Doomsday Book (Oxford Time Travel, #1) in Around the Year in 52 Books

Oct 07, 2021 Marta rated it it was amazing

Shelves: female-author, historical-fiction, audio, library, sci-fi

This is a tough book but also an easy book. The subject is tough: two very deadly pandemics, one in the past, another in the future. Willis is drawing parallels and differences, while making it all about the people. But the writing and character development makes this easy as pie. Written with humor and compassion, she draws a vivid, close-to-home and very human picture of characters, every day life, small annoyances and small and big joys - and also loss, unbearable suffering, loss of faith, bu This is a tough book but also an easy book. The subject is tough: two very deadly pandemics, one in the past, another in the future. Willis is drawing parallels and differences, while making it all about the people. But the writing and character development makes this easy as pie. Written with humor and compassion, she draws a vivid, close-to-home and very human picture of characters, every day life, small annoyances and small and big joys - and also loss, unbearable suffering, loss of faith, but also hope.

Connie Willis and I seem to click: I love her down-to-earth characters and writing, the humor, the tongue-in-cheek dialog, and just the overall plotting. She dribbles information and speculation so that even if we know what’s coming, it is still thrilling to see the character figuring it out. She is a great observer of little daily things like children being cranky or cute, sisters being mean or loving, fathers worrying over daughters, people cooking a feast or caring for the sick. She is equally apt speculating over time-travel paradoxes, academic bureaucracy and crazy crackpot ways to act in a pandemic. Yep, she got almost everything right in 1992, down to the lack of lavatory paper and too many Americans dying because they would not be told what to do.

There are many great themes explored, from father and mother figures taking care of children to religious ceremonies and church bells. The church bell theme reminded me of The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers, whom Willis definitely loves, as she refers to her work in To Say Nothing of the Dog. Her biggest theme though is that people are the same all through time, and there are blamers, busy-bodies but also caring, helpful people at every time and place; and children wex their parents, get bored and tired just as they did centuries ago. And the possible overarching theme is the role of the historian, who records what happened to the people even if he is the last to survive, even if he is dying.

I listened to the book, and I first found the first half somewhat slow as so much time was spent on character and world building. But the second half of the book requires all that as you must get to know how people lived and what they were like to truly care about them. It is a very tough and affecting second half and I thought I could never get through this again… But I found myself beginning to listen again to be reminded how they were before.

And on second listen, every little detail came to sharp focus as a portent for things to come, as heart-aching, as a clue that was missed the first time… it was all there.

And I realized that Connie Willis is a genius. ...more

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Jan 27, 2024 Kathryn rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks, fiction, qld-bc, 2024-reading-list

3.5★

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Feb 17, 2022 Sukhraj rated it it was amazing

This book wasn't even on my radar until I saw a post by about #plaguenovelpals reading all things plague. Well, hell that sounds intriguing. Sign me up!

Doomsday Book is a hefty read. 500+ pages of SciFi research and pure raw, emotional damage. Our main character Kivrin is interested in studying the medieval ages so she asks to be sent back in time. However, the trip goes horribly wrong and she's dropped into the middle of the plague. Back home, in the future, there's also an epidemic spreading a ...more

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Feb 01, 2023 Hannah Peterson rated it really liked it

Shelves: aty-2023, bingo-2022

This book reminded me really strongly of The Sparrow, which is interesting, considering they're both 90s sci fi written by women. Both books are using a science fiction premise to explore some heavy philosophical and theological themes and both have a curious mixture of lighthearted camaraderie and humor juxtaposed with very dark and tragic outcomes for the characters who you've grown attached to. In both cases as well, the book sets you up from the beginning to foresee the tragedy, though you d ...more

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