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Crosstalk
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Science Fiction (2016)Science fiction icon Connie Willis brilliantly mixes a speculative plot, the wit of Nora Ephron, and the comedic flair of P. G. Wodehouse in Crosstalk, a genre-bending novel that pushes social media, smartphone technology, and twenty-four-hour availability to hilarious and chilling extremes as one young woman abruptly finds herself with way more connectivity than she ever desired.
In the not-too-distant future, a simple outpatient procedure to increase empathy between romantic partners has become all the rage. And Briddey Flannigan is delighted when her boyfriend, Trent, suggests undergoing the operation prior to a marriage proposal - to enjoy better emotional connection and a perfect relationship with complete communication and understanding. But things don't quite work out as planned, and Briddey finds herself connected to someone else entirely - in a way far beyond what she signed up for.
It is almost more than she can handle - especially when the stress of managing her all-too-eager-to-communicate-at-all-times family is already burdening her brain. But that's only the beginning. As things go from bad to worse, she begins to see the dark side of too much information, and to realize that love - and communication - are far more complicated than she ever imagined.
In the not-too-distant future, a simple outpatient procedure to increase empathy between romantic partners has become all the rage. And Briddey Flannigan is delighted when her boyfriend, Trent, suggests undergoing the operation prior to a marriage proposal - to enjoy better emotional connection and a perfect relationship with complete communication and understanding. But things don't quite work out as planned, and Briddey finds herself connected to someone else entirely - in a way far beyond what she signed up for.
It is almost more than she can handle - especially when the stress of managing her all-too-eager-to-communicate-at-all-times family is already burdening her brain. But that's only the beginning. As things go from bad to worse, she begins to see the dark side of too much information, and to realize that love - and communication - are far more complicated than she ever imagined.
480 pages, ebook
First published September 20, 2016
About the author
Connie Willis
256 books4,510 followersConstance Elaine Trimmer Willis is an American science fiction writer. She is one of the most honored science fiction writers of the 1980s and 1990s.
She has won, among other awards, ten Hugo Awards and six Nebula Awards. Willis most recently won a Hugo Award for All Seated on the Ground (August 2008). She was the 2011 recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA).
She lives in Greeley, Colorado with her husband Courtney Willis, a professor of physics at the University of Northern Colorado. She also has one daughter, Cordelia.
Willis is known for her accessible prose and likable characters. She has written several pieces involving time travel by history students and faculty of the future University of Oxford. These pieces include her Hugo Award-winning novels Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog and the short story "Fire Watch," found in the short story collection of the same name.
Willis tends to the comedy of manners style of writing. Her protagonists are typically beset by single-minded people pursuing illogical agendas, such as attempting to organize a bell-ringing session in the middle of a deadly epidemic (Doomsday Book), or frustrating efforts to analyze near-death experiences by putting words in the mouths of interviewees (Passage).
She has won, among other awards, ten Hugo Awards and six Nebula Awards. Willis most recently won a Hugo Award for All Seated on the Ground (August 2008). She was the 2011 recipient of the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA).
She lives in Greeley, Colorado with her husband Courtney Willis, a professor of physics at the University of Northern Colorado. She also has one daughter, Cordelia.
Willis is known for her accessible prose and likable characters. She has written several pieces involving time travel by history students and faculty of the future University of Oxford. These pieces include her Hugo Award-winning novels Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog and the short story "Fire Watch," found in the short story collection of the same name.
Willis tends to the comedy of manners style of writing. Her protagonists are typically beset by single-minded people pursuing illogical agendas, such as attempting to organize a bell-ringing session in the middle of a deadly epidemic (Doomsday Book), or frustrating efforts to analyze near-death experiences by putting words in the mouths of interviewees (Passage).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,541 reviews
February 7, 2018
2ish stars.
This is ridiculous. Well obviously because it's farce, but if you ask me, it's more of an irritating, eye-roll ridiculous than a humorous one. In this book, Willis has the subtlety of a hand grenade and the nuance of a stick figure. It's a fast-paced romantic sci-fi comedy about telepathic gingers except it's hard to tell when the comedy is intended and the romance is creepy.
Our heroine is Briddey. She's an idiot. We're told that she's an exec at Commspan, a company struggling to compete with Apple, but I just can't buy it. The first half of the book is brutal. I was so stressed out while reading. She gets 43892 calls, 8313875 texts and 13895943329 emails each day from her clingy/nosy family/boyfriend/coworkers and is constantly lying and making excuses and pulling the old "what's that behind you?!" while running off in the opposite direction to avoid them all instead of actually dealing with anything. I came so close to having a panic attack. Willis gives us a veeery broad commentary on the perceived evils of over-connectivity.
Willis throws in unending mentions of pop culture and current technology to make the book seem relevant but I wonder if she's had actual experience with any of it because it ends up feeling as if she's tossing in references based on what she's heard second-hand and it comes off as extremely dated.
The characters are caricatures, I couldn't buy any of them. The story is so convoluted I can't help but wonder if Willis herself didn't have an end in mind and was just inventing plot points as she went along . And there's still so much left unexplained by the end despite all the massive info-dumps in the last couple chapters.
It's a fast read and, as I said, it gave me massive anxiety. So parts of it are pulse-pounding and readable. Sporadically fun. Mostly a letdown.
This is ridiculous. Well obviously because it's farce, but if you ask me, it's more of an irritating, eye-roll ridiculous than a humorous one. In this book, Willis has the subtlety of a hand grenade and the nuance of a stick figure. It's a fast-paced romantic sci-fi comedy about telepathic gingers except it's hard to tell when the comedy is intended and the romance is creepy.
Our heroine is Briddey. She's an idiot. We're told that she's an exec at Commspan, a company struggling to compete with Apple, but I just can't buy it. The first half of the book is brutal. I was so stressed out while reading. She gets 43892 calls, 8313875 texts and 13895943329 emails each day from her clingy/nosy family/boyfriend/coworkers and is constantly lying and making excuses and pulling the old "what's that behind you?!" while running off in the opposite direction to avoid them all instead of actually dealing with anything. I came so close to having a panic attack. Willis gives us a veeery broad commentary on the perceived evils of over-connectivity.
Willis throws in unending mentions of pop culture and current technology to make the book seem relevant but I wonder if she's had actual experience with any of it because it ends up feeling as if she's tossing in references based on what she's heard second-hand and it comes off as extremely dated.
The characters are caricatures, I couldn't buy any of them. The story is so convoluted I can't help but wonder if Willis herself didn't have an end in mind and was just inventing plot points as she went along . And there's still so much left unexplained by the end despite all the massive info-dumps in the last couple chapters.
It's a fast read and, as I said, it gave me massive anxiety. So parts of it are pulse-pounding and readable. Sporadically fun. Mostly a letdown.
February 10, 2017
You know, I was worried that my being a total fanboy of Connie Willis would have unduly influenced any kind of review I might make for any new novel, but I never should have worried. At all. This is a Great SF Romantic Comedy, with all the best features of To Say Nothing of the Dog, at least with the comedy of errors, the speed and flurry, and the comedy, even if we're not in the realm of time-travel any more.
This one is all about communication, and if you really think that you've got it all figured out by page 100, then think again. And again. And again. Because Connie Willis will grab you by the scruff of your neck and throw you into a truly brilliant breakneck pace. It might even nearly overwhelm you with its peril and humor and pathos... and that's only the first few pages. Do I feel pity for Briddy? Do I want to throw away all cell phones forever and tell people to just QUIT the gossip, already? Oh yes.
But is this what the novel is about? Oh lordy... no. It only keeps getting better and better and better, and by the time we're through with Trent and Briddy and C.B.... well, I don't know about you, but I was bawling like a little baby. Connie Willis knows how to weave a really tight tale with so, so many perfect emotional tweaks. The finale had so much build that it literally blew my mind.
In a great way. :)
I savored this novel like crazy. This is real storytelling. What a gem.
And to think that this is *merely* a Romantic Comedy? Good Grief. So why am I still teary? I'm a guy! I'm supposed to be made of sterner stuff! Okay. Enough Squee. :) You get the idea. Connie Willis has done it again. Don't ever believe that I'm just taking this for granted, though. Has anyone started to worship her, yet? I mean, with shrines and all? Um. Why not? :)
I love going all gooey with a good book, but I generally don't go THIS far unless it really, really deserves it. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting this humble reviewer get a sneak peek at one of his favorite authors of all time. :) So much Joy! :)
This one is all about communication, and if you really think that you've got it all figured out by page 100, then think again. And again. And again. Because Connie Willis will grab you by the scruff of your neck and throw you into a truly brilliant breakneck pace. It might even nearly overwhelm you with its peril and humor and pathos... and that's only the first few pages. Do I feel pity for Briddy? Do I want to throw away all cell phones forever and tell people to just QUIT the gossip, already? Oh yes.
But is this what the novel is about? Oh lordy... no. It only keeps getting better and better and better, and by the time we're through with Trent and Briddy and C.B.... well, I don't know about you, but I was bawling like a little baby. Connie Willis knows how to weave a really tight tale with so, so many perfect emotional tweaks. The finale had so much build that it literally blew my mind.
In a great way. :)
I savored this novel like crazy. This is real storytelling. What a gem.
And to think that this is *merely* a Romantic Comedy? Good Grief. So why am I still teary? I'm a guy! I'm supposed to be made of sterner stuff! Okay. Enough Squee. :) You get the idea. Connie Willis has done it again. Don't ever believe that I'm just taking this for granted, though. Has anyone started to worship her, yet? I mean, with shrines and all? Um. Why not? :)
I love going all gooey with a good book, but I generally don't go THIS far unless it really, really deserves it. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting this humble reviewer get a sneak peek at one of his favorite authors of all time. :) So much Joy! :)
May 20, 2020
Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:
In Crosstalk, Connie Willis’ near-future science fiction novel, the main character Briddey works for Commspan, a smartphone company that is anxious to compete with Apple. For the last six weeks Briddey has been in a whirlwind romance with Trent, a hot young executive at Commspan, who swept Briddey off her feet with his suave charm and his Porsche. Now Trent has invited Briddey, as a prelude to getting engaged, to get a popular “minor” neurological brain surgery, called an EED, along with him, to enhance their ability to sense each other’s emotions. Emotional telepathy, if you will.
Briddey’s co-workers are thrilled for her, but her Irish relatives and her co-worker C.B. Schwartz are urgently telling her not to get the EED: her relatives because they dislike Trent, and C.B. because it’s brain surgery and unintended consequences are always a danger. Briddey, however, in the throes of her infatuation with Trent, refuses to listen. When their surgeon unexpectedly has an opening in his schedule and shifts their surgeries forward several months, Briddey and Trent sneak off to the hospital without telling anyone.
Briddey gets WAY more than she bargained for. When she wakes up from surgery, she hears an actual voice in her head. True telepathy, not just sensing emotions. And it’s not Trent whose thoughts she is hearing. Briddey is horrified, but her communication problems are only just beginning.
In a post on her blog, Connie Willis explains:
Crosstalk starts off a little slow and then shifts into that farcical comedy-of-errors mode that Connie Willis so often employs in her novels. I tend to think that Willis overuses it, especially when it continues for multiple chapters, but that may be because it tends to make me rather antsy and frustrated as a reader when the main characters are ineffectually and confusedly running around, with miscommunication at every turn. The plot tends to stall in these chapters, as well as the characters’ development. But Crosstalk turned a corner for me along the way. There were some unexpected and imaginative developments in the plot, and as various plot threads began to tie together, it developed into a truly enjoyable reading experience.
There are a few elements of the plot that require some suspension of disbelief: The characters who have the dubious gift of telepathy need to build durable mental images of safe places ― castles, courtyards, and other enclosed places where they can cut themselves off from the unwanted flood of others’ thoughts. These safe places become so real to the characters as they visualize them that they see themselves as actually in these places, rather than in their real-world settings. But it was such a delightful element of the plot that I didn’t really have any difficulty just rolling with it.
Similarly, Briddey’s nine-year-old niece Maeve, a computer genius with a zombie obsession, is unbelievably precocious for her age. She can program mobile software better than, apparently, anyone at Commspan. But she’s such an enjoyable character that, again, it’s forgivable. Maeve is responsible for much of the humor in Crosstalk:
I received a free ebook from Netgalley and Del Rey in exchange for a review. Thank you!
In Crosstalk, Connie Willis’ near-future science fiction novel, the main character Briddey works for Commspan, a smartphone company that is anxious to compete with Apple. For the last six weeks Briddey has been in a whirlwind romance with Trent, a hot young executive at Commspan, who swept Briddey off her feet with his suave charm and his Porsche. Now Trent has invited Briddey, as a prelude to getting engaged, to get a popular “minor” neurological brain surgery, called an EED, along with him, to enhance their ability to sense each other’s emotions. Emotional telepathy, if you will.
Briddey’s co-workers are thrilled for her, but her Irish relatives and her co-worker C.B. Schwartz are urgently telling her not to get the EED: her relatives because they dislike Trent, and C.B. because it’s brain surgery and unintended consequences are always a danger. Briddey, however, in the throes of her infatuation with Trent, refuses to listen. When their surgeon unexpectedly has an opening in his schedule and shifts their surgeries forward several months, Briddey and Trent sneak off to the hospital without telling anyone.
