. I thought about putting this book down like a rabid dog, but I just couldn't quite pull the trigger. Plus, I hate giving up on books. It sure does feel like there could have been much better editing. Waaaaaay too much time spent on items and conversations that do nothing to advance the plot to add to character development. Too much useless info.
My boyfriend started to worry every time I would shout out loud at this book my (very negative) feelings on Mrs. Gaddson.
Totally disagree with Conrad and all those who negate Willis' writing style. This book is excellent in the way the author gets inside Dunworthy's head, the psychology and interactions between characters and the limitations/restrictions of their 2054 technology.
I agree... I've read other Willis' books and they were good,but this is disappointing. I've 1/2 way through and Badri is still moaning "Something wrong..." !!!?? Seriously, they get interrupted or he passes out every stinking time they ask him what's wrong. I read "To Say Nothing of the Dog" first (didn't realize it was part of a series) and it was great fun! I'll probably keep plowing through but now that I know for sure most of this stuff is flotsam I'm just going to skim my way through.
"WHO CARES"...LMFAO.And exactly why I won't waste my time on this one. Thanks for the confirmation!
Loved the last 4 hours or so of a 25 hour audiobook. I used it with headphones as a "fall asleep aid" for a few weeks til something actually happened! Also felt the end was rushed. I didn't even really feel like all the superfluous time spent was actually developing the characters - each had one or two characteristics that were repeated each time they were mentioned. Boring! The parts set "back in time" were much more enjoyable overall. Perhaps because the "modern" parts (really with the "screamer" telephone?) were so bad. However, for some reason, I love books about the Black Death. Glad I read it.
Emily what else would you recommend in the Black Death genre?
Trains? What trains? I remember a wooden wheelbarrow kindof thing though. Sure we're talking about the same book?
Conrad's comment about editing is on point. I am an editor and find myself paring this book down on every page. I stopped reading Passage for the same reason. I am going to try to plow through this one. About 1/3 through and still waiting for what the HELL is going to happen.UPDATE: March 18 - took it back to the library not half-way finished. Overblown and overwritten.
So glad to see that others had the same experience. I scanned a large chunk of the book just trying to get to the next piece of action. Entire sections seemed to be on an endless loop. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen.
I'm going to abandon this book. 30% through, and if I could sum it up in one word, that word would be TEDIUM.
Abby wrote: "I'm going to abandon this book. 30% through, and if I could sum it up in one word, that word would be TEDIUM."Agreed.
Awful. Page after page full of meaningless dialogue. I'm a third thru and just launched into serious skimming mode. I'd give up but I am interested in what happens to Kivrin. At least I am right now. Another 50 pages in and I might not be.
Jim wrote: "Awful. Page after page full of meaningless dialogue. I'm a third thru and just launched into serious skimming mode. I'd give up but I am interested in what happens to Kivrin. At least I am right n..."
:-)
I hate giving up on a book! I finished it but was still waiting for SOMETHING to happen well into the last pages.
It seemed like all the characters were not completely developed. They kept disappearing or not materializing at all.
I really wanted to like this book. But I will never recommend it to anyone!
I wish people would not post reviews unless they had read the entire book they are reviewing.
I thought the running around added a sense of reality to the story. After all, that's what usually happens when you're in the middle of a crisis. Things you take for granted stop working and obstruct your attempts to deal with the crisis.
Such a cogent point! I also gave up. I slogged through so much boring description and detail to try to get to the point where the girl figured out where and when she was (even though I had figured it out myself at the beginning). About a third of the way through the book she was still in the same spot! I finally gave up. I could鈥檝e reduced that first third of the book into a half a chapter. Can鈥檛 believe this book got such stellar reviews. The premise is exciting, compelling. But the plodding writing style was not.
While understandable that the first half is tedious, by not finishing the novel you miss out why the novel won the Hugo and Nebula awards. I hope those of you who didn鈥檛 finish go back and make the effort. It is _so_ worth it!!
I completely agree with your review. I am still annoyed that we never find out where the head of the department was the whole time. I thought maybe they鈥檇 reveal that he died of the 鈥渕ysterious鈥� influenza while away. But nope, it ends without explanation.
erm, you seem to be more interested in the telephones than the history. The author at least has done some research on medieaval history. If you are worried about the author's view of the future, I suggest you read Mary Shelley's "The last man".
The panicked phone conversations over other phone conversations are a metaphor, and a theme throughout Willis's work. It's kind of one of the whole points of her writing. I guess you either get it or you don't, but it's on purpose, it's not due to lack of editing.
I鈥檓 listening to the audiobook and finding it tedious and repetitive too. Not only is the dialogue and exposition bad but in the audiobook, the narration is bad also. I wondered if it was worthwhile to keep listening.So I looked up the author to see that she鈥檚 won numerous Sci-fi awards including for this book.
That seemed very strange to me. Are there no standards for writing quality in Sci-fi? It鈥檚 not my usual genre but I love gritty plague and dystopia fiction.
I鈥檓 an editor too and have to wonder how some of this writing managed to reach publication.
So I looked here on 欧宝娱乐 for reviews, to find 4 stars overall, but a mixed bag of responses. For now I鈥檓 going to listen to those who loved and keep listening to see if things improve...
I totally agree. Very annoying book.
Couldn鈥檛 agree more about the repetitiveness and tedium of much of this book. I did complete it but was on the verge of quitting multiple times out of frustration. It鈥檚 a shame, because it obscures the real inventiveness and compelling parts of the story for me. Suffice it to say, this book is a slow burn, but far, far too slow for me.
But how do you REALLY feel, Conrad? Lol. Appreciate the candor in the review.
3 hours into the audiobook and finding myself increasingly annoyed at how slow and repetitive it is. Ok, so a technician collapsed in a bar before sharing crucial information, I get it, let's move on. Instead the characters panic and repeat themselves over and over again. "is he hurt? did he fall? what was he trying to say? is he hurt? why did he fall? is he hurt? is he hurtishehurt..."I might not finish this
Connie Willis is a remarkable writer that writes very funny and very sad stories. I strongly recommend the funny ones, the latest came just last year and is about the obsessive believers in UFOs and also about some really alien aliens. I also recommend avoiding her "Oxford time-travelling books", as the one considered here, because I have tried to read them and never finished any of these. They are populated by stupid, annoying jerks and people that seems to do what the jerks want without complaining, so they get in very bad situations as a result. There is nothing and no one to like in these long novels. Except, maybe, finishing them and swearing never to read another one. A feat I have been totally unable, as just explained, to accomplish.
If I had a dollar for every time I read the phrase 鈥� I have to find the drop 鈥� . I read 120 pages and realize I was going nowhere . Tedious and disappointed.
100% agree. What a punish. It was a DNF for me, far too tedious and needed a hard edit.
I wondered if it was just me. I see that it wasn鈥檛. Thank you. I can put this one away without regretting not finishing.
Wow! I'm loving this book. The repetitious thoughts and statements of characters are true to life. When you're obsessed by something, as Mr. Dunsworthy was about Kivrin's safety, you do think and say the same things over and over. Books and plays often skip that aspect of reality for the sake of brevity. Willia doesn't. I've already read Willis's other time travel books and I'm sorry that this is the last one; I have so enjoyed them!
