What time is it?

To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis, is a Victorian time travel romp with some touching moments as well. This is my first Willis, and it’s very different from what I’ve been led to expect from her. That’s why it took me a little time to really get into it, because I was expecting a science fiction opus. Instead, I got a comedy of Victorian manners with heavy doses of Chaos Theory thrown in. It was definitely worth getting into, though, as it’s a very enjoyable book in its own right.

The Story
Ned Henry is a time traveling historian from the late 21st century. Right now, he, along with almost the entire group of people involved in the time travel project, has been charged with recovering a Victorian atrocity called “the bishop’s bird stump” from the ruins of the Coventry cathedral, destroyed by German bombing in 1940. Mrs. Schrapnell is leading the charge to rebuild the cathedral, and she must have everything exactly as it was, no matter how much time and effort it takes. Ned is badly in need of a rest after multiple jumps (he’s suffering from time lag). But then Verity Kindle, a fellow time traveler, inadvertently brings something back from the past, which requires Ned to go back to the Victorian era to help her put things right. Otherwise, history itself may be altered irrevocably.

Once Ned is there, things quickly go from bad to worse, as every time he tries to make sure that things happen the way they did, he messes things up further. He accidentally prevents people from meeting, enables people who had never met to meet and fall in love, and generally makes things worse. Ned and Verity try to stick close to these people and set things on the right course, but events seem to have a mind of their own. Many questions are asked and answered in the meantime.

Why can’t the time travelers seem to travel to Coventry at the time of the bombing? Why didn’t the time travel network stop Verity from bringing back anything from the past like it is supposed to? Is Verity really the most beautiful woman Ned has ever seen, or is he just overly tired? Why were these Victorian people so strange? And, most importantly of all, what does the bishop’s bird stump have to do with all this? Is it really the key to everything? And if so, why is it so ugly?

What Did I Think?
I greatly enjoyed this book. I wasn’t really expecting to, though. I picked this up on the strength of Willis’ name, but it seemed so different from what I was expecting that I almost put it down. After finishing it, I was glad I didn’t. I laughed out loud quite a few times, and had to restrain myself a few other times as I was in a public place. Willis did a good job of showing the hilarious tension between our 21st century heroes and the cultural traits of the late 1800s. Ned sees a straight razor used for shaving, and thinks that he’s going decapitate himself trying to use it. They see the courtship rituals of high society, so vastly different from their own time (and even ours!), and they can’t believe them. Once they get involved with the Mering family, things move at a comic pace that is breathtaking. Even before that, though, things are wonderfully timed. Ned’s boat ride down the Thames with Terence, Professor Peddick almost literally falling into their laps as they row, the Professor’s obsessions with history (as well as his ongoing argument with Professor Overforce about historical forces versus the individual in the study of history). All of these subjects are addressed in a wonderfully comic manner by Willis.

The main characters are wonderfully drawn by Willis. Ned is so time lagged that he doesn’t know if he’s understanding anything correctly, as well as getting overly sentimental about everything (that’s one of the effects of time lag). He doesn’t know whether he’s so drawn to Verity because of the lag or because she truly is the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. He tries very hard not to let Verity know how he feels, just in case it is the effects of the lag. He’s a very dedicated man, who’s willing to do anything to get the job done. He’s very bright and interesting to read about. Verity is not a viewpoint character, but you see enough of her through Ned’s eyes that you know she’s intelligent, even though she’s fairly new to this time travel business. She’s a quick thinker, though, which makes getting the job done easier. She’s definitely Ned’s equal, and has many good ideas of her own. The small love story that develops between them is a nice parallel with the romantic ideals of the Victorian era. She and Ned have to be careful not to be seen to spend too much time by themselves as it would be unseemly, but they have to meet to discuss what their options are. They are intriguing characters, and you find yourself rooting for them to set things right, find the bird stump, and avoid Mrs. Schrapnell as much as possible.

The Victorian characters are just hilarious. The Mering women (Tessie and her mother), are very heavily into the spirit world with very funny results (the séance that takes place at the Mering home where Ned and Verity have to out-charlatan the mystic results in at least four pages of utter hilarity). Mr. Mering is a stodgy old colonel who believes that it’s all a bunch of hooey. Terence, the besotted Victorian man who has fallen in love at first sight with Tessie. Professor Peddick, the eccentric history professor who’s always going on about his fight with Overforce, even Baine the butler and Jane the maid. All of these characters are wonderfully done, not quite three dimensional but definitely fulfilling their roles with wit and humour.

The plot is very straightforward, but filled with complications that make it interesting. The bird stump makes a nice macguffin, driving the plot forward while not being seen until the end, in a truly surprising manner. Chaos Theory is discussed all the way through this book, and it can get a bit heavy with it at times, but it doesn’t prove too distracting and if you don’t like that sort of thing, you can skim those parts. There is a lot of repetition for affect, with the characters constantly referring back to the Battle of Waterloo, and what might have happened if some seemingly insignificant change had occurred. Peddick’s argument with Overforce about the affects of individuals on history, versus the inevitable forces that drive history and minimize the impact of individuals, makes a nice parallel with the actual events in the book. This argument gives the narrative a lot of its drive and makes an intriguing philosophical question in its own right. Can we as individuals affect events, or are we just carried along like a bit of flotsam in a raging river?

The nice thing about To Say Nothing of the Dog is that you can read it on either level, or even both. If all you want is a nice Victorian comedy, you can read it as such. You may have to skim a lot of the theory as it presents itself, but it can be done. If you like heavy science fiction, though, with discussions of history and Chaos Theory, you can read it for that too. It becomes a truly fascinating book in that light, and I think Willis does a great job in sugarcoating it for the masses to be able to swallow.

The touching moments mentioned above take place mainly during the bombing of Coventry, which Verity and Ned find themselves in at one point. The vivid images Willis creates, with the beautiful cathedral engulfed in flames, being destroyed in front of their eyes, is almost enough to bring a tear to your eye. Willis’ writing is very enjoyable, no matter what mood she’s going for. There is a bit of a disconnect between the humour of novel and these scenes in Coventry, but I don’t think it really detracts from the book.

If you don’t like science fiction, this book will probably be too heavy for you, even though it is a comedy. But if you’re a science fiction fan in need of a little humour to brighten your day, you can’t go wrong with this one.