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Doomsday Book (Paperback)

by Connie Willis (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (148 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 672 pages
  • Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd; New edition edition (5 Aug 1993)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0450579875
  • ISBN-13: 978-0450579875
  • Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 11.2 x 3.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (148 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 248,529 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #7 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > W > Willis, Connie

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Connie Willis laboured five years on this story of a history student in 2048 who is transported to an English village in the 14th century. The student arrives mistakenly on the eve of the onset of the Black Plague. Her dealings with a family of "contemps" in 1348 and with her historian cohorts lead to complications as the book unfolds into a surprisingly dark, deep conclusion. The book, which won Hugo and Nebula Awards, draws upon Willis' understanding of the universalities of human nature to explore the ageless issues of evil, suffering and the indomitable will of the human spirit. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Product Description

A woman travels back through time to complete her doctoral thesis - but due to an accident, she lands in the middle of the Black Plague of 1348. The Oxford she left behind is laid low by a flu released from the grave of the knight from the era she's visiting.

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Customer Reviews

148 Reviews
5 star:
 (87)
4 star:
 (23)
3 star:
 (15)
2 star:
 (18)
1 star:
 (5)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (148 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Living history, 24 Mar 2006
By R. Plachcinski "stroppy_brunette" (West Yorkshire, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Doomsday Book (Mass Market Paperback)
This is one of the best books I have ever read. Kivrin, a time-travelling historian, is mistakenly sent back to a Medieval village near Oxford as the Black Death is about to strike, and sees all around her succumb to the Plague. At the same time, in her home time, a flu pandemic is laying waste to Oxford, stopping any attempts to find her and bring her home. Unlikely as it may sound, this novel also contains some wonderful comic moments - William, Mrs Gaddson, Finch and the American bellringers, to name but a few. I am absolutely caught up in this story and unable to put it down every time I read it.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Once you start, you can't put the book down., 18 Feb 2002
The evocation of the sheer nastiness of the 14th Century is brilliant. There is mounting horror as the natives of that century succumb to the Black Death over a Christmas period, witnessed by the appalled time-travelling scholar from our own near future. Some of the scenes are heartrending, as there is plenty of time to get attached to the characters before they start to become ill.

In alternate chapters the contemporary situation in Oxford at Christmas is explored, where an outbreak of highly contagious and fatal flu has broken out, thereby preventing a rescue party from setting up the equipment necessary for retrieving the scholar. The quarantine, medicalisation and bureaucracy of the situation in contemporary Oxford contrasts sharply with the superstition, dubious medicines and appeals to the Almighty that exemplify the 14th Century.

If it sounds unrelentingly grim; it isn't. There is a lot of humour, with fun being poked at characters who are vain and officious in BOTH centuries.

Anyone who has lived in/ studied in/ visited Oxford will find much to recognise in the description of the town, especially the University. Immerse yourself in this book over a summer's day, and you will surface from it as I did: wondering why it isn't freezing cold and surprised to find that you're still healthy!

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended, 4 Jul 2006
By Claymore (Essex, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Doomsday Book (Mass Market Paperback)
Whether you are into fantasy or historical fiction this book should have something for you, though I feel it belongs more in the latter category than the former if you were to try and categorise it in just one box. I read this, enjoyed it and have recommended it numerous times. Each time the person I recommended it to thanked me as they also thoroughly enjoyed it.

The fantasy/sci-fi plot may be a little contrived in order to get a modern view on a historic tragedy, but the writing is of high quality, moving, and historically informative. It's a moody piece that helps you understand what it must have been like to live during the tragic years when the Black Death was raging through the English countryside wreaking havoc amongst the insular communities.

I'm not sure that the particular storyline about an epidemic in the modern world was totally necessary, as this did prove a little distracting, but I suspect it was meant as a comparison piece to contrast with the events of the past also being played out.

Criticism is a subjective process. I would therefore urge you to give this book a try as I suspect most of you may well enjoy it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Is this the worst Hugo winner ever?
This book is just awful. An elephant could knit something with smaller holes in it than Willis's plot, which asks us to believe in a future which looks more or less like the... Read more
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3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but flawed
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Published 14 months ago by A. Whitehead

5.0 out of 5 stars I can't believe that I have found this book after all this time
I read and re-read this book back in the 90'. It was my favourite book, fascinating, emotional and absorbing... but I lost it.. Read more
Published 16 months ago by C. Stone

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost flawless
This is one of the best sci-fi novels ever. (Some people I've given it to say it's one of the best books ever, but I think that's OTT. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Michael Scuffil

5.0 out of 5 stars What a read - but not for Sci Fi purists
OK, so I'm the x hundredth person to post feedback on this extraordinary book, so no reviews of the plot, i would just be rehashing what my predecessors have written... Read more
Published on 3 Jul 2007 by Charlie Mount

5.0 out of 5 stars An astonishing display of emotional depth
When I first noticed this book on the shelves I was not impressed, from reading the back cover the story appeared a little drab but then I saw that it had won the Hugo and Nebula... Read more
Published on 21 April 2007 by Frank Bierbrauer

5.0 out of 5 stars 132 reviews? I think thats the highest number I've ever seen
I adore this book!

I first read a library copy about 10 years ago and it lived in my memory for years! I was delighted when I rediscovered it! Read more
Published on 20 April 2007 by L. M. Jordan

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful and moving
In part a novel of time travel but mostly a wonderful historical novel about the horrors of the Black Death. Read more
Published on 16 Dec 2006 by John Hopper

2.0 out of 5 stars Synopsis is a big spoiler
I was in the midst of reading this book when I checked the listing here to see what was said about it only to find that the official synopsis gave away several huge plot twists... Read more
Published on 13 Nov 2006 by Alex Fox

5.0 out of 5 stars A BRITISH VIEW
I picked this book up in the States a few years ago, read it several times, and have now ploughed through nearly as many reviews as pages! Read more
Published on 5 Jun 2006 by K. Brazier

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