Blog by Sumana Harihareswara, Changeset founder
Today was the first time in ages that I've started…
Hi, reader. I wrote this in 2001 and it's now more than five years old. So it may be very out of date; the world, and I, have changed a lot since I wrote it! I'm keeping this up for historical archive purposes, but the me of today may 100% disagree with what I said then. I rarely edit posts after publishing them, but if I do, I usually leave a note in italics to mark the edit and the reason. If this post is particularly offensive or breaches someone's privacy, please contact me.
Today was the first time in ages that I've started and finished a book in the same day. Connie Willis's To Say Nothing of the Dog amused me and certainly pulled me along. She surprised me in the intricacy of her plot, and in the relative lack of frustration for her protagonist/narrator. Usually she takes great glee in throwing every conceivable obstacle in your path. (I've already complained about this.) This time, certainly I encountered pages that made me say, "Argh!" and put the book down for thirty minutes. But it didn't nag me as much as it has in her short stories.
Overall, I see this book as a cross between two of her other books, Bellwether and Doomsday Book, both of which I own and have read. I didn't find this book as emotionally moving as Doomsday Book, nor as annoying as Bellwether.
Next: study for Russian test tomorrow.