Briddey gets WAY more than she bargained for. When she wakes up from surgery, she hears an actual voice in her head. True telepathy, not just sensing emotions. And it’s not Trent whose thoughts she is hearing. Briddey is horrified, but her communication problems are only just beginning.
In a post on her blog, Connie Willis explains:
The novel was partly inspired by our wildly over-connected world, in which we’re constantly bombarded with communication, most of it unwelcome, and partly by the misconceptions people have about what being telepathic would be like. They always assume it would either be profitable (finding out people’s computer codes or social security numbers or blackmailable personal secrets) or fun.But Willis sees the many downsides of telepathy: hearing things we really would be happier not knowing, being subjected to others’ boring or unpleasant or repugnant thoughts with no guarantee that we would be able to effectively tune them out. Crosstalk explores the perils of over-communication, along with miscommunication, gossip, deception and the many other ways communication can go wrong… and sometimes, thankfully, go right. It’s a timely topic for the Information Age, where electronic communication, along with its risks and limitations, too often replaces face-to-face communication.
Crosstalk starts off a little slow and then shifts into that farcical comedy-of-errors mode that Connie Willis so often employs in her novels. I tend to think that Willis overuses it, especially when it continues for multiple chapters, but that may be because it tends to make me rather antsy and frustrated as a reader when the main characters are ineffectually and confusedly running around, with miscommunication at every turn. The plot tends to stall in these chapters, as well as the characters’ development. But Crosstalk turned a corner for me along the way. There were some unexpected and imaginative developments in the plot, and as various plot threads began to tie together, it developed into a truly enjoyable reading experience.
There are a few elements of the plot that require some suspension of disbelief: The characters who have the dubious gift of telepathy need to build durable mental images of safe places ― castles, courtyards, and other enclosed places where they can cut themselves off from the unwanted flood of others’ thoughts. These safe places become so real to the characters as they visualize them that they see themselves as actually in these places, rather than in their real-world settings. But it was such a delightful element of the plot that I didn’t really have any difficulty just rolling with it.
Similarly, Briddey’s nine-year-old niece Maeve, a computer genius with a zombie obsession, is unbelievably precocious for her age. She can program mobile software better than, apparently, anyone at Commspan. But she’s such an enjoyable character that, again, it’s forgivable. Maeve is responsible for much of the humor in Crosstalk:
Mom’s having a fit. She says nobody can fall in love that fast, but I think they can. … I mean, Rapunzel and Flynn Rider fell in love in two days, and in The Zombie Princess Diaries, Xander fell in love with Allison in like five minutes, but that’s because there’s not much time when there are zombies chasing you.In the end, Crosstalk is not simply a novel about communication with romantic comedy elements. It’s also about families, trust, and risking yourself to help other people. Not to mention show tunes and zombie movies.
I received a free ebook from Netgalley and Del Rey in exchange for a review. Thank you!
November 16, 2016
The blurb of this book was a bit wishy-washy, but it's Connie Willis, so I expected some kind of interesting comment on current communication and the ridiculousness of the EED. Instead I got a story exploring the pros and cons of telepathy, something I figured out myself as a small child, with added creepy romance. I'm pretty disappointed.
The book opens with a lot of promise. Briddey (how does one pronounce that?) is some kind of executive (Maybe. We never really find out what she does) at one of Apple's competitors. She has an overbearing family and the company needs to come up with an innovative idea for a new phone--fast. I read the first two chapters and actually had to put it down because Willis had recreated Briddey's life so well: it was frantic, never a moment to herself, constantly being barraged by phone calls, texts, gossips. She spent a whole day at work and didn't really do anything, and by the end of it, I was exhausted. As an introvert, it was seriously overwhelming and I just wanted to shout at Briddey to turn her damn phone off and deadbolt her door to stop her relatives getting in. Then change the locks, get some ear plugs, and shut out the world for a while.
This breathless tumble of constant interaction continues and I think it's one of the reasons this was such a fast read for me. Until about the 75% mark, I tore through this book. I didn't really know what was going to happen in the plot and kept expecting something incredible, something worthy of such a great writer. I've only read Doomsday Book (which was fantastic), but I've heard so much about Willis and always regretted I haven't been able to get my hands on more of her work.
Unfortunately, that never happened, and at 80% of the way through I'd lost any expectation that it would happen. I almost put it down, but this was a review copy from NetGalley so I decided to plunge on. My lack of expectation was met, but the quality of the writing went even further downhill. The last 20% of the book is pretty much all a massive info dump. The various threads of plot come together (and there were quite a few), but the only way they're pulled in is through enormous amounts of exposition, generally on the part of C.B., one of Briddey's co-workers (more about him later). This was boring. I skimmed a lot and didn't miss out on much by doing so. The explanations were complex, but ultimately the majority of them didn't matter, which cuts to the heart of one of the major problems with this book.
I figured out most of the major plot points long before Briddey did, and reading about her figuring them out, or being told them, was pretty frustrating. This book really spoon-feeds everything to you, which is weird because the answers are skilfully hinted at throughout the book. Having such delayed "reveals" was annoying and made me feel like Willis assumed I was stupid.
Part of this is because Briddey is one of the dumbest characters I've read, basically ever. I wanted to throttle her right from the start when she was answering calls from her family that she knew would be pointless and she didn't have time for. I realise Willis is probably commenting on a certain type of person who can't ignore a call, can't ignore someone at the door, and is a complete pushover, but good grief it was difficult to read. Especially as Briddey never really changed her behaviour. She goes through a lot in this book and yet at the end she doesn't seem to value privacy any more than she did at the start.
This complete lack of learning anything at all about the experience is disheartening but I probably shouldn't really be surprised. Briddey has basically no agency. She's pushed around by everyone, doesn't have any original thoughts that actually make sense, and the one time she actually takes action, she hurts everyone and then feels irrationally guilty about it because she refuses to listen to anyone. Maybe this is part of the commentary, because despite all the communication going on, everything just bounces right off Briddey. She has entire conversations about stuff, and then goes home and squirrel-cages (I did like that term, but maybe Willis didn't come up with it) herself into ignoring everything in it and assumes there are ulterior motives. She doesn't really do anything about the ulterior motives, because that would require agency, and just goes along with everyone anyway, or else refuses to go along with them for completely ridiculous reasons.
I could probably go on for some time about how stupid Briddey is, but I'll stop to avoid spoilers. Basically, it's really irritating to see the lead as such an idiotic woman because haven't we had enough brainless women in fiction? It would be different if we saw Briddey has actual skill somewhere, but we never get to see her at work doing her executive thing, so I just kind of assumed she'd got promoted because she was pretty and had friends. I'd almost call it sexist, but honestly the men are given a similar treatment. All the characters in this are so one-dimensional they're pretty much caricatures. The women are all gossips with weird neuroses. The men ... well there are only three men so I'll talk about them. The doctor is just a plot point . Trent, Briddey's boyfriend is ... I'll give him his own paragraph.
Trent suggested the night before the book starts that he and Briddey get the EED, a device that will allow them to feel the other's emotions. They've been dating for six weeks. Obviously they're both either living in another reality, or there's something going on. It's immediately obvious there's something going on. The blurb says Briddey's thrilled about it, but honestly she just sounds (and continues to sound) kind of brainwashed. She doesn't have a single romantic thought about Trent, and his treatment of her is horrific. Sure, he sends her flowers and takes her to fancy restaurants, but he cancels dates, blows her off for meetings, and generally treats her like a commodity ... every single time we see him.
C.B. ... well. Ok. C.B. is a Nice Guy Nerd Basement Dweller. I imagine him pulling up Reddit while in the bathroom and browsing r/technology, casually scrolling past all the sexist comments and seeing nothing wrong with them at all. He's basically your standard nerd cliché, which I'm so tired of seeing. His behaviour at the start of the book is frankly disgusting. He ignores Briddey's wishes at every turn, controlling her, threatening her, and otherwise treating her like the one-dimensional bimbo that she is. That doesn't make it ok that he does that. Every time he said "Good girl", my skin crawled and I wanted to punch him in the face. I feel sick thinking back to it.
Once again, I have no problem with people writing characters like this, but please, please don't present these vile personality flaws as no problem.
Maeve was about the only character I didn't want to actively throw out of the book, but only because she's 9, and 9 year olds can't be expected to do what they're told. Maeve was so much fun! She's a smart kid, interested in princesses and zombies (I feel like we'd be great friends) and also a skilled computer hacker waitwhat. She's 9. And a skilled computer hacker. Riiiight? I know the generation above me are basically wetting themselves about how kids are mysteriously amazing with computers these days, but I used to teach IT to kids. They're not that good with computers. Maeve might be an outlier, but we're talking skill in orders of magnitude greater than a 9 year old who's already pretty good with computers. She was a great character, but I didn't buy that she was 9.
I've mentioned the plot earlier, but I want to talk about it some more. I feel like there was a definite bait-and-switch going on with the blurb and the actual plot. The EED is an interesting device, possibly based in science (I don't know, we didn't even get to find out what EED stood for, but I would guess it was some kind of implanted computer that could broadcast the emotional signals of one partner to another?), and definitely kind of sci-fi. I was excited to see where this went, what the effects were on society, why society jumped at the idea of it in the first place (it seems like a horrific idea to me). This wasn't explored at all, and instead the book was solely about telepathy. I wouldn't have picked it up if I'd known about that because it isn't new. It isn't interesting. It isn't even sci-fi. This is basically a paranormal romance and I am not into that at all. I'm relieved I didn't pay any money for this book because I would have felt severely mis-sold.
Anyway, if you like paranormal romance, and aren't fussed about original plots or characters with brains, you might like this. If you want to discover how to create an oppressive and busy atmosphere in your writing, you might want to read a few chapters of this and then nope out because you start noticing all the issues. Otherwise, I'd steer clear of this and find some of Willis's other work because this is definitely not her best.
The book opens with a lot of promise. Briddey (how does one pronounce that?) is some kind of executive (Maybe. We never really find out what she does) at one of Apple's competitors. She has an overbearing family and the company needs to come up with an innovative idea for a new phone--fast. I read the first two chapters and actually had to put it down because Willis had recreated Briddey's life so well: it was frantic, never a moment to herself, constantly being barraged by phone calls, texts, gossips. She spent a whole day at work and didn't really do anything, and by the end of it, I was exhausted. As an introvert, it was seriously overwhelming and I just wanted to shout at Briddey to turn her damn phone off and deadbolt her door to stop her relatives getting in. Then change the locks, get some ear plugs, and shut out the world for a while.
This breathless tumble of constant interaction continues and I think it's one of the reasons this was such a fast read for me. Until about the 75% mark, I tore through this book. I didn't really know what was going to happen in the plot and kept expecting something incredible, something worthy of such a great writer. I've only read Doomsday Book (which was fantastic), but I've heard so much about Willis and always regretted I haven't been able to get my hands on more of her work.
Unfortunately, that never happened, and at 80% of the way through I'd lost any expectation that it would happen. I almost put it down, but this was a review copy from NetGalley so I decided to plunge on. My lack of expectation was met, but the quality of the writing went even further downhill. The last 20% of the book is pretty much all a massive info dump. The various threads of plot come together (and there were quite a few), but the only way they're pulled in is through enormous amounts of exposition, generally on the part of C.B., one of Briddey's co-workers (more about him later). This was boring. I skimmed a lot and didn't miss out on much by doing so. The explanations were complex, but ultimately the majority of them didn't matter, which cuts to the heart of one of the major problems with this book.
I figured out most of the major plot points long before Briddey did, and reading about her figuring them out, or being told them, was pretty frustrating. This book really spoon-feeds everything to you, which is weird because the answers are skilfully hinted at throughout the book. Having such delayed "reveals" was annoying and made me feel like Willis assumed I was stupid.
Part of this is because Briddey is one of the dumbest characters I've read, basically ever. I wanted to throttle her right from the start when she was answering calls from her family that she knew would be pointless and she didn't have time for. I realise Willis is probably commenting on a certain type of person who can't ignore a call, can't ignore someone at the door, and is a complete pushover, but good grief it was difficult to read. Especially as Briddey never really changed her behaviour. She goes through a lot in this book and yet at the end she doesn't seem to value privacy any more than she did at the start.
This complete lack of learning anything at all about the experience is disheartening but I probably shouldn't really be surprised. Briddey has basically no agency. She's pushed around by everyone, doesn't have any original thoughts that actually make sense, and the one time she actually takes action, she hurts everyone and then feels irrationally guilty about it because she refuses to listen to anyone. Maybe this is part of the commentary, because despite all the communication going on, everything just bounces right off Briddey. She has entire conversations about stuff, and then goes home and squirrel-cages (I did like that term, but maybe Willis didn't come up with it) herself into ignoring everything in it and assumes there are ulterior motives. She doesn't really do anything about the ulterior motives, because that would require agency, and just goes along with everyone anyway, or else refuses to go along with them for completely ridiculous reasons.
I could probably go on for some time about how stupid Briddey is, but I'll stop to avoid spoilers. Basically, it's really irritating to see the lead as such an idiotic woman because haven't we had enough brainless women in fiction? It would be different if we saw Briddey has actual skill somewhere, but we never get to see her at work doing her executive thing, so I just kind of assumed she'd got promoted because she was pretty and had friends. I'd almost call it sexist, but honestly the men are given a similar treatment. All the characters in this are so one-dimensional they're pretty much caricatures. The women are all gossips with weird neuroses. The men ... well there are only three men so I'll talk about them. The doctor is just a plot point . Trent, Briddey's boyfriend is ... I'll give him his own paragraph.
