DB: November 2017 Pick - Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

[Rob, Roberator]

As Tom and Dave already indicated in the voting thread Doomsday Book by Connie Willis won the poll for our November pick.

[Iain]

Hmm, not in my library....

If I recall correctly a very well written but dark text.

[Colin]

Already on my bookshelf, but I suspect I'll go with the audio book this time round so that I can finish it in time to discuss it ...

[Rob, Roberator]

I'm doing the audio. I'm a bit overloaded on books, and my library has the audio on Overdrive. I sampled it on audible, narrator sounds decent.

[Sean]

My recommendation: Once the time travel happens, skip all the future scenes unless you think Three's Company is the best sitcom ever.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Sean wrote: "My recommendation: Once the time travel happens, skip all the future scenes unless you think Three's Company is the best sitcom ever."

No, but I liked the earlier British version, Man About the House, when I was a kid :-)

[Stephen]

I have it, the pages are yellow and I doubt it will survive the read. I do not think the previous owner read it as the spine is perfect.

[terpkristin]

Blah. Too bad. Really not the one I wanted to read.

I guess I'll eventually get to it. Or not. Everybody says it's depressing. I don't need that right now.

[Kim]

I wouldn't call it that depressing, not as much as some of her other books.

[Tamahome]

Sean wrote: "My recommendation: Once the time travel happens, skip all the future scenes unless you think Three's Company is the best sitcom ever."

I liked Three's Company better.

[Sean]

I just can't stand stories where the audience is expected to sit through endless misunderstandings that could be resolved with a single two minute conversation.

[Lena]

Oooh, I hate that too.

[Michele]

I love this book, so sad in parts, and highly amusing in others. Her comedy does tend to lean on caricature, or having a character represent the worst clichés, or on the broadest of cultural differences clashing. Still, I can totally believe there are people who act as badly as her characters (I have met them) - it's just her books tend to have a higher percentage of them all crammed in together and being absurd.

Everyone take note and be prepared for there to be no cell phones in her version of the future. Yes, she missed that technological advance. Get it out of your system now :)

[AndrewP]

Sean wrote: "My recommendation: Once the time travel happens, skip all the future scenes unless you think Three's Company is the best sitcom ever."

Funny you should say that as I too though Willis took all her British Characterizations from a sitcom. I was thinking more along the lines of 'Last of the Summer Wine' rather than 'Man About the House' :)

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Michele wrote: "Everyone take note and be prepared for there to be no cell phones in her version of the future. Yes, she missed that technological advance. Get it out of your system now :) "

A world without mobile phones. What a wonderful place that would be :-)

[John]

This is one of my favorite books. I've read it half a dozen times. It's sad but somehow very uplifting. Kivren, Dunworthy, and Colin are all great characters. The audio book is excellent. I loved Father Roche's faith in God and Kivren's faith in Mr. Dunworthy.

[John]

Rob wrote: "I'm doing the audio. I'm a bit overloaded on books, and my library has the audio on Overdrive. I sampled it on audible, narrator sounds decent."

26 hours of audio book... that is a lot of audio book. Just saying!

[Rob, Roberator]

John wrote: "Rob wrote: "I'm doing the audio. I'm a bit overloaded on books, and my library has the audio on Overdrive. I sampled it on audible, narrator sounds decent."

26 hours of audio book... that is a lot..."

That's average for me..

[John]

Rob wrote: That's average for me.. "

Do you listen on accelerated listening speed? I tried that and although I liked it at first (it is great to power through a book quickly) after a while I decided it ruined the story telling aspect of the narration, which has become a huge part of the reason I enjoy audio books so much

[Rob, Roberator]

No. I don't like listening at accelerated speed. I just average 20+ hours/week of listening time. About an hour in the car each day, plus time getting ready for work and daily bike rides. Plus when I do chores around the house, grocery shopping, etc. It all adds up.

[Lena]

I listen at 1.25x so often that when I go back to normal speed it sounds achingly get-on-with-it! slow.

[Ruth]

My reading list is currently so congested (and Oathbringer is out soon which ain't gonna help!) that I am seriously tempted not to bother with this pick. Maybe I'll see how I'm getting on towards the end of the month.

[Colin]

John wrote: "Do you listen on accelerated listening speed? "

I listen to most narrators at 2x normal speed. So suddenly that 26 hour audio book is only a 13 hour listen.

Same with podcasts. If I ever met Tom or Veronica in real life, I'd wonder why they were speaking so lethargically.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I'm in

[Kevin]

Should I read it again....hmmm...... I've been wanting to get back to Connie Willis as I did enjoy this story.

[Lena]

I think I’m going to read Crosstalk and then if I can take a sad tale I’ll join in later.

[John]

Lena, If you want to try Connie Willis but don't want a sad story, I recommend "To Say Nothing of the Dog". It a fun book with hints of PG Wodehouse, Dorothy Sayers, and a lot of time travel. it's better than Crosstalk.

[Kevin]

Add that one to the list!

[Kevin]

Thank goodness that one was already on the list John. Can't add more than one book to the list each day can I.

[Lena]

I’ll try that one too John, thank you. I bought a pretty copy of Crosstalk from Subterranean, that’s why I’m going to be reading it soon.

