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)

Funny. Clever. Tightly-Wound. Strangely Sedate.

For some off-beat science fiction fun, I would heartily recommend this book. The characters are sharp and colorful, the situation unique, the story is well-paced and easy to listen to, and while it feels like a stream-of-consciousness story for quite a while, you realize when it's wrapped up that the author had a firm handle on it the whole way through.

The performance was perfectly suited to the story and characters.

If you're looking for hard science fiction, this probably isn't for you. But if you have a sense of humor and haven't exhausted your quota of indulgence for the month, give it a try. It'll leave you smiling.

Sci Fi + Victorian England = Awesome

I love this book. I love the characters. I love the complicated and twisting plotlines. I love all of the literary illusions. I even love the fact that the main character's primary motivation involves finding a hideous piece of Victorian knickknack-ery.

I love it so much that I turned it on during a car trip thinking it would go over well with everyone. It didn't - 3 out of the 4 people in the car couldn't get past the voices Steven Crossley gives to the Victorian female characters. Ah, well. It's really too bad that they hate fun so much!

Such an enjoyable book

This is the second time I've read this book and it is so enjoyable. The writing is excellent and the story is so well crafted.

A delicious and fun romp

Any additional comments?

2nd after "The Doomsday Book", but a separate story - do not need to read "The Doomsday Book" first. A lighter read, fun story involving time-travel. One of the few books I try to get all my friends to read because I enjoyed it so much.

I've read this book twice, and now just finished listening to the audio version. I love this story. It has time-travel, Victorian England, London during the Nazi air raid, literary references, historical references, humor, romance, a bit of mystery, a dog, a cat, a comedy of errors, what more could a person want?

The story-telling is delicious. Ned - the character who narrates the story - has a dry, witty sense of humor and a lot of heart. His comments had me quite often chuckling at his jokes. The Victorian era, viewed through the eyes of 21st century time-traveling historians, pokes fun at some of it's silliness but Ned and Verity treat those they meet, including the dog and the cat, with good-humor and affection. Ned's interaction with the pets, particularly the dog Cyril, is touching, talking to him humorously as though he were nearly a person.

Ned and Verity together, attempting to correct a temporal incongruity, are delightful. But this story never gets sappy or sentimental. There is no "ick" factor here.

Every time I join these characters in their story I thoroughly enjoy my time spent with them. I wish there had been further stories of their adventures. This book is definitely on my list of all time favorites.

The narrator of the audio version, Steven Crossley, did the job to near perfection.

Funny

This book is a very light episode from the Oxford Time Traveller series. It is a complicated comedy of errors and I laughed out loud many times. It's funny on its own, but even funnier if you have ever read the book "Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K Jerome upon which it is closely based.

Great fun!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This book is an excellent adventure and I enjoyed the time-travel science.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I thought the pace to be a little slow, but necessary for the convoluted plot.

If you love Willis, Jerome, and Sayers...

This was a delightful audiobook. Mr. Crossley did a great job with all the voices and characters. Connie Willis did not disappoint. It's hard to believe that the same writer who did
Doomsday Book, Blackout, and All Clear could take the reader to that same world for an absolute frolic!

Favorite

This is one of those books that is both a historical novel , sci fi and satire, and mystery . I have listened to it 4 times over 7 years . Still love it for different reasons

Really great narrator

the story is really good funny and easy to listen to. Keeps your spirits up while still holding your attention. The narrator does a great job with the different characters in the book and does a fabulous job of reading a rough story to vocalize

Delightful find!

I was unfamiliar with both this tale and this author, but I thoroughly enjoyed this fanciful lively romp through time.