Trent suggested the night before the book starts that he and Briddey get the EED, a device that will allow them to feel the other's emotions. They've been dating for six weeks. Obviously they're both either living in another reality, or there's something going on. It's immediately obvious there's something going on. The blurb says Briddey's thrilled about it, but honestly she just sounds (and continues to sound) kind of brainwashed. She doesn't have a single romantic thought about Trent, and his treatment of her is horrific. Sure, he sends her flowers and takes her to fancy restaurants, but he cancels dates, blows her off for meetings, and generally treats her like a commodity ... every single time we see him.
C.B. ... well. Ok. C.B. is a Nice Guy Nerd Basement Dweller. I imagine him pulling up Reddit while in the bathroom and browsing r/technology, casually scrolling past all the sexist comments and seeing nothing wrong with them at all. He's basically your standard nerd cliché, which I'm so tired of seeing. His behaviour at the start of the book is frankly disgusting. He ignores Briddey's wishes at every turn, controlling her, threatening her, and otherwise treating her like the one-dimensional bimbo that she is. That doesn't make it ok that he does that. Every time he said "Good girl", my skin crawled and I wanted to punch him in the face. I feel sick thinking back to it.
Once again, I have no problem with people writing characters like this, but please, please don't present these vile personality flaws as no problem.
Maeve was about the only character I didn't want to actively throw out of the book, but only because she's 9, and 9 year olds can't be expected to do what they're told. Maeve was so much fun! She's a smart kid, interested in princesses and zombies (I feel like we'd be great friends) and also a skilled computer hacker waitwhat. She's 9. And a skilled computer hacker. Riiiight? I know the generation above me are basically wetting themselves about how kids are mysteriously amazing with computers these days, but I used to teach IT to kids. They're not that good with computers. Maeve might be an outlier, but we're talking skill in orders of magnitude greater than a 9 year old who's already pretty good with computers. She was a great character, but I didn't buy that she was 9.
I've mentioned the plot earlier, but I want to talk about it some more. I feel like there was a definite bait-and-switch going on with the blurb and the actual plot. The EED is an interesting device, possibly based in science (I don't know, we didn't even get to find out what EED stood for, but I would guess it was some kind of implanted computer that could broadcast the emotional signals of one partner to another?), and definitely kind of sci-fi. I was excited to see where this went, what the effects were on society, why society jumped at the idea of it in the first place (it seems like a horrific idea to me). This wasn't explored at all, and instead the book was solely about telepathy. I wouldn't have picked it up if I'd known about that because it isn't new. It isn't interesting. It isn't even sci-fi. This is basically a paranormal romance and I am not into that at all. I'm relieved I didn't pay any money for this book because I would have felt severely mis-sold.
Anyway, if you like paranormal romance, and aren't fussed about original plots or characters with brains, you might like this. If you want to discover how to create an oppressive and busy atmosphere in your writing, you might want to read a few chapters of this and then nope out because you start noticing all the issues. Otherwise, I'd steer clear of this and find some of Willis's other work because this is definitely not her best.
May 28, 2020
I’ve been staring at this bloody shrimping screen for the past 162.5 hours (give or take 2356 minutes or 2), and still have no fishing idea what to say about this book. Looks like I just can’t beat the abominable A Connie Willis Book Never Shall You Be Able to Review in the Entirety of Your Entire Life and Beyond Curse (ACWBNSYBAtRitEoYELaBC™). Our Lord Shrimp knows I tried to find nefariously creative ways to thwart it, but nothing seems to work. Not even sacrificing puny human babies, if you can believe it.
Quite so, my deer friend, quite so.
I guess that, given my total utter and complete lack of inspiration, I could fill this space with a fascinating plot recap, but, as you well know my Little Barnacles,I’m lazy as fish and can’t be bothered that’s what blurbs and other reviewers are for, so I won’t and stuff.
Okay, there must be something I can say about this book. Oh, hey, I know! Here: there are lots of 2-star reviews for this book. Gotta love the Fiendish Hordes of Despicable Book Taste (FHoDBT™)! Life would be so shrimpy boring without them! Okay okay, I have to most reluctantly admit that some of said FHoDBT™’s points are *whispers* not completely unfounded . Yes, it is revoltingly true, Crosstalk is not nearly as scrumptiously good as To Say Nothing of the Dog (and super extra light compared to Doomsday Book and Passage). And it is also revoltingly true that the story drags on alot bit at first. And it is also also revoltingly true that, even though the book was published in 2016, some of the technological references feel dated already. And it is also also also revoltingly true that is this book is of the horrible, appalling, disgusting, allergy-inducing romantic kind.
BUT. It’s Connie Willis. So QED and stuff. The end.
Just kidding. Hahahahahahaha. You didn’t seriously think this non-review was over, did you now my Tiny Decapods? I mean, it’s not like having absolutely nothing to say about a book ever stopped me from blabbering about it for hours and stuff. Anyway, moving on and stuff.
So. This book is a Typically Delicious Willis Comedy of Manners (TDWCoM™). It comes fully equipped with a frantic pace, chaos galore, confusion aplenty, all-around quirkiness, shenanigans a gogo, twists and turns and surprises (oh my!), wonderfully eclectic quotes and cultural references, clever stuff, farcical stuff and Super Extra Witty Stuff (SEWT™). In other words, Quintessential Willis Lusciousness (QWL™). In other words, there’s something I need to do post haste and stuff.
Avoided this could not be. Most awfully sorry I am not.
Oh, and in case you were wondering (or not), this story is about telepathy, communication (or lack thereof) and connectivity. It’s about mad scientists in basements, zombie hordes, and Rapunzel. It’s about Hitler being all warm and fuzzy, Sanctuary phones, and the Hunchback of Notre Dame (you know, that guy who lives in a dungeon?). It’s about rubbish plan A’s, the utter lack of plan B’s, and the Daughters of Ireland. It’s about apps that make really loud slamming-down-the-receiver noises (best invention ever, methinks), burnings at the stake, and Frozen. It’s about three A.M., “Danny Boy” and the lying brute of an Englishman who wrote it, and library stacks. And ultimately, it’s about Night Fighter and Dawn Patrol, drilling a hole in one’s little head for love, and all sorts of other Wondrously Wondrous Willis Stuff (W³S™).
➽ Nefarious Last Words #1 (NLW™): Connie Willis, I 💕lurves💕 the way your mind works and stuff.
➽ Nefarious Last Words #2 (NLW™): All Hail Hedy Lamarr, Hollywood goddess and frequency-hopping inventor extraordinaire. Without her there’d be no GPS, WiFi or Bluetooth. And therefore, no Crosstalk. Ha!
[Pre-review nonsense]
This book probably doesn't deserve a full 4 star rating, but it's one of those Delightfully Delightful Connie Willis Romps (DDCWR™) that make me feel despicably fluffy inside (yes, it's disgusting, I know), so 4 stars it is. Ha!
Yes, being petted by a leek and reading a DDCWR™ are two very similar experiences. FYI and stuff.
Full review to come and stuff.
Quite so, my deer friend, quite so.
I guess that, given my total utter and complete lack of inspiration, I could fill this space with a fascinating plot recap, but, as you well know my Little Barnacles,
Okay, there must be something I can say about this book. Oh, hey, I know! Here: there are lots of 2-star reviews for this book. Gotta love the Fiendish Hordes of Despicable Book Taste (FHoDBT™)! Life would be so shrimpy boring without them! Okay okay, I have to most reluctantly admit that some of said FHoDBT™’s points are *whispers* not completely unfounded . Yes, it is revoltingly true, Crosstalk is not nearly as scrumptiously good as To Say Nothing of the Dog (and super extra light compared to Doomsday Book and Passage). And it is also revoltingly true that the story drags on a
BUT. It’s Connie Willis. So QED and stuff. The end.
Just kidding. Hahahahahahaha. You didn’t seriously think this non-review was over, did you now my Tiny Decapods? I mean, it’s not like having absolutely nothing to say about a book ever stopped me from blabbering about it for hours and stuff. Anyway, moving on and stuff.
So. This book is a Typically Delicious Willis Comedy of Manners (TDWCoM™). It comes fully equipped with a frantic pace, chaos galore, confusion aplenty, all-around quirkiness, shenanigans a gogo, twists and turns and surprises (oh my!), wonderfully eclectic quotes and cultural references, clever stuff, farcical stuff and Super Extra Witty Stuff (SEWT™). In other words, Quintessential Willis Lusciousness (QWL™). In other words, there’s something I need to do post haste and stuff.
Avoided this could not be. Most awfully sorry I am not.
Oh, and in case you were wondering (or not), this story is about telepathy, communication (or lack thereof) and connectivity. It’s about mad scientists in basements, zombie hordes, and Rapunzel. It’s about Hitler being all warm and fuzzy, Sanctuary phones, and the Hunchback of Notre Dame (you know, that guy who lives in a dungeon?). It’s about rubbish plan A’s, the utter lack of plan B’s, and the Daughters of Ireland. It’s about apps that make really loud slamming-down-the-receiver noises (best invention ever, methinks), burnings at the stake, and Frozen. It’s about three A.M., “Danny Boy” and the lying brute of an Englishman who wrote it, and library stacks. And ultimately, it’s about Night Fighter and Dawn Patrol, drilling a hole in one’s little head for love, and all sorts of other Wondrously Wondrous Willis Stuff (W³S™).
➽ Nefarious Last Words #1 (NLW™): Connie Willis, I 💕lurves💕 the way your mind works and stuff.
➽ Nefarious Last Words #2 (NLW™): All Hail Hedy Lamarr, Hollywood goddess and frequency-hopping inventor extraordinaire. Without her there’d be no GPS, WiFi or Bluetooth. And therefore, no Crosstalk. Ha!
[Pre-review nonsense]
This book probably doesn't deserve a full 4 star rating, but it's one of those Delightfully Delightful Connie Willis Romps (DDCWR™) that make me feel despicably fluffy inside (yes, it's disgusting, I know), so 4 stars it is. Ha!
Yes, being petted by a leek and reading a DDCWR™ are two very similar experiences. FYI and stuff.
Full review to come and stuff.
October 22, 2016
Reading this book is like experiencing a prolonged anxiety attack. But wait! That's not a bad thing! It's like having a funny, clever and romantic anxiety attack!
Connie Willis' books tend to either feature a comedy of manners set against a dark and dire background... or a comedy of manners in a somewhat less catastrophic situation. This is one in the less-dire and more light-hearted category. But Willis' humor always has her own distinct flavor; it's unmistakable - and I love it.
Here, she riffs on the idea that's been getting tossed around for a while now about whether or not our ever-increasing capability for communication, enhanced by ever-progressing technology, is really a good and productive thing. (Not just 'riffs,' but goes into a brilliantly wailing guitar solo on the topic.)
Briddey works for a cell phone company. So does her fiance, Trent. Trent has recently asked Briddey to get an EED with him - a new and trendy surgical procedure which is supposed to help bonded couples have a greater degree of empathy with each other; even enabling them to sense each others' emotions.
As readers, we're not led to think that this is a good idea for Briddey for a second. Trent is so enormously clearly a schmuck and a half, and the two haven't even been together for two months. We're not the only ones to think it's a terrible idea - the weird computer geek in the basement lab is also full of dire pronouncements about the plan. And every single person Briddey knows has SOMETHING to say about it, because gossip, whether it's from family or coworkers, travels faster than the speed of light.
There wouldn't be much of a story, of course, if something didn't go wrong - but believe me, the multifarious ways in which things go wrong are unpredictable and terribly amusing.
Many thanks to Gollancz and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this new book by one of my favorite authors. As always, my opinions are solely my own.
Connie Willis' books tend to either feature a comedy of manners set against a dark and dire background... or a comedy of manners in a somewhat less catastrophic situation. This is one in the less-dire and more light-hearted category. But Willis' humor always has her own distinct flavor; it's unmistakable - and I love it.
Here, she riffs on the idea that's been getting tossed around for a while now about whether or not our ever-increasing capability for communication, enhanced by ever-progressing technology, is really a good and productive thing. (Not just 'riffs,' but goes into a brilliantly wailing guitar solo on the topic.)
Briddey works for a cell phone company. So does her fiance, Trent. Trent has recently asked Briddey to get an EED with him - a new and trendy surgical procedure which is supposed to help bonded couples have a greater degree of empathy with each other; even enabling them to sense each others' emotions.
As readers, we're not led to think that this is a good idea for Briddey for a second. Trent is so enormously clearly a schmuck and a half, and the two haven't even been together for two months. We're not the only ones to think it's a terrible idea - the weird computer geek in the basement lab is also full of dire pronouncements about the plan. And every single person Briddey knows has SOMETHING to say about it, because gossip, whether it's from family or coworkers, travels faster than the speed of light.
There wouldn't be much of a story, of course, if something didn't go wrong - but believe me, the multifarious ways in which things go wrong are unpredictable and terribly amusing.
Many thanks to Gollancz and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this new book by one of my favorite authors. As always, my opinions are solely my own.
November 6, 2016
This review can also be found on my blog, Dana and the Books.
I need to be upfront: Connie Willis is my all-time favourite author and I love her. Her books are perfect.