[Sheila Jean]

Finished this morning. I absolutely loved it.

[Fredrik]

Michele wrote: "
(...) I can totally believe there are people who act as badly as her characters (I have met them) - it's just her books tend to have a higher percentage of them all crammed in together and being absurd.

Everyone take note and be prepared for there to be no cell phones in her version of the future. Yes, she missed that technological advance. Get it out of your system now :)."

I've just reached Book II, and to adress your first point; yes the characters are lively, and completely exasperating. I especially want Gilchrist to drop into a coma so he'll shut up with his self-righteous ass-covering blather :p

And to your second point, I made a tweet how it's funny that the phones are all video, but wired. I got a response suggestion that maybe increased solar activity have screwed up the mobile networks. If you need an immersion patch, that'll work. Or maybe it's all the time travel causing interference ;)

[Ivy]

Lena wrote: "I listen at 1.25x so often that when I go back to normal speed it sounds achingly get-on-with-it! slow."

I prefer 1.25x as I find that is the speed I read at in my head. There are some books that I'll slow down to 1x though if I don't want to get to the end. Yes, I know that weird, but you can only read a book the first time once, and this isn't a race!

[Bruce]

Lena wrote: "I listen at 1.25x so often that when I go back to normal speed it sounds achingly get-on-with-it! slow."

I didn't know you could do that. Is that in Audible? Now I want to try it.

[Bruce]

I'm about a third through and liking it so far. I see the point about the characters being caricatures, but that's part of the charm too. It's kind of wordy, though, I wish I could read at 2.00X.

[Bruce]

Michele wrote: "Everyone take note and be prepared for there to be no cell phones in her version of the future. Yes, she missed that technological advance. "

The historical views of the 1300s are interesting, though. Kind of makes me glad to live now.

[Beth]

I think this is probably the weakest of her Time Travel series--too much running around madly in all directions to little purpose.

[Elizabeth]

Hmm.. I usually skip the Lasers (because I have far too much else on, and I'm more of a Sword), but also I'm a medieval historian. So maybe I need to give this one a go?

[Bruce]

Elizabeth wrote: "Hmm.. I usually skip the Lasers (because I have far too much else on, and I'm more of a Sword), but also I'm a medieval historian. So maybe I need to give this one a go?"

If you're into medieval history you might like this book.

[Gary]

I’m at 22% and I’m mostly listening to the audio book while I drive to & from work. However, I started reading it in the Kindle app on my iPad. Jenny Sterlin’s devivery of Dunworthy’s lines makes everything he says sound crabby. Not the voice I heard in my head at all.

Then again, Gilchrist comes across as an incompetent sleezebag. If I was Dunworthy by now Gilchrist would probably be sporting a bloody nose.

And, I know suspense needs to be built, but if Chaudhuri says, “there’s something wrong” without clarification one more time I may Lem this book. Sheesh!

[Robert]

Gary wrote: "I’m at 22% and I’m mostly listening to the audio book while I drive to & from work. However, I started reading it in the Kindle app on my iPad. Jenny Sterlin’s devivery of Dunworthy’s lines makes e..."

I don't mind Baldri saying there's something wrong, it's saying it and then conveniently passing out.

[Gary]

Exactly.

[Imbunche]

I'm about half way through and on one hand I'm enjoying the story, but on the other as a microbiologist, reading this makes me physically uncomfortable.

[Isak]

Beth wrote: "I think this is probably the weakest of her Time Travel series--too much running around madly in all directions to little purpose."

I'm also listening to the audible audiobook version and got a little over half way through now. While I have enjoyed it so far I think I'm getting to the point soon were there need to be a bit more happening and a little less repetitions to keep my interest. And it feels like I'm nearing the point where I've gotten more than I can take of some of the characters, I'm afraid.

[John (Taloni)]

About 60%. The "comedy of manners" thing was funny through about 30%, along with the toilet paper gag and people worrying endlessly about trivial parts of their lives while more important things happened around them. Then that started to get old.

Modest spoilers follow for 60% through...
(view spoiler)[The endless search for the drop is getting tiresome. Nothing has really happened, and Bardi's inability to say what is actually wrong has gone from silly to pointless to headshakingly stupid. A lot of promise to this novel, but the execution is haphazard. (hide spoiler)]

[Gary]

I’m a little more than halfway through and I’m pretty sure I know where this is going. I just wish they’d get on with it. A novelette’s worth of plot expanded to novel length. I wonder if George R. R. Martin read Connie Willis as a kid...

[Rob, Roberator]

Yeah, I'm getting frustrated too. It feels like we're being taunted with no payout thus far. She has her characters repeat dialogue a lot too. That's especially painful in audio despite a good narrator.

[Serendi]

Gary wrote: "I wonder if George R. R. Martin read Connie Willis as a kid..."

Given that George published first by over a decade (in the field, anyway; Connie got her practice writing for True Romance magazines), and Connie's only two years older, I suspect not.

[Gary]

😁

[Michele]

@ Gary - I'll be interested to know if you predicted correctly.

The book isn't about action though. It's about people dealing with crises in a variety of ways. You really shouldn't rush through that in writing about it.