# \_To Say Nothing Of The Dog\_: Please, TELL me it gets better! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 2, 2001, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/_to-say-nothing-of-the-dog_-please-tell-me-it-gets-better/74606 "2001-08-02T06:01:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ModernRonin2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@ModernRonin2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ModernRonin2)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/_to-say-nothing-of-the-dog_-please-tell-me-it-gets-better/74606/1 "2001-08-02T06:01:24Z")
Dunno if this belongs here, in IMHO, or even the pit. But here we go… I picked this book up because my wisdom teeth are being yanked out on August 2nd (tomorrow) and I figured I’d better have some reading material around the house to distract myself from the pain. I just didn’t expect that the book would double as an anaesthetic and sporific… Jumping jesus on a POGO STICK!! I’m 159 pages and 10 chapters in, and **NOTHING HAS HAPPENED!** I’m serious! The most significant event thus far in the book has been a narrow escape through a time portal from the scolding clutches of an eccentric old harridan. OHHHH, how exciting! Please, please tell me this book gets better. I’m going to literally have the experience of pulling teeth tomorrow, and I am worried that it will seem pleasant in comparison! I read _Bellweather_ and though it was tolerable. My friend said that _The Doomsday Book_ sucked. This book reminds me of an American manga I once read called _Steam Detectives_. It’s pure mushy, girly, soap-opera in a Victorian setting. Every guy in the book thus far is a complete airheaded moron, either by nature or temporary bad luck. The major plot point revolves around an excruciatingly cute kitten. I’m tempted to take the female characters and use them to write on, they’re so paper-thin. Glah! Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the bookstore!! _Bag Of Bones_ was better than this!! -Ben ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/_to-say-nothing-of-the-dog_-please-tell-me-it-gets-better/74606/2 "2001-08-02T06:19:28Z")
I **loved** _To Say Nothing of the Dog_. Also _Doomsday Book_. Also Connie Willis’ most recent book _Passage_. But if she’s not your cup of tea, I guess you’d better bring something else with you to the dentist. ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/_to-say-nothing-of-the-dog_-please-tell-me-it-gets-better/74606/3 "2001-08-02T16:48:27Z")
The book doesn’t get any better, but I liked it anyway. I picked it up while grazing through my friendly neighborhood library, so even if it was a stinker, I wasn’t out anything. I thought it was a pretty good story. Not the best time travel tale ever, but good charactizations. -Rue. ---
**Author:** ![Medea\_s\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Medea\_s\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medea_s_Child)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/_to-say-nothing-of-the-dog_-please-tell-me-it-gets-better/74606/4 "2001-08-02T19:04:29Z")
They didn’t like Doomsday Book? and Bellweather? (You have to read Bellweather out loud. With voices.) Personally, I adore Connie Willis, but if you don’t, just put it down and walk away. ---
**Author:** ![Jester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jester/32/8223_2.png) [@Jester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jester)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/_to-say-nothing-of-the-dog_-please-tell-me-it-gets-better/74606/5 "2001-08-02T19:22:07Z")
For a quick, easy read that’ll get your mind off the pain, I’d recommend Sick Puppy by Carl Hiassen. (I think that’s the right spelling). It’s very funny and off-beat, and goes quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Protesilaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Protesilaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Protesilaus)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/_to-say-nothing-of-the-dog_-please-tell-me-it-gets-better/74606/6 "2001-08-02T20:32:36Z")
Have you gotten to the part when he meets up with Verity and they get to the house? IMHO, it picks up after that. ---
