To Say Nothing of the Dog

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

By: Connie Willis

Narrated by: Steven Crossley

Length: 20 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

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

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)

Love the Narrator

The story starts slow, but the narrator makes it worth it. Once you are past chapter three (3) it picks up. I loved his intonation, cadence and his Scottish brogue. The whole series is worth it ;-)

Loved it so much I bought it for a friend

What made the experience of listening to To Say Nothing of the Dog the most enjoyable?

Funny, satire, just enough sci-fi not to mention the cats and the dog.

What other book might you compare To Say Nothing of the Dog to and why?

I don't know if anything compares not even her other novels about time travel I also love. This one has so much humor.

Which scene was your favorite?

Chasing the cat. You have to remember the character has never dealt with or seen a cat before since they don't exist in his time. Very funny.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laugh

Any additional comments?

Don't miss her other books on time travel "Blackout" and "All Clear"

it is a long way to go but I loved the ending

My first impression was wow this is going to be a long slog. then I really really appreciated the characters point of view and got into the everyday trials they faced. but then the meta story and the layers of sci-fi that made me read this book in the first place really kick in and I couldn't put the book down for the last 3 or 4 hours of listening. and the end is the most satisfying laugh out loud moment I've ever had reading a book

A bit long, but fun

Summary: Time Traveling "historians" are sent back to block a couple falling in love because it will distort all of history. 

This is the second of Connie Willis' books that I have read. The first in this series, Doomsday Book, is also centered on time travel, but it is a very different book. Doomsday Book is about going to a medieval community near Oxford, and it deals with the programs of a global pandemic (the Black Death) and the problems of observing evil that you cannot change.

In that first book, time travel was relatively new, and the thinking was that it was impossible to change history. However, history may have changed in the second book, and they are trying to figure out how to put it back again. And that involved going to Victorian England, playing matchmaker, and blocking a romance.

Connie Willis has a lot of humor in her writing. It is a good change of pace. But I think, like Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog is a bit long. I think the various threads and the false turns she brings the reader on as a means to get to the end are fun. But it could be cut a bit.

The book opens with a narration that doesn't make sense. As you get into the book a little bit, you discover that the narrator has a "Time Lag." Time Lag is a condition brought about by too many time travel jumps too quickly together, causing the person to be confused, have a problem hearing, be sentimental, and fall in love (and declare it.)

One of the fun aspects of the book is that it looks at a different era through the eyes of the potential future. To Say Nothing of the Dog was written in 1997 and set in 2057, 2018, 1940, and 1888. As I said in my review of the Doomsday Book, the projections of what may be are always interesting, even if the author made projections only 25 years ago.

According to reviews, the 3rd and 4th books of this series, Blackout and All Clear, are a single book split into two parts, and together they are about 1200 pages. So I am not sure I will get to them soon.

Pure delight!

Enjoyed every minute of it, Vinny Willis is a genius and this is the best one I’ve heard from her yet. the narrator is simply brilliant.

Couldn't stop laughing!!

OMG! This was so much fun to listen to! The narrator was soooo funny, I can't remember when I laughed so hard with an audio book...a great find!!

A Pleasure.

One of the things I love about Audible is the chance to "read" books I'm sure I'd never even consider. This book is based upon an old book called Three Men and Boat. (I loved that and I had never heard of it until I listened to it from Audible.)

This book is easygoing, lighthearted but intelligent. I sure it possible to tear the plot apart but that isn't really the point. Although it seems like it a long book, it goes really fast.

And you may wonder what a bird-stump is... listen to the book.

Great Book!

This is a happy, informative book. It is probably my daughter's favorite book of all time, and bears several rereadings. The writing is musical and the naration sings. It is a shame that it is not regularly required reading on high school reading lists.

Absolutely delightful in every way!

With brilliant writing and captivating story-telling, “To Say Nothing of the Dog" is an absolutely delightful book and Steven Crossley is an exceptional narrator! Highly recommended for sci-fi fans and anyone who enjoys a really entertaining story.

I usually have a love/hate experience with audio books, because too often a narrator can ruin a very good book. But still, I listen, because I have never seem to have enough time to SIT and read, and I use audio books to multi-task during “hands and eyes busy” activities like driving, gardening and housework. Often I’m enjoying the story while frequently cringing at the narrator’s style. However, Steven Crossley actually enhanced my enjoyment of this book with his remarkable performance. He has an extraordinary talent for doing “the voices” of multiple characters and making them so distinct that they are immediately recognizable. Best of all, he somehow manages to do female voices without making them sound like drag queens – an almost impossible feat for a male narrator.

I note with great excitement that Mr. Crossley also narrates Jerome K. Jerome's “Three Men in a Boat" which is referenced frequently throughout this book. Guess what my next Audible selection will be?

Not nearly as good as her other books.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No.

Would you recommend To Say Nothing of the Dog to your friends? Why or why not?

No. The story was more like a slapstick comedy than anything else. The same scenes with minor changes were repeated over and over again. When Connie Willis is good she's excellent. Passage and Doomsday Book are two of my favorite books. This one just didn't really hold my interest.

What does Steven Crossley bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Steven Crossley's performance was very good.

Do you think To Say Nothing of the Dog needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No. The story is already boring enough.

Any additional comments?

I will still be looking for great Connie Willis novels in the future.