I waited an agonizing six (SIX!!) whole years to get my hands on this book and it was worth it. I would wait another six years to get this sort of amazingness again (well, I’m incredibly impatient person so while I would wait, I wouldn’t do it quietly).
Crosstalk was one of her lighter and hilarious books. It wasn’t gutwrenching like Doomsday Book or Passage; it had a similar tone and atmosphere as To Say Nothing as the Dog. Like all of her books, there was always a sense of urgency and panic. Mix that in with trademark Willis wit, missed messages, franticness, and hiding from people and you’ve got exactly what I love about her books.
The EED was an interesting — and also slightly terrifying — piece of tech. It actually reminded me a lot of Deanna Troi’s Betazoid abilities in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Crosstalk was an adorable and comedic experience. While I didn’t have a book hangover that lasted a week like I did with Passage, I turned the last page with a huge smile on my face. She is one of the few authors who can give you a heart attack with tension but then make you laugh out on the next page.
And that’s why Connie Willis is my queen.
I need to be upfront: Connie Willis is my all-time favourite author and I love her. Her books are perfect.
I waited an agonizing six (SIX!!) whole years to get my hands on this book and it was worth it. I would wait another six years to get this sort of amazingness again (well, I’m incredibly impatient person so while I would wait, I wouldn’t do it quietly).
Crosstalk was one of her lighter and hilarious books. It wasn’t gutwrenching like Doomsday Book or Passage; it had a similar tone and atmosphere as To Say Nothing as the Dog. Like all of her books, there was always a sense of urgency and panic. Mix that in with trademark Willis wit, missed messages, franticness, and hiding from people and you’ve got exactly what I love about her books.
The EED was an interesting — and also slightly terrifying — piece of tech. It actually reminded me a lot of Deanna Troi’s Betazoid abilities in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Crosstalk was an adorable and comedic experience. While I didn’t have a book hangover that lasted a week like I did with Passage, I turned the last page with a huge smile on my face. She is one of the few authors who can give you a heart attack with tension but then make you laugh out on the next page.
And that’s why Connie Willis is my queen.
August 12, 2018
I have a bunch of jumbled thoughts about this book, and mulling didn't help, so I'll just list the jumble bits and be done with it:
-I found Briddey's family simply hideous. No concept of privacy, no respect for boundaries, constantly talking over one another and refusing to listen to one another. Hideous.
-Liked Maeve, though I thought she was waaaaaaaaay too precocious and super brilliant for a nine-year old.
-I often wanted to smack Briddey -- she was a total doormat with her family, couldn't prevaricate when necessary. How does one make it to adulthood without the ability to shade the truth, or at times lie? Young children know how to lie! (Anyone with a kid knows what I mean: Did you do ....? What? Not me!)
-I wanted to squash/beat to death Mary Clare. That's not at all nice, and quite a violent response, but really!!! Helicopter parenting to the nth degree. Mary Clare is a nightmare.
-And Trevor -- really!! Briddey couldn't see who and what he was until after the connection?? Huh? Trevor was so obviously a jerk (within a few sentences into his character) and self-centred, and willing to sell his soul/mother/puppy/you name it if it meant he'd get an executive office.
-I wish Connie Willis had not resorted to her patented miscommunication thing. I loved it in "To Say Nothing of the Dog", but it didn't really work for me in this story. I wanted to see something different.
-Dr. Verrick looked shifty and untrustworthy to me pretty early, and Briddey didn't catch it at all. (Shaking my head about that woman....)
-What the heck does Briddey do at Commspan? She's got an admin assistant, so she's not a peon, but I have no idea WTF she did at work. I know it wasn't necessarily germane to the story Willis was telling, but what was Briddey's area of responsibility with respect to the development of the new phone that had Trevor in such a lather? And wouldn't Briddey have to have demonstrated some level of competence if she was a supervisor/manager? Competence, by the way, she didn't really manifest for much of the book.
-C.B. alternated between too nice and stalking.
Ok, those are probably all the things that annoyed me through this book.
-I tore through all 498 pages over several sittings over a day and a half. So, despite everything that was annoying me, I kept going.
-I liked the way Willis had me feeling the terror of all the voices.
-And the exhaustion and frustration of being too available to people, through all the different types of tech.
I'm giving this a 2.5 stars. I wanted to like this a lot more, as I like Willis' work, but I just couldn't get too far past the things that annoyed me.
-I found Briddey's family simply hideous. No concept of privacy, no respect for boundaries, constantly talking over one another and refusing to listen to one another. Hideous.
-Liked Maeve, though I thought she was waaaaaaaaay too precocious and super brilliant for a nine-year old.
-I often wanted to smack Briddey -- she was a total doormat with her family, couldn't prevaricate when necessary. How does one make it to adulthood without the ability to shade the truth, or at times lie? Young children know how to lie! (Anyone with a kid knows what I mean: Did you do ....? What? Not me!)
-I wanted to squash/beat to death Mary Clare. That's not at all nice, and quite a violent response, but really!!! Helicopter parenting to the nth degree. Mary Clare is a nightmare.
-And Trevor -- really!! Briddey couldn't see who and what he was until after the connection?? Huh? Trevor was so obviously a jerk (within a few sentences into his character) and self-centred, and willing to sell his soul/mother/puppy/you name it if it meant he'd get an executive office.
-I wish Connie Willis had not resorted to her patented miscommunication thing. I loved it in "To Say Nothing of the Dog", but it didn't really work for me in this story. I wanted to see something different.
-Dr. Verrick looked shifty and untrustworthy to me pretty early, and Briddey didn't catch it at all. (Shaking my head about that woman....)
-What the heck does Briddey do at Commspan? She's got an admin assistant, so she's not a peon, but I have no idea WTF she did at work. I know it wasn't necessarily germane to the story Willis was telling, but what was Briddey's area of responsibility with respect to the development of the new phone that had Trevor in such a lather? And wouldn't Briddey have to have demonstrated some level of competence if she was a supervisor/manager? Competence, by the way, she didn't really manifest for much of the book.
-C.B. alternated between too nice and stalking.
Ok, those are probably all the things that annoyed me through this book.
-I tore through all 498 pages over several sittings over a day and a half. So, despite everything that was annoying me, I kept going.
-I liked the way Willis had me feeling the terror of all the voices.
-And the exhaustion and frustration of being too available to people, through all the different types of tech.
I'm giving this a 2.5 stars. I wanted to like this a lot more, as I like Willis' work, but I just couldn't get too far past the things that annoyed me.
November 10, 2016
(Audiobook) I couldn't finish this one. I gave it over 6 hours (35%) to convince me it was worth continuing. Narrator Mia Barron was quite good so this is one of the few I abandoned purely because of how much I hated the characters and story.
This was a comedic farce without the comedy. It was an Abbott & Costello "Who's on first" routine, with smartphones and no punchline(s).
Briddie was supposedly an exec for a smartphone company but she was spectacularly stupid. She makes important decisions for a tech company but can't keep track of her most basic deceptions let alone what she did with her car. All of her problems could have been solved simply by telling people to "butt out" or better yet "PISS OFF!". I hate stupid characters and they don't come any stupider then Briddie....Well her sister was certainly more insufferable. I GUESS we were supposed to cheer for CB to GET THE GIRL despite his like of hygiene or redeeming qualities. These weren't characters they were caricatures.
The plot was extremely convoluted. I get it, it's a farce but there was no redeeming comedy. I snorted more in frustration then wry amusement. The point it wants to make about technology and intrusive communication could have been done effectively in a short story not a 20 hour, 500+ page book.
This book is packed full of pop culture. However it feels like the author is just jamming this crap in. Look I said "Instagram"! And I know what Tumblr is! And Tinder! I'm hip like that! I can't help but think this book will age poorly. It is only 6 months old and already seems dated (Brad and Angelina as the ideal couple...ooops)
Even though I did not finish it I know I did not like it so - 1 star
This was a comedic farce without the comedy. It was an Abbott & Costello "Who's on first" routine, with smartphones and no punchline(s).
Briddie was supposedly an exec for a smartphone company but she was spectacularly stupid. She makes important decisions for a tech company but can't keep track of her most basic deceptions let alone what she did with her car. All of her problems could have been solved simply by telling people to "butt out" or better yet "PISS OFF!". I hate stupid characters and they don't come any stupider then Briddie....Well her sister was certainly more insufferable. I GUESS we were supposed to cheer for CB to GET THE GIRL despite his like of hygiene or redeeming qualities. These weren't characters they were caricatures.
The plot was extremely convoluted. I get it, it's a farce but there was no redeeming comedy. I snorted more in frustration then wry amusement. The point it wants to make about technology and intrusive communication could have been done effectively in a short story not a 20 hour, 500+ page book.
This book is packed full of pop culture. However it feels like the author is just jamming this crap in. Look I said "Instagram"! And I know what Tumblr is! And Tinder! I'm hip like that! I can't help but think this book will age poorly. It is only 6 months old and already seems dated (Brad and Angelina as the ideal couple...ooops)
Even though I did not finish it I know I did not like it so - 1 star
October 31, 2016
I have read nearly every book Connie Willis has written and enjoyed each and every one of them. And I enjoyed this one too although it lost a star for a few things that irritated.
Firstly the MC. I loved many of the characters, especially CB and Maeve, but Briddie came close to driving me crazy. She was either being a doormat for her nonsensical family or she was being deliberately obtuse about the obvious.
Secondly Willis always has a tendency to go into great detail and she can take a whole chapter to account for a few minutes in a day. This is her style and it is fine except in this book there were occasions when she carried this a bit too far and my mind would begin to wander.
On the other hand the story was great, the ideas behind it were clever and I must have become very involved in the outcome because I read all 498 pages of it in a day and a half.
Not her best book but still very good!
Firstly the MC. I loved many of the characters, especially CB and Maeve, but Briddie came close to driving me crazy. She was either being a doormat for her nonsensical family or she was being deliberately obtuse about the obvious.
Secondly Willis always has a tendency to go into great detail and she can take a whole chapter to account for a few minutes in a day. This is her style and it is fine except in this book there were occasions when she carried this a bit too far and my mind would begin to wander.
On the other hand the story was great, the ideas behind it were clever and I must have become very involved in the outcome because I read all 498 pages of it in a day and a half.
Not her best book but still very good!
October 10, 2017
If you decide to read this book, you will need to pour yourself a giant glass of something alcoholic or take a Xanax first or you might just find yourself having major anxiety while reading it. The very best word I can use to describe this book is HECTIC. I can't think of any other time where I would have used that as my one-word description either. But, sheesh! It was like being thrown into a room full of squirrels and being told to corral them into a box while at the same time holding a baby and juggling chainsaws. Stressful and insane.
It's a bit like having a fourth kid.
Our heroine, Briddy, is somehow an executive at a cell phone company in charge of new ideas or something like that. We never know, exactly, because as far as we can tell, she never actually works. She spends all of her days running around like a hamster on a wheel, trying to avoid talking to anyone. She hides, runs to imaginary meetings, pretends to be on the phone while simultaneously ignoring all of her phone and text messages, and basically just runs. Constantly running.... She is also so "busy" that when she is forced to speak to anyone for a moment, she interrupts them every couple of words, jumping to conclusions, forcing every conversation to take either twice as long, or never actually come to the point so that there are "zany" misunderstandings constantly. Then, she accuses the person she cut-off and ran-off on of lying to her. She accuses people of lying almost as often as she ran. And, shit, this girl ran. The whole damn book. It was exhausting.
Briddy's superpowers are flying off the handle, jumping to conclusions, dodging responsibilities, and super-delusional powers.
Briddy's boyfriend is named Trent and he drives a Porsche and has nice hair. He sends her flowers constantly and takes her to nice restaurants. He must be hiding a douchey-side, right ladies? We all know that if the outside is too shiney, there must be a steaming pile of horribleness on the inside. What is it: mommy-issues? cross-dressing? micro-penis? (*fingers crossed for a combination of all three!*) He's convinced Briddy to have brain surgery so that the two of them can have the ability to read each other's minds. All of the celebrity couples are doing it. Celebrities are always right.
The company's hipster/genius, who keeps his office in the basement and has messy hair so Briddy assumes he is crazy and hates him, tells Briddy that she shouldn't have this surgery. Reading a boyfriend's mind is a bad idea.
“You don’t want to know. Trust me. Especially what guys think. It’s like a cesspool in there. I mean, it’s even worse than the stuff they say on the internet, and you know how bad that is.”
We do. If you ever feel the need to get some feminist rage going just go to the "comments" section of ....well, almost anything. I don't care if it's a kitty video, there will be some disgusting and offensive shit in the comments.
Okay, and sometimes funny things.
Of course Briddy isn't going to listen to a crazy hipster, or her family, or common sense that says you don't get elective brain surgery for a guy you've dated for six weeks. Hell, I've known my hubs for almost 30 years now and I have absolutely ZERO desire to know what he's thinking at all times. And, it would seriously cramp my reading-style if he could hear my thoughts on my book-boyfriends. I would be stuck reading literature or wholesome shit. That would suck.
So, they go ahead with the surgery, and surprise!!! Things go horribly wrong. She hooks up with the wrong dude. Oh, what hijinks follow!!
I think the main problem is that the book tried too hard to be zany fun, and by trying too hard, it missed the mark.
But, points for a great concept and a cool character in the hipster dude. I liked him. It was just too frantic for me.
It's a bit like having a fourth kid.
Our heroine, Briddy, is somehow an executive at a cell phone company in charge of new ideas or something like that. We never know, exactly, because as far as we can tell, she never actually works. She spends all of her days running around like a hamster on a wheel, trying to avoid talking to anyone. She hides, runs to imaginary meetings, pretends to be on the phone while simultaneously ignoring all of her phone and text messages, and basically just runs. Constantly running.... She is also so "busy" that when she is forced to speak to anyone for a moment, she interrupts them every couple of words, jumping to conclusions, forcing every conversation to take either twice as long, or never actually come to the point so that there are "zany" misunderstandings constantly. Then, she accuses the person she cut-off and ran-off on of lying to her. She accuses people of lying almost as often as she ran. And, shit, this girl ran. The whole damn book. It was exhausting.
Briddy's superpowers are flying off the handle, jumping to conclusions, dodging responsibilities, and super-delusional powers.
Briddy's boyfriend is named Trent and he drives a Porsche and has nice hair. He sends her flowers constantly and takes her to nice restaurants. He must be hiding a douchey-side, right ladies? We all know that if the outside is too shiney, there must be a steaming pile of horribleness on the inside. What is it: mommy-issues? cross-dressing? micro-penis? (*fingers crossed for a combination of all three!*) He's convinced Briddy to have brain surgery so that the two of them can have the ability to read each other's minds. All of the celebrity couples are doing it. Celebrities are always right.
The company's hipster/genius, who keeps his office in the basement and has messy hair so Briddy assumes he is crazy and hates him, tells Briddy that she shouldn't have this surgery. Reading a boyfriend's mind is a bad idea.
“You don’t want to know. Trust me. Especially what guys think. It’s like a cesspool in there. I mean, it’s even worse than the stuff they say on the internet, and you know how bad that is.”
We do. If you ever feel the need to get some feminist rage going just go to the "comments" section of ....well, almost anything. I don't care if it's a kitty video, there will be some disgusting and offensive shit in the comments.
Okay, and sometimes funny things.
Of course Briddy isn't going to listen to a crazy hipster, or her family, or common sense that says you don't get elective brain surgery for a guy you've dated for six weeks. Hell, I've known my hubs for almost 30 years now and I have absolutely ZERO desire to know what he's thinking at all times. And, it would seriously cramp my reading-style if he could hear my thoughts on my book-boyfriends. I would be stuck reading literature or wholesome shit. That would suck.
So, they go ahead with the surgery, and surprise!!! Things go horribly wrong. She hooks up with the wrong dude. Oh, what hijinks follow!!
I think the main problem is that the book tried too hard to be zany fun, and by trying too hard, it missed the mark.
But, points for a great concept and a cool character in the hipster dude. I liked him. It was just too frantic for me.
October 31, 2016
This is a fun mix of science fiction and romance. The story is set in the present day, with some genuine cultural references, but the difference is that in Connie Willis' world there is a device that can be implanted in your body that allows you to feel your partner's emotions.
It seems Connie was inspired by all of the health and activity trackers that are available these days, and wondered what would happen if those trackers could also sense emotions. But when our heroine, Briddey, gets the device with her boyfriend, Trent, things immediately go wrong. Instead, she hears the thoughts of her work colleague, C.B. And after that, things really go sideways.
This is a novel that started off slowly, with a full cast of characters and inane chatter and even back stories about Briddey's family. But I'm glad I pushed through the rough start until after Connie got the implant, because then things clipped along faster. There is a love triangle and a few story twists that made this a fun read.
Recommended to those who like fiction with a techno angle.
Favorite Quote
"[More communication] isn't what people want. They've got too much already — laptops, smartphones, tablets, social media. They've got connectivity coming out their ears. There's such a thing as being too connected, you know, especially when it comes to relationships."
It seems Connie was inspired by all of the health and activity trackers that are available these days, and wondered what would happen if those trackers could also sense emotions. But when our heroine, Briddey, gets the device with her boyfriend, Trent, things immediately go wrong. Instead, she hears the thoughts of her work colleague, C.B. And after that, things really go sideways.
This is a novel that started off slowly, with a full cast of characters and inane chatter and even back stories about Briddey's family. But I'm glad I pushed through the rough start until after Connie got the implant, because then things clipped along faster. There is a love triangle and a few story twists that made this a fun read.
Recommended to those who like fiction with a techno angle.
Favorite Quote
"[More communication] isn't what people want. They've got too much already — laptops, smartphones, tablets, social media. They've got connectivity coming out their ears. There's such a thing as being too connected, you know, especially when it comes to relationships."
October 25, 2022
I love Connie Willis - she's a talented and humorous writer and I've seen her at conventions and she's super sweet and funny. My favorite of her books is the Doomsday Book which is a time traveling SF. This book is fun as well - she makes a statement about being too connected and having too much communication. The SF element is telepathy and she does a nice job of showing "telepathy is a terrible idea."
The story is funny and fast paced and there's a bit of romance. Sometimes it was too much - Briddey (short for Bridget and I had a hard time pronouncing it in my head without it sounding like Dirty. I would have preferred Bridget) has bouts of doubts where she goes back and forth over something too long. And I wanted her to stand up for herself more. I figured a few things out - go me! But overall it was a fun story and I recommend it along with any of Connie's books!
The story is funny and fast paced and there's a bit of romance. Sometimes it was too much - Briddey (short for Bridget and I had a hard time pronouncing it in my head without it sounding like Dirty. I would have preferred Bridget) has bouts of doubts where she goes back and forth over something too long. And I wanted her to stand up for herself more. I figured a few things out - go me! But overall it was a fun story and I recommend it along with any of Connie's books!
February 6, 2017
I found the opening chapter of Crosstalk totally suffocating. Here was this telecomm middle manager, Briddey Flannigan being inundated first by her colleagues wanting to know details of her dinner out with the boss and then by her family who constantly phone and email about trivial personal problems, even turning up at work or waiting for her in her apartment to the point where it was over the top farce. Somehow this seemingly intelligent grown up woman (who admittedly does seem a bit empty headed at times) has never learnt to say 'No' or 'Back off and give me some space'. Fortunately the book does get better after that beginning and I mostly enjoyed it, especially when Briddey was away from her family (with the exception of her super-smart and devious 9 year old niece Maeve).
The premise of the story is that Briddey has been dating her boss Trent Worth for 6 weeks and he has now proposed that they show their commitment to each other by getting a device called an EED implanted in their brains. I don't think we're ever told what EED stands for but it's an emotion enhancing device that will increase their perception of each others feelings and draw them closer together. Of course all the rich and famous are having it done so Briddey is very honoured to be asked even though her family try to talk her out of it. Even one of Briddey's colleagues tries to warn her that there may be UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES and is suspicious of Trent's motives. Trent does seem rather distracted with the company's plans to release a new phone that will out-rival Apple and is too tied up in meetings to spend much time with Briddey. So what is going on here? Does Trent have another Agenda? Will Briddey get the EED and will she suffer UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES?
This won't go down as my favourite Connie Willis book. I love Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog (best read after Three Men In A Boat: to say nothing of the dog by Jerome K. Jerome) too much for that. However, I loved the ideas in this book and the mayhem that eventuated. I didn't always love Briddey (for reasons mentioned- weak and air headed) and did not care for Trent but did love her colleague C.B. and her niece Maeve. On balance 3.5-4 ★
The premise of the story is that Briddey has been dating her boss Trent Worth for 6 weeks and he has now proposed that they show their commitment to each other by getting a device called an EED implanted in their brains. I don't think we're ever told what EED stands for but it's an emotion enhancing device that will increase their perception of each others feelings and draw them closer together. Of course all the rich and famous are having it done so Briddey is very honoured to be asked even though her family try to talk her out of it. Even one of Briddey's colleagues tries to warn her that there may be UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES and is suspicious of Trent's motives. Trent does seem rather distracted with the company's plans to release a new phone that will out-rival Apple and is too tied up in meetings to spend much time with Briddey. So what is going on here? Does Trent have another Agenda? Will Briddey get the EED and will she suffer UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES?
This won't go down as my favourite Connie Willis book. I love Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog (best read after Three Men In A Boat: to say nothing of the dog by Jerome K. Jerome) too much for that. However, I loved the ideas in this book and the mayhem that eventuated. I didn't always love Briddey (for reasons mentioned- weak and air headed) and did not care for Trent but did love her colleague C.B. and her niece Maeve. On balance 3.5-4 ★
October 11, 2016
That's a 'how-much I enjoyed it' rating, rather than an 'objectively it's just that good' one. Because, really - it's Bellwether updated, and with actual spec-fic stuff (vs the lightest suggestion there might be a hint of fantasy amidst all the satire), with an abundance of the mobile phones everyone always complains about Willis' characters not having, and a ton more family.
I got off to a worried start, because one the first page there was Briddey (Bridey is the common nickname for Bridget/Brigid), Aunt Oona (it's Una or the Irish spelling is Oonagh) and the meeting of the Daughters of Ireland on Gaelic poetry (the language isn't called Gaelic here). But I was reminded that the spellings Shawn and Shaun were generated US-side, so I put it aside and burst out laughing just a few pages later, when Briddey met .
Of course it could be chopped quite a few pages, and there was a superfluity of interrupted communications, but I was having such a great time reading, I wouldn't have wanted it any shorter. It was interesting comparing the romance in this and Bellwether, because there were so many similarities, but Willis pushed the actual pain a lot more effectively here. I was noticing while reading (not while actually reading - and oh, the library!) that Sandra spends a fair amount of time actually sad, as opposed to just worried and frustrated, but Briddey really experiences such - anguish is not too strong a word - that it makes her understand and truly get how incredibly kind and good a person he is. It's a far stronger relationship as a result, much as I love Sandra and Bennet, of course. I do think as a couple they'll need to make it a rule not to interrupt each other all the time.
It's a good thing the Bellwether prediction pattern didn't spoil anything, because I was way ahead of Briddey on . I'd love to spend some time thinking about what the difference is between books which are predictable and it makes you cranky, and the ones where it becomes part of the enjoyment seeing how everything is fit into the path you saw in broad strokes all along. But not while reading (the library!!). Definitely one for a reread.
I got off to a worried start, because one the first page there was Briddey (Bridey is the common nickname for Bridget/Brigid), Aunt Oona (it's Una or the Irish spelling is Oonagh) and the meeting of the Daughters of Ireland on Gaelic poetry (the language isn't called Gaelic here). But I was reminded that the spellings Shawn and Shaun were generated US-side, so I put it aside and burst out laughing just a few pages later, when Briddey met .
Of course it could be chopped quite a few pages, and there was a superfluity of interrupted communications, but I was having such a great time reading, I wouldn't have wanted it any shorter. It was interesting comparing the romance in this and Bellwether, because there were so many similarities, but Willis pushed the actual pain a lot more effectively here. I was noticing while reading (not while actually reading - and oh, the library!) that Sandra spends a fair amount of time actually sad, as opposed to just worried and frustrated, but Briddey really experiences such - anguish is not too strong a word - that it makes her understand and truly get how incredibly kind and good a person he is. It's a far stronger relationship as a result, much as I love Sandra and Bennet, of course. I do think as a couple they'll need to make it a rule not to interrupt each other all the time.
It's a good thing the Bellwether prediction pattern didn't spoil anything, because I was way ahead of Briddey on . I'd love to spend some time thinking about what the difference is between books which are predictable and it makes you cranky, and the ones where it becomes part of the enjoyment seeing how everything is fit into the path you saw in broad strokes all along. But not while reading (the library!!). Definitely one for a reread.
November 22, 2017
I really liked the middle (roughly) one-third of this book. The rest was incredibly annoying. So I'm going to review this in third parts.
First third: Briddey is just a girl who can't say no, can't set any boundaries (tip: don't give keys to people you can't trust not to break into your apartment), and can't finish a sentence. For the entire first third, that's all that's happening: people are telling her what to do, she's trying to get out of it without every saying "No" or "I don't want to," and she's running from place to place like a chicken with her head cut off and connected to a smart phone. Oh, and she's freaking out. Constantly. If you've ever thought it would be delightful to be immersed in someone else's anxieties 24/7, the first third of Crosstalk is for you.
Second third: The plot actually happens! Developments occur, and they are interesting and entertaining!
Final third: The romance kicks into high gear (cautious yay) and the plot spins out of control, developing to a point well beyond entertaining and deeply into ludicrous. And Connie Willis's traditional Annoyingly Determined Preteen Girl shows up and takes over completely. If you've ever thought it would be fun to try to read a mediocre book while a loud, obnoxious nine year old interrupts you every seven seconds, then the last third of Crosstalk is for you.
I'm not...sorry I finished this? And I do love telepathy stories, so that part was cool. (Although this really skims the surface of telepathy stories; no one has any major feelings about not having any privacy, no one discusses any of the ethical issues, none of that.) But, wow, this is a light Connie Willis book that just did not work for me. So I'm also not happy I finished it.
First third: Briddey is just a girl who can't say no, can't set any boundaries (tip: don't give keys to people you can't trust not to break into your apartment), and can't finish a sentence. For the entire first third, that's all that's happening: people are telling her what to do, she's trying to get out of it without every saying "No" or "I don't want to," and she's running from place to place like a chicken with her head cut off and connected to a smart phone. Oh, and she's freaking out. Constantly. If you've ever thought it would be delightful to be immersed in someone else's anxieties 24/7, the first third of Crosstalk is for you.