**Author:** ![GrandfatherTrout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@GrandfatherTrout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandfatherTrout)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/_to-say-nothing-of-the-dog_-please-tell-me-it-gets-better/74606/7 "2001-08-02T20:54:34Z")
Oh, crikey, I _adore_ that book. True, up to the the point under discussion not much has really happened yet, but I found the trip quite enjoyable anyway. I’ll keep it vague for the sake of those who haven’t read the book, but I can’t continue my reassurance with out putting in a **SPOILER WARNING,** just for formality’s sake. Now that they’re firmly settled in Victorian England, it will pick up–_you_ know what’s going on, and part of the fun is watching the main characters, who don’t. Eventually the ‘road trip’ gets resolved, at which point things stop being predictable. I would advise you to keep reading, myself. If only for the bits about Victorian furniture and decorative aesthetics, which are howlers. **Hazel,** and anybody else: Is _Passage_ good enough to merit buying the hardcover? Or should I wait for paperback? ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/_to-say-nothing-of-the-dog_-please-tell-me-it-gets-better/74606/8 "2001-08-02T21:04:33Z")
I did not enjoy _Passage_ as much as _The Doomsday Book_, _Bellwether_\* or _To Say Nothing of the Dog_, but I still am glad I went ahead and got it in hardcover. It’s almost impossible to discuss without slipping in a spoiler, but I will say that if you like books with a lot of layers of symbolism, you definitely will like this one. [sub]\* pet peeve: there is no ‘a’ in “bellwether.” ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/_to-say-nothing-of-the-dog_-please-tell-me-it-gets-better/74606/9 "2001-08-02T21:04:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jester \* > \*\*For a quick, easy read that’ll get your mind off the pain, I’d recommend Sick Puppy by Carl Hiassen. (I think that’s the right spelling). It’s very funny and off-beat, and goes quickly. \*\* You **really** like plugging that book, don’t you? 🙂 I too have a suggetsion. I read Original Sin by P.D. James a few days ago. If you like mystery, this one rocks. ---
**Author:** ![ModernRonin2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@ModernRonin2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ModernRonin2)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2001, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/_to-say-nothing-of-the-dog_-please-tell-me-it-gets-better/74606/10 "2001-08-02T21:52:04Z")
I read some more last night and go past the “road trip” as Grandfather Trout so accurately put it, and it’s definitely gotten less monotonous. A few things actually are happening. I think I’m probably not getting a lot of the humor, which seems to revolve around the sillyness of Victorian customs. This is probably going to ensure I don’t enjoy the book much. Ah well. An uncultured lout, I am… I think I’ll go re-read _Zodiac_ after this. -Ben ---
**Author:** ![The\_Punkyova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@The\_Punkyova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Punkyova)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/_to-say-nothing-of-the-dog_-please-tell-me-it-gets-better/74606/11 "2001-08-03T02:53:10Z")
Have you read Three Men in a Boat? Not only is it one of the funniest books ever written in English, but it is in the background a lot in To Say Nothing of the Dog. Which I enjoyed. A lot. ---
**Author:** ![DarkPrince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@DarkPrince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkPrince)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/_to-say-nothing-of-the-dog_-please-tell-me-it-gets-better/74606/12 "2001-08-03T04:45:24Z")
Go get yourself Alan Folsom’s The Day After Tomorrow. Best damn book I’ve ever read, couldn’t put it down and skipped school pretending I was sick simply so I could keep reading it. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/_to-say-nothing-of-the-dog_-please-tell-me-it-gets-better/74606/13 "2001-08-03T13:26:14Z")
I liked To Say Nothing . . . up to a point, but all that urgency and frantic ninety-mile-a-minute running around does get tiresome after a while. ---
**Author:** ![Jenna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Jenna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenna)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/_to-say-nothing-of-the-dog_-please-tell-me-it-gets-better/74606/14 "2001-08-03T13:48:31Z")
Yikes! I’m getting my wisdom teeth pulled out today ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/_to-say-nothing-of-the-dog_-please-tell-me-it-gets-better/74606/15 "2001-08-05T04:01:55Z")
I think that anyone who is really going to enjoy _To Say Nothing of the Dog_ is going to enjoy it right from the beginning. I cirtainly did. I got _Passage_ from my local public library. I was absolutely blown away by it.