Passage

By: Connie Willis

Narrated by: Erin deWard

Length: 31 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

A psychologist specializing in near-death experiences, Dr. Joanna Lander has spent two years recording the experiences of those who have been declared clinically dead and lived to tell about it.

A new doctor has arrived at Mercy General, one with the power to give Joanna the chance to get as close to death as anyone can.

A brilliant young neurologist, Dr. Richard Wright has come up with a way to manufacture the near-death experience using a psychoactive drug. Dr. Wright is convinced that the NDE is a survival mechanism and that if only doctors understood how it worked, they could someday delay the dying process, or maybe even reverse it.

When his key volunteer suddenly drops out of the study, Joanna finds herself offering to become Richard's next subject. After all, who better than she, a trained psychologist, to document the experience?

Her first NDE is as fascinating as she imagined it would be-so astounding that she knows she must go back, if only to find out why this place is so hauntingly familiar. But each time Joanna goes under, her sense of dread begins to grow, because part of her already knows why the experience is so familiar, and why she has every reason to be afraid . . .

©2001 Connie Willis (P)2023 Tantor

Such a hard book to review.

First of all the narration was terrible. If the story itself weren’t so compelling I’d have never continued to listen. But it was compelling. So compelling in fact I was able to overlook not only the awful narration but the fact that the book was entirely too long. It could have been cut in half and still been just as good. Maybe even better. I could have done without all of the talk of the cafeteria and whether it was open or closed, the constant wandering through the maze of the hospital trying to avoid people and the repeating of the same hamlet quote over and over. It all seemed so unnecessary that I wonder if it was intended to be a metaphor that I somehow missed. I still give the story a solid 4 stars because even with all of the annoyances I could not put this down.

Tunnel, bright light, an NDE or something else?

Psychologist Dr. Joanna Lander is a medical researcher desperate to provide answers to one of life's greatest questions, "What really happens when we die?" At Mercy General where she works, Joanna spends her time interviewing patients who have coded, died and been revived.

Dr. Richard Wright has developed a method whereby he can chemically simulate NDE's. Joanna joins his research team, volunteering to be one of his subjects.

"Passage" was a disturbing and frightening alternative theory on NDEs with a perfect ending. Narration was a bit shaky during the first few chapters but Erin deWard quickly found her grove and the rest of the story was smooth sailing.

WORTH THE CREDIT!

Not my favorite narrator, but a thoroughly satisfying story

I’m clearly the target audience for this story; I couldn’t put it down and went through it in just two days despite its length. If you’re into neuroscience, jungian dream analysis, or metaphor, it’s a delight. It does go on a bit longer than I felt was really necessary, as Willis does her usual excellent job of leaving breadcrumbs that point the story’s direction to any half-aware listener, but I was enjoying it so much I didn’t care. The characters are compelling & multifaceted (with the exception of the love-to-loathe-him Mandrake, who appears to have no redeeming qualities whatsoever.) The plot, while intricate, keeps its thread; subtle hints of romance give it depth without distracting. I didn’t vibe with the narrator — she mostly sounded to me like she was trying too hard and it left everybody sounding a little unnatural. But it wasn’t ultimately enough to mar my enjoyment of the book. Really glad I picked this one up.

I could not put this book down

The narrator was not my favorite. One of the characters kept sounding like eeyore and it was hard to tell if it was supposed to be male or female. In spite of that, the story was worth it.

interesting listen. Different from her other books.

The dynamics of the recording made it difficult to catch everything that was said. The softer portions need to be raised so that one doesn't have to constantly change the volume.

Overlong

If there is one thing Connie Willis does, it’s that she writes and writes and writes. This story could have been told in half the time and just as compellingly.

I do enjoy that Ms. Willis researches and generally has very good character development.

I had no real problem with the narrator. I do feel for her and the sheer amount of hours she must have spent in a recording booth.

It’s a decent book with an interesting premise. It’s not that it wasn’t interesting - it just takes too long.

Too long

This book did not have to be this long. Repeated the same concepts and scenarios over and over. It had a great start but became annoying.

worse narrator ever

Was this book really written by Connie Willis author of what about the dog?

The narrator has only one, maybe 2 voices. Both made me scream

I want my 32 hours back!

I love Connie Willis…exactly who wrote this ridiculous book??? I am so disappointed. Don’t waste your time.

Way too long

This is extremely slow moving and has enough annoying characters that you just don’t wanna keep listening. In fact, at 20 hours in, I just looked up the ending and stopped listening.