Second third: The plot actually happens! Developments occur, and they are interesting and entertaining!
Final third: The romance kicks into high gear (cautious yay) and the plot spins out of control, developing to a point well beyond entertaining and deeply into ludicrous. And Connie Willis's traditional Annoyingly Determined Preteen Girl shows up and takes over completely. If you've ever thought it would be fun to try to read a mediocre book while a loud, obnoxious nine year old interrupts you every seven seconds, then the last third of Crosstalk is for you.
I'm not...sorry I finished this? And I do love telepathy stories, so that part was cool. (Although this really skims the surface of telepathy stories; no one has any major feelings about not having any privacy, no one discusses any of the ethical issues, none of that.) But, wow, this is a light Connie Willis book that just did not work for me. So I'm also not happy I finished it.
October 21, 2016
I’m a big fan of Connie Willis’s work, but I wasn't crazy about this one. Sure it’s well written, but the plot is nonsense. It’s a romantic comedy, but it’s not particularly romantic or funny. Also, while I don’t mind telepathy in my fantasy fiction, if a book is going to offer a pseudo-scientific explanation for it, then that explanation needs to be better than the one offered here.
It is amusing that Willis finally allows her characters to have cell phones (not to mention telepathy) and yet the plot still hinges on miscommunication.
Most of the book consists of a madcap dance that will be familiar to Willis’s readers. There’s a crisis, and Briddey frantically needs to talk to certain people while avoiding others. She is short on sleep and struggling to keep track of the excuses she’s made up. She keeps having conversations where the other person says, “I have something important to tell you… but it can wait until later.”
I have enjoyed the understated romantic sub-plots in Willis’s other novels, where two nice people quietly develop affection for each other; however, I don’t think her style is as effective here, where the relationship is the focus.
I was looking forward to a story about just how bad telepathy would really be, but I was disappointed in the way it’s explored here. Especially I got tired of the elaborate imaginary shelters and barriers Briddey uses to protect herself against intrusive thoughts. I don’t visualize things very well, so it all sounded highly implausible to me.
The worst part is the ending, when all problems are solved by the .
Oh well. I’ll read whatever Connie Willis publishes next.
It is amusing that Willis finally allows her characters to have cell phones (not to mention telepathy) and yet the plot still hinges on miscommunication.
Most of the book consists of a madcap dance that will be familiar to Willis’s readers. There’s a crisis, and Briddey frantically needs to talk to certain people while avoiding others. She is short on sleep and struggling to keep track of the excuses she’s made up. She keeps having conversations where the other person says, “I have something important to tell you… but it can wait until later.”
I have enjoyed the understated romantic sub-plots in Willis’s other novels, where two nice people quietly develop affection for each other; however, I don’t think her style is as effective here, where the relationship is the focus.
I was looking forward to a story about just how bad telepathy would really be, but I was disappointed in the way it’s explored here. Especially I got tired of the elaborate imaginary shelters and barriers Briddey uses to protect herself against intrusive thoughts. I don’t visualize things very well, so it all sounded highly implausible to me.
The worst part is the ending, when all problems are solved by the .
Oh well. I’ll read whatever Connie Willis publishes next.
April 28, 2021
[9/10]
I think you’ve lost your mind. Don’t you have enough information bombarding you, what with emails and texting and Twitter and Snapchat and Instagram? And now you’re going to have brain surgery so you can hear more?
He just told that he loves you, but can you believe him? What more can he do to prove his feelings are true?
I know ! How about the latest breakthrough in communication: a little operation that unclogs the pathways in the brain responsible for telepathy! Then you will sense directly his emotions ... then you will know for sure he is the one!
What could possibly go wrong? So many famous couples have already done the operation and are reportedly in bliss. When Bridget Flannigan, a young executive in a telecom company, receives a proposition from her steady boyfriend Trent Worth, a project manager in the same company, that they both undergo the operation before he officially proposes to her, she is keen to go through with it, certain that the result will only strengthen their relationship.
Not everybody is enthusiastic about the news, which spreads like wildfire through the office grapevine, in particular the company’s resident genius in electronics, a reclusive geek who goes by the initials C.B. He tries insistently to make Briddey change her mind, convince her that telepathy is a terrible idea:
“You don’t want to know. Trust me. Especially what guys think. It’s like a cesspool in there. I mean, it’s even worse than the stuff they say on the internet, and you know how bad that is.”
>>><<<>>><<<
The setting and the tongue-in-cheek running commentary on the perils of the information age give a strong indication this story is headed for major trouble, of a romantic nature. Connie Willis is not a debutant in the genre of rom-com with a science-fiction flavour. I have already enjoyed her take on time travel in “To Say Nothing of the Dog” and on scientific research in “Bellwether” . The adventures of the fiery Bridget are off to a great start, the carefully planned bliss turning quickly into a classic screwball comedy of the Cary Grant and Kathrine Hepburn era mixed with some of the best of the 80s’from Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. The major characters slip effortlessly into their expected, predefined roles of confused and accident-prone pretty woman, devious official boyfriend and secretive, manipulative yet hopelessly in love with the leading lady pretender. [Since both Hepburn and Ryan belong to different generations, I would cast Emma Stone as Briddey for the screen adaptation of the novel]
The romantic elements of the plot are standard fare and predictable, maybe with the exception of the nosy Irish family of Briddey and the increasing role they are assigned in the progression of the plot. Her nine years old niece Maeve in particular is a joy to watch as she fights her controlling mother, sidestepping every firewall and every restriction with genius level programming talent.
Especially in the second part of the novel, it is the science-fiction angle that keeps the reader interested (hopefully, since this part goes on a tad too long), as Connie Willis describes in detail the history of telepathy, the various theories and counter-arguments, the way the technology might be implemented in our current crowded telecom scene, and the multiple ways this can go wrong.
Some incidents seem to be authentic ... Almost every verifiable incident involved people with an obvious emotional connection. Parents, spouses, children, lovers.
Because once you start hearing voices, you might not like what you hear. Or you might hear so much, on so many levels, that your brain synapses will be fried. Or you might be considered certifiable into an insane asylum, or hunted by the government to get pushed into military research.
OK, let’s suppose for a moment that you can hear what other people think! But what if you cannot turn their voices off, and they are all clamouring for your attention? Wouldn’t it be good to have an on/off button, or a filter of sorts?
Never underestimate the power of a good book.
Without going into spoilers about the outcome of the scientific part of the novel (the romantic part will always go in the expected direction, no matter how improbable it seems before the end) , I would like to reiterate that Connie Willis knows how to mix the fun with the science. She does a much better job than the current crop of Hollywood scriptwriters with the genre, and she is very good at incorporating pop culture references in her story (Ernest Cline should take notes) . From Lewis Carroll to the Monty Python Flying Circus, from the song “Ode to Billy Joe” to the movie “French Kiss” , Shakespeare to Joan d’Arc [ Nobody expects the Irish Inquisition! ], Briddey and her companions use these references to navigate the turbulent seas of modern communication.
Hopefully, they will reach safe harbour.
I think you’ve lost your mind. Don’t you have enough information bombarding you, what with emails and texting and Twitter and Snapchat and Instagram? And now you’re going to have brain surgery so you can hear more?
He just told that he loves you, but can you believe him? What more can he do to prove his feelings are true?
I know ! How about the latest breakthrough in communication: a little operation that unclogs the pathways in the brain responsible for telepathy! Then you will sense directly his emotions ... then you will know for sure he is the one!
What could possibly go wrong? So many famous couples have already done the operation and are reportedly in bliss. When Bridget Flannigan, a young executive in a telecom company, receives a proposition from her steady boyfriend Trent Worth, a project manager in the same company, that they both undergo the operation before he officially proposes to her, she is keen to go through with it, certain that the result will only strengthen their relationship.
Not everybody is enthusiastic about the news, which spreads like wildfire through the office grapevine, in particular the company’s resident genius in electronics, a reclusive geek who goes by the initials C.B. He tries insistently to make Briddey change her mind, convince her that telepathy is a terrible idea:
“You don’t want to know. Trust me. Especially what guys think. It’s like a cesspool in there. I mean, it’s even worse than the stuff they say on the internet, and you know how bad that is.”
>>><<<>>><<<
The setting and the tongue-in-cheek running commentary on the perils of the information age give a strong indication this story is headed for major trouble, of a romantic nature. Connie Willis is not a debutant in the genre of rom-com with a science-fiction flavour. I have already enjoyed her take on time travel in “To Say Nothing of the Dog” and on scientific research in “Bellwether” . The adventures of the fiery Bridget are off to a great start, the carefully planned bliss turning quickly into a classic screwball comedy of the Cary Grant and Kathrine Hepburn era mixed with some of the best of the 80s’from Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. The major characters slip effortlessly into their expected, predefined roles of confused and accident-prone pretty woman, devious official boyfriend and secretive, manipulative yet hopelessly in love with the leading lady pretender. [Since both Hepburn and Ryan belong to different generations, I would cast Emma Stone as Briddey for the screen adaptation of the novel]
The romantic elements of the plot are standard fare and predictable, maybe with the exception of the nosy Irish family of Briddey and the increasing role they are assigned in the progression of the plot. Her nine years old niece Maeve in particular is a joy to watch as she fights her controlling mother, sidestepping every firewall and every restriction with genius level programming talent.
Especially in the second part of the novel, it is the science-fiction angle that keeps the reader interested (hopefully, since this part goes on a tad too long), as Connie Willis describes in detail the history of telepathy, the various theories and counter-arguments, the way the technology might be implemented in our current crowded telecom scene, and the multiple ways this can go wrong.
Some incidents seem to be authentic ... Almost every verifiable incident involved people with an obvious emotional connection. Parents, spouses, children, lovers.
Because once you start hearing voices, you might not like what you hear. Or you might hear so much, on so many levels, that your brain synapses will be fried. Or you might be considered certifiable into an insane asylum, or hunted by the government to get pushed into military research.
OK, let’s suppose for a moment that you can hear what other people think! But what if you cannot turn their voices off, and they are all clamouring for your attention? Wouldn’t it be good to have an on/off button, or a filter of sorts?
Never underestimate the power of a good book.
Without going into spoilers about the outcome of the scientific part of the novel (the romantic part will always go in the expected direction, no matter how improbable it seems before the end) , I would like to reiterate that Connie Willis knows how to mix the fun with the science. She does a much better job than the current crop of Hollywood scriptwriters with the genre, and she is very good at incorporating pop culture references in her story (Ernest Cline should take notes) . From Lewis Carroll to the Monty Python Flying Circus, from the song “Ode to Billy Joe” to the movie “French Kiss” , Shakespeare to Joan d’Arc [ Nobody expects the Irish Inquisition! ], Briddey and her companions use these references to navigate the turbulent seas of modern communication.
Hopefully, they will reach safe harbour.
Read
September 25, 2016Connie Willis seems to have two modes: dark, powerful novels, and lighter ones that verge on romantic comedy, though skirting serious subjects. Such as the duo Blackout and All Clear, which I enjoyed for the most part—but felt would have been immensely better at half the length.
That is because I am not fond of stories in which everyone runs around madly trying to find one another, and just missing, while interrupted by impedimenta that just leads the protagonist further and further astray, so a plot point stretches on into mirage. I think of that as kafuffle-hunting, and the Blackout duo was pretty much all kafuffle, with gems of scenes brightening the otherwise unrelenting stretches of hunting.
Well, at first this book seemed to be another kafuffle-hunt without much plot, as Briddey Flanagan tries to keep her two nosy sisters, aunt, and even her (totally awesome) nine-year-old niece Maeve from finding out that she has agreed to get an EED implant that supposedly enables you and your beloved to sense one another’s emotions via extra-sensory perception. They pester her constantly by cell-phone calls, texts, landline, and showing up at her apartment (they have keys) and lecture her then demand her instant attention on their own problems, most of which are self-imposed.
Briddey seems unable to just say no—and though she works at a big cellphone company a la Apple (their main competition), a company concerned about security and secrecy (and even fears that there might be a corporate spy among them), her family seems to have no problem entering and planting themselves in her office when she is not there.
Her beloved of six weeks, the handsome, Porsche-driving Trent, also interrupts her constantly and tells her what to. I didn’t feel any chemistry with Trent, so I was appalled when the celebrity doctor who does the EED implants calls to move up their appointment from weeks away to a couple days away.
It’s then the story begins to really take off, though with occasional falls into kafuffle hunting, first when Briddey tries to escape the hospital when she discovers that she can hear the thoughts of another person—one who’d tried to warn her against the EED.
Then she has to hide the telepathy while she struggles to master it, and figure out what to do with it. There is a long kafuffle hunt in a library, during which we see Briddey constantly interrupting her companion, and throwing wild accusations right and left—exactly as her family does to her.
Yet we’re supposed to see her being endearing to the romantic interest, which I felt Willis almost didn’t bring off, but then Briddey becomes somewhat self aware. I loved the historical data underscoring the characters' development, and I also loved the slow burn of the romantic attraction. There’s one moment when Briddey's emotions reach outward that I thought lovely, foreshadowing the end.
I saw a couple of the twists, but not all of them—especially at the end, which felt very rushed. There is a massive data dump that cries out to be scenes, alas. But by then the pacing was like a runaway train, carrying me straight to the very, very satisfying end.
Copy provided by Netgalley
That is because I am not fond of stories in which everyone runs around madly trying to find one another, and just missing, while interrupted by impedimenta that just leads the protagonist further and further astray, so a plot point stretches on into mirage. I think of that as kafuffle-hunting, and the Blackout duo was pretty much all kafuffle, with gems of scenes brightening the otherwise unrelenting stretches of hunting.
Well, at first this book seemed to be another kafuffle-hunt without much plot, as Briddey Flanagan tries to keep her two nosy sisters, aunt, and even her (totally awesome) nine-year-old niece Maeve from finding out that she has agreed to get an EED implant that supposedly enables you and your beloved to sense one another’s emotions via extra-sensory perception. They pester her constantly by cell-phone calls, texts, landline, and showing up at her apartment (they have keys) and lecture her then demand her instant attention on their own problems, most of which are self-imposed.
Briddey seems unable to just say no—and though she works at a big cellphone company a la Apple (their main competition), a company concerned about security and secrecy (and even fears that there might be a corporate spy among them), her family seems to have no problem entering and planting themselves in her office when she is not there.
Her beloved of six weeks, the handsome, Porsche-driving Trent, also interrupts her constantly and tells her what to. I didn’t feel any chemistry with Trent, so I was appalled when the celebrity doctor who does the EED implants calls to move up their appointment from weeks away to a couple days away.
It’s then the story begins to really take off, though with occasional falls into kafuffle hunting, first when Briddey tries to escape the hospital when she discovers that she can hear the thoughts of another person—one who’d tried to warn her against the EED.
Then she has to hide the telepathy while she struggles to master it, and figure out what to do with it. There is a long kafuffle hunt in a library, during which we see Briddey constantly interrupting her companion, and throwing wild accusations right and left—exactly as her family does to her.
Yet we’re supposed to see her being endearing to the romantic interest, which I felt Willis almost didn’t bring off, but then Briddey becomes somewhat self aware. I loved the historical data underscoring the characters' development, and I also loved the slow burn of the romantic attraction. There’s one moment when Briddey's emotions reach outward that I thought lovely, foreshadowing the end.
I saw a couple of the twists, but not all of them—especially at the end, which felt very rushed. There is a massive data dump that cries out to be scenes, alas. But by then the pacing was like a runaway train, carrying me straight to the very, very satisfying end.
Copy provided by Netgalley
October 17, 2016
Full review at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
I love Connie Willis’s work. I devour everything she writes, and I’m utterly incapable of judging her books impartially. She once granted me at 90-minute interview, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that it changed my life. Which is why it’s surprising that I did not care for her new book, Crosstalk, a romantic comedy that other reviewers are praising to the skies. I found this book to have a great concept but tedious pacing and sloppy characterization. I’m convinced that it could have lost half of its length without the story being affected in the slightest.
Crosstalk takes place about five minutes into the future. Briddey Flannigan works for a telecommunications company that is desperate to compete with Apple (Apple is, in this book, still faithfully releasing a new cell phone model about once a year or so). Briddey is juggling her job, her large, demanding and intrusive family, and her equally busy co-worker boyfriend, Trent. Trent wants Briddey to undergo an outpatient procedure called an EED that increases empathy between people who “have an emotional connection.” On the other hand, another coworker, C.B., thinks that people really want less communication, not more – something Briddey comes to believe as her EED goes awry and triggers telepathy.
A lot of Connie Willis books feature a very specific writing style in which the protagonist is constantly faced with physical and social barriers while trying to get something important accomplished. For instance, in Passage, my favorite book by Willis, the protagonist spends much of her time trying to navigate a hospital that is under construction (so stairways are blocked off and the cafeteria is always closed and she keeps having to re-route to avoid fresh paint and obnoxious co-workers and patients). At the same time, the protagonist of Passage is constantly trying to communicate with people to no avail – they have Alzheimer’s, or they don’t answer their phones, or they just stepped out of their offices. In a book like Passage, or the much lighter Willis book To Say Nothing of the Dog, this technique works for two reasons – it highlights the theme of the story, and it has serious stakes behind it. In other Willis books, like Bellwether, the technique works partly because the book is short so the technique does not have time to become tedious, so the book feels madcap instead of simply frustrating.
The book has some other weird weaknesses – weird because they are so unlike Willis’ other work. Only people who are Irish, 100% Irish, are capable of telepathy, to which I say, “Huh wha?” At worst this has unfortunate implications about racial purity and at best it doesn’t make any sense, something which Briddey herself points out.
The characters are appallingly flat. Trent is a one-dimensional character whose motivations are obvious all along. Briddey’s niece, Maeve, is a nine-year old who acts like a thirteen-year old. Briddey is a helpless character who constantly needs to be rescued by C.B. and who is almost totally lacking in agency. Maeve’s mom is a send-up of overprotective moms who is basically a reflection of a similar character in Passages – except that the high stakes in Passages made that flawed mom’s motivations understandable, whereas the mom in Crosstalk is a caricature. C.B. is the only interesting character in Crosstalk. Willis has written amazing characters, male and female, in the past, but they are not to be found here.
This book is about the exhaustion of being bombarded by media and by interpersonal demands, and it does a great job of conveying that exhaustion. But it’s also 495 pages of that same great job – which made it, for me at least, an exhausting read. I would suggest that if you want to give this book a try, don’t pick it up when you are feeling overwhelmed or worn out. It’s not depressing; it’s just tiring. I didn’t enjoy the romantic comedy aspect because I found not only the resolution but also many of the steps towards the resolution to be either predictable or irritating and the characters deadly dull and sometimes downright offensive in their passivity (Briddey) and their dishonesty (C.B.).
Since I read the book, Willis has stated in an interview for Verge that she “hates romance.” When I interviewed her in 2013, her comments were more measured – she said that she preferred romantic comedy to romance. In a way, I think that the tightening of her view that romantic comedy is separate from romance and vastly superior to romance is evident in Crosstalk, a book in which the male lead is almost a stalker and is dishonest and controlling of the female lead, a book in which the heroine has no agency, and a book in which relationships are self-serving and usually toxic. I’m not saying that Willis has to write romance or even like romance. But I do think that in switching from “I prefer romantic comedy” to “I hate romance” she’s lost sight of both the romantic and the comedy. This book failed at the two most important things a romantic comedy has to do. It did not make me want the leads to get together or to stay together and it didn’t make me laugh. It just made me tired.
- Carrie S.
I love Connie Willis’s work. I devour everything she writes, and I’m utterly incapable of judging her books impartially. She once granted me at 90-minute interview, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that it changed my life. Which is why it’s surprising that I did not care for her new book, Crosstalk, a romantic comedy that other reviewers are praising to the skies. I found this book to have a great concept but tedious pacing and sloppy characterization. I’m convinced that it could have lost half of its length without the story being affected in the slightest.
Crosstalk takes place about five minutes into the future. Briddey Flannigan works for a telecommunications company that is desperate to compete with Apple (Apple is, in this book, still faithfully releasing a new cell phone model about once a year or so). Briddey is juggling her job, her large, demanding and intrusive family, and her equally busy co-worker boyfriend, Trent. Trent wants Briddey to undergo an outpatient procedure called an EED that increases empathy between people who “have an emotional connection.” On the other hand, another coworker, C.B., thinks that people really want less communication, not more – something Briddey comes to believe as her EED goes awry and triggers telepathy.
A lot of Connie Willis books feature a very specific writing style in which the protagonist is constantly faced with physical and social barriers while trying to get something important accomplished. For instance, in Passage, my favorite book by Willis, the protagonist spends much of her time trying to navigate a hospital that is under construction (so stairways are blocked off and the cafeteria is always closed and she keeps having to re-route to avoid fresh paint and obnoxious co-workers and patients). At the same time, the protagonist of Passage is constantly trying to communicate with people to no avail – they have Alzheimer’s, or they don’t answer their phones, or they just stepped out of their offices. In a book like Passage, or the much lighter Willis book To Say Nothing of the Dog, this technique works for two reasons – it highlights the theme of the story, and it has serious stakes behind it. In other Willis books, like Bellwether, the technique works partly because the book is short so the technique does not have time to become tedious, so the book feels madcap instead of simply frustrating.
The book has some other weird weaknesses – weird because they are so unlike Willis’ other work. Only people who are Irish, 100% Irish, are capable of telepathy, to which I say, “Huh wha?” At worst this has unfortunate implications about racial purity and at best it doesn’t make any sense, something which Briddey herself points out.
The characters are appallingly flat. Trent is a one-dimensional character whose motivations are obvious all along. Briddey’s niece, Maeve, is a nine-year old who acts like a thirteen-year old. Briddey is a helpless character who constantly needs to be rescued by C.B. and who is almost totally lacking in agency. Maeve’s mom is a send-up of overprotective moms who is basically a reflection of a similar character in Passages – except that the high stakes in Passages made that flawed mom’s motivations understandable, whereas the mom in Crosstalk is a caricature. C.B. is the only interesting character in Crosstalk. Willis has written amazing characters, male and female, in the past, but they are not to be found here.
This book is about the exhaustion of being bombarded by media and by interpersonal demands, and it does a great job of conveying that exhaustion. But it’s also 495 pages of that same great job – which made it, for me at least, an exhausting read. I would suggest that if you want to give this book a try, don’t pick it up when you are feeling overwhelmed or worn out. It’s not depressing; it’s just tiring. I didn’t enjoy the romantic comedy aspect because I found not only the resolution but also many of the steps towards the resolution to be either predictable or irritating and the characters deadly dull and sometimes downright offensive in their passivity (Briddey) and their dishonesty (C.B.).
Since I read the book, Willis has stated in an interview for Verge that she “hates romance.” When I interviewed her in 2013, her comments were more measured – she said that she preferred romantic comedy to romance. In a way, I think that the tightening of her view that romantic comedy is separate from romance and vastly superior to romance is evident in Crosstalk, a book in which the male lead is almost a stalker and is dishonest and controlling of the female lead, a book in which the heroine has no agency, and a book in which relationships are self-serving and usually toxic. I’m not saying that Willis has to write romance or even like romance. But I do think that in switching from “I prefer romantic comedy” to “I hate romance” she’s lost sight of both the romantic and the comedy. This book failed at the two most important things a romantic comedy has to do. It did not make me want the leads to get together or to stay together and it didn’t make me laugh. It just made me tired.
- Carrie S.
December 19, 2016
Connie Willis's novels come in two flavors: Incredibly Serious and You'll Love it Even As It Traumatizes You, and Madcap Science Fiction Screwball Comedy. I cannot get over how she can go back and forth between them so well! Since her last big project was the Best. WWII. Book. Ever. (Blackout/All Clear, come for the time travel, stay for the heartbreak!) Crosstalk is of the Madcap Screwball Comedy flavor, obviously.
And it's wonderful!
It reminded me so much of my beloved Bellwether, but here we've got Briddey, whose close knit Irish American family won't leave her alone, and who is dating an upper level exec at the cellphone company where she also works. He wants them to get an EED, a brain implant that will allow compatible couples to feel each other's emotions. But everyone is against them: her family, her nosy coworkers, and even some random guy who works in the lab in the basement and wears headphones that aren't attached to anything. Adventures ensue, unexpected consequences abound. Aunt Oona talks in a fake Irish accent. Libraries are used as hiding places. A psychic is called in. And the shapes of the Lucky Charms marshmallows are earnestly discussed.
And it's wonderful!
And it's wonderful!
It reminded me so much of my beloved Bellwether, but here we've got Briddey, whose close knit Irish American family won't leave her alone, and who is dating an upper level exec at the cellphone company where she also works. He wants them to get an EED, a brain implant that will allow compatible couples to feel each other's emotions. But everyone is against them: her family, her nosy coworkers, and even some random guy who works in the lab in the basement and wears headphones that aren't attached to anything. Adventures ensue, unexpected consequences abound. Aunt Oona talks in a fake Irish accent. Libraries are used as hiding places. A psychic is called in. And the shapes of the Lucky Charms marshmallows are earnestly discussed.
And it's wonderful!
November 22, 2023
Is there such a thing as excessive communication and connectivity? Absolutely! The story was a thrilling and fast-paced adventure filled with humor and peril.
The first chapter may have seemed mundane with its focus on everyday technology and social media, but as I pushed through the initial chapters, I discovered a captivating exploration of communication gone rogue.
The EED (empathy-enhancing procedure) was celebrated as enthusiastically as an engagement, promising perfect relationships by allowing one to feel their partner's emotions. However, when the protagonist, Briddey Flannigan, underwent this procedure, she experienced unintended consequences (UIC).
I especially loved how the story weaved in numerous historical and cultural elements, including telepathy, digital connectivity, zombies, fairy tale princesses, Hitler, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Joan of Arc, classic poems, lyrics, and songs, to name a few.
It was wholly entertaining and engrossing. Five stars."
The first chapter may have seemed mundane with its focus on everyday technology and social media, but as I pushed through the initial chapters, I discovered a captivating exploration of communication gone rogue.
The EED (empathy-enhancing procedure) was celebrated as enthusiastically as an engagement, promising perfect relationships by allowing one to feel their partner's emotions. However, when the protagonist, Briddey Flannigan, underwent this procedure, she experienced unintended consequences (UIC).
I especially loved how the story weaved in numerous historical and cultural elements, including telepathy, digital connectivity, zombies, fairy tale princesses, Hitler, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Joan of Arc, classic poems, lyrics, and songs, to name a few.
It was wholly entertaining and engrossing. Five stars."
Want to read
December 30, 2017This Subterranean Press hardcover edition is marked PC of 500 copies produced and is signed by Connie Willis.
October 17, 2016
Crosstalk was my first experience with Connie Willis, whom I've been meaning to read for quite some time now. I'll admit that I was slightly hesitant at first. I didn't want to judge this one by its cover, but it seems slightly hokey, and gave me pause. However, I need not have feared, as the story is much better than the cover might indicate.
Against the wishes of her somewhat meddlesome but well-meaning family, Briddey Flannigan gets an EED to open up new avenues of communicating with her boyfriend, tech hotshot Trent Worth. The two haven't been dating very long, but he's hot to trot to take their relationship to the next level, so he wants them to undergo the minor brain procedure so they know - literally - the inner machinations of each other's minds. The purpose of the EED is to be able to sense each other's emotions. The success rate isn't 100%, as it only works in couples that are genuinely emotionally bonded, so success or failure of the operation also seems to be an indicator of the emotional health of a relationship. No pressure!
Little does Briddey know, the EED will have many unforeseen consequences. It opens up her mind in ways she never could have thought possible. She wakes from her post-op slumber connected... to the wrong person, wonder of wonders! One of the very people who warned her (repeatedly) against getting the operation done in the first place, her reclusive and "weird" nerdy co-worker C.B., is now seemingly telepathically linked with her.
I have mixed feelings about this book. There are strokes of genius and it's amusing and clever enough for a generation entirely too dependent on technology, but some of the characters are really obnoxious, and there are times when it drags on and really feels its 500+ pages. The interactions between Briddey and C.B. are where it really shines, because too much interconnectedness/telepathy is a terrible thing for everyone and there's something screwball and fresh about the way they bounce off each other like oil and water forced to be awkward dance partners, but the narrative unfortunately gets bogged down in itself and becomes redundant more than a few times.
The secondary plots with Briddey's family are interesting, but we don't need quite so much of them. We get that Mary Clare is an overbearing mother and it drives Briddey insane, but we don't need to be reminded quite so many times. The interactions between these two get very tedious, and frankly, as a reader I had a love/hate relationship with Briddey. The good: she's ambitious, driven, resourceful, independent. The bad: she's impulsive, refuses to see what's right in front of her, and can be really stupid, to put it bluntly. It's somewhat difficult to be sympathetic to the plight of a protagonist when the reader starts piecing circumstances together before they suspect something is off - how can a woman as ambitious and smart as Briddey not suspect that something is rotten in the state of Denmark?
This is still difficult to rate for me, but three stars. I'll go back and read some older Connie Willis before I decide how I feel about her as an author.
Against the wishes of her somewhat meddlesome but well-meaning family, Briddey Flannigan gets an EED to open up new avenues of communicating with her boyfriend, tech hotshot Trent Worth. The two haven't been dating very long, but he's hot to trot to take their relationship to the next level, so he wants them to undergo the minor brain procedure so they know - literally - the inner machinations of each other's minds. The purpose of the EED is to be able to sense each other's emotions. The success rate isn't 100%, as it only works in couples that are genuinely emotionally bonded, so success or failure of the operation also seems to be an indicator of the emotional health of a relationship. No pressure!
Little does Briddey know, the EED will have many unforeseen consequences. It opens up her mind in ways she never could have thought possible. She wakes from her post-op slumber connected... to the wrong person, wonder of wonders! One of the very people who warned her (repeatedly) against getting the operation done in the first place, her reclusive and "weird" nerdy co-worker C.B., is now seemingly telepathically linked with her.
I have mixed feelings about this book. There are strokes of genius and it's amusing and clever enough for a generation entirely too dependent on technology, but some of the characters are really obnoxious, and there are times when it drags on and really feels its 500+ pages. The interactions between Briddey and C.B. are where it really shines, because too much interconnectedness/telepathy is a terrible thing for everyone and there's something screwball and fresh about the way they bounce off each other like oil and water forced to be awkward dance partners, but the narrative unfortunately gets bogged down in itself and becomes redundant more than a few times.
The secondary plots with Briddey's family are interesting, but we don't need quite so much of them. We get that Mary Clare is an overbearing mother and it drives Briddey insane, but we don't need to be reminded quite so many times. The interactions between these two get very tedious, and frankly, as a reader I had a love/hate relationship with Briddey. The good: she's ambitious, driven, resourceful, independent. The bad: she's impulsive, refuses to see what's right in front of her, and can be really stupid, to put it bluntly. It's somewhat difficult to be sympathetic to the plight of a protagonist when the reader starts piecing circumstances together before they suspect something is off - how can a woman as ambitious and smart as Briddey not suspect that something is rotten in the state of Denmark?
This is still difficult to rate for me, but three stars. I'll go back and read some older Connie Willis before I decide how I feel about her as an author.
June 12, 2017
Briddey's new boyfriend encourages her to get elective brain surgery so they can sense each other's emotions. She does, but instead of sensing his emotions, she can sense the thoughts of B.C., the weird scruffy inventor who works at their company.
Briddey is an ineffectual doormat with no personality, skills, or interests. Her family members have keys to her apartment and let themselves in on a daily basis, though she begs them not to. They call and message her a hundred (no exaggeration) times a day, about made-up emergencies. They let themselves into her office to lie in wait. They are utterly intolerable, and Briddey spends much of the book coming up with a never ending series of lies to get out of talking to them, helping them, or interacting with them in any way. This total lack of boundaries could have been interesting once she gets telepathy and can't keep other people out of her very head, but nope--nothing happens with that. She works for a phone company doing something undefined and never actually does anything work related beside claim to every coworker that she's got to go a different meeting every single time one of them tries to talk to her. She keeps begging C.B. for rides (she has a car! and the money and ability to get a taxi!), feels the need to ask his advice about every single development, and is utterly incapable of even doing simple things like leaving a corner store without getting his constant reassurance. She spends the entire book having things explained to her. Even the ending is just pages of first C.B., then her nine year old niece explaining things to her. It never occurs to her to just say no to anyone, let alone say no and make it stick.
Willis is known for stories in which people continually try to communicate but keep missing each other. With the advent of ubiquitous mobile devices, her basic schtick doesn't work. So I feel like this novel, in which the characters not only have exaggerated connections through the internet and cell phones (as in, Briddey goes through multiple pages of clandestine manuevering to avoid having her neighbors in her apartment building seeing her enter the building in a bedraggled state, because "they have facebook" and somehow this means that her family will know and god forbid she ever be truthful with her family or set any boundaries with them whatsoever) but also can read each other's minds, is supposed to be Willis accepting this new paradigm and showing off that her miscommunication trick still works even with all possible communication avenues available. But it really doesn't. All the times people almost tell each other important information over the phone, in person, or telepathically but then are interrupted feel totally artificial.
This book was way too long for the teensy sliver of a plot it has. The characters are never developed. The situations are implausible. The name dropping of various celebrities, apps, and websites means this book will rapidly feel awkwardly dated. While reading this book I felt nothing positive, only an uncomfortable mix of boredom and frustration.
Briddey is an ineffectual doormat with no personality, skills, or interests. Her family members have keys to her apartment and let themselves in on a daily basis, though she begs them not to. They call and message her a hundred (no exaggeration) times a day, about made-up emergencies. They let themselves into her office to lie in wait. They are utterly intolerable, and Briddey spends much of the book coming up with a never ending series of lies to get out of talking to them, helping them, or interacting with them in any way. This total lack of boundaries could have been interesting once she gets telepathy and can't keep other people out of her very head, but nope--nothing happens with that. She works for a phone company doing something undefined and never actually does anything work related beside claim to every coworker that she's got to go a different meeting every single time one of them tries to talk to her. She keeps begging C.B. for rides (she has a car! and the money and ability to get a taxi!), feels the need to ask his advice about every single development, and is utterly incapable of even doing simple things like leaving a corner store without getting his constant reassurance. She spends the entire book having things explained to her. Even the ending is just pages of first C.B., then her nine year old niece explaining things to her. It never occurs to her to just say no to anyone, let alone say no and make it stick.
Willis is known for stories in which people continually try to communicate but keep missing each other. With the advent of ubiquitous mobile devices, her basic schtick doesn't work. So I feel like this novel, in which the characters not only have exaggerated connections through the internet and cell phones (as in, Briddey goes through multiple pages of clandestine manuevering to avoid having her neighbors in her apartment building seeing her enter the building in a bedraggled state, because "they have facebook" and somehow this means that her family will know and god forbid she ever be truthful with her family or set any boundaries with them whatsoever) but also can read each other's minds, is supposed to be Willis accepting this new paradigm and showing off that her miscommunication trick still works even with all possible communication avenues available. But it really doesn't. All the times people almost tell each other important information over the phone, in person, or telepathically but then are interrupted feel totally artificial.
This book was way too long for the teensy sliver of a plot it has. The characters are never developed. The situations are implausible. The name dropping of various celebrities, apps, and websites means this book will rapidly feel awkwardly dated. While reading this book I felt nothing positive, only an uncomfortable mix of boredom and frustration.
October 14, 2016
I really struggled with this book, pretty much from the start. This is largely down to Briddey and her personality. It really bothers me when people let themselves be walked all over by everybody and Briddey is that kind of person. It's one thing when it's loved-ones or there's at least some semblance of reciprocity (still annoying, but not as bad), but with Briddey, it's everybody; colleagues, boyfriend, her own assistant, and her family is just awful.
I found that almost as annoying as the plethora of convenient interruptions. That trick where an author interrupts one character right before they tell the protagonist something important? Yeah. Willis dumped her box of that one in and stirred with a blender.
Add in that Briddey stays with the idiot Trent way, way too long and that C.B. is so very reticent and you have a romance that takes forever to develop as well. And no, that's not a spoiler because Trent is obviously up to something underhanded and C.B. is obviously worthy in every conceivable way (not to mention being denigrated in all the ways that signal ugly duckling).
If it had been any author but Connie Willis, I'd have probably stopped in the second quarter. Briddey's doormat instincts and the plotus interruptus about drove me nuts. Once the magic starts, though, and Briddey finally stops being an irrational idiot and she finally accepts the help offered her, things smooth out relatively well. Not great, mind. But enough that I enjoyed the story from there. I still didn't like how helpless she turns all the time. And that interruptus thing goes on to the end of the book. And I never did buy Maeve as a young girl (she reads at least teen in maturity and capability but with pre-adolescent interests). So yeah, still problems.
That said, trust Willis to put together a great plot with excellent pacing and I really enjoyed C.B. and Briddey when they were together. So I'm going to put this at higher than three stars, but not close enough to four to tag it that high.
I found that almost as annoying as the plethora of convenient interruptions. That trick where an author interrupts one character right before they tell the protagonist something important? Yeah. Willis dumped her box of that one in and stirred with a blender.
Add in that Briddey stays with the idiot Trent way, way too long and that C.B. is so very reticent and you have a romance that takes forever to develop as well. And no, that's not a spoiler because Trent is obviously up to something underhanded and C.B. is obviously worthy in every conceivable way (not to mention being denigrated in all the ways that signal ugly duckling).
If it had been any author but Connie Willis, I'd have probably stopped in the second quarter. Briddey's doormat instincts and the plotus interruptus about drove me nuts. Once the magic starts, though, and Briddey finally stops being an irrational idiot and she finally accepts the help offered her, things smooth out relatively well. Not great, mind. But enough that I enjoyed the story from there. I still didn't like how helpless she turns all the time. And that interruptus thing goes on to the end of the book. And I never did buy Maeve as a young girl (she reads at least teen in maturity and capability but with pre-adolescent interests). So yeah, still problems.
That said, trust Willis to put together a great plot with excellent pacing and I really enjoyed C.B. and Briddey when they were together. So I'm going to put this at higher than three stars, but not close enough to four to tag it that high.
August 17, 2017
I received this book as an ARC for free from NetGalley in exchange for a review.
As I've seen said elsewhere, Crosstalk is a novel about the pros and cons of telepathy. It's also a frantic sci fi romantic comedy.
I hate to compare an author's newest novel overwhelmingly to prior works, but having read quite a few novels and stories by Willis in just the past 2 years, I was reminded... a lot... of other stories. The maddening corporate culture and miscommunication was reminiscent of Bellwether. The not-so-scientific science? That's pretty much the time travel technology from Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog. Lots and lots of dwelling on trivia is pure Willis in just about everything. Psychics and con-men? "Inside Job". A plethora of song titles and lyrics? "All Seated on the Ground". Classic movies and film stars? Remake.
I give this list because I'm of two minds. Am I happy that Crosstalk gives me the type of Connie Willis story I find so entertaining? Well yes! Am I left deflated because the details didn't feel new? Well... yes. There is good and bad in equal amounts here. I want that balance between the qualities that attracted me to Willis in the first place, and a newness that keeps me on my toes through all 500+ pages.
The most classic and enjoyable ingredient of this novel is how effortlessly, wickedly, and exhaustingly Willis turns over-communication into non-communication. That is Connie Willis to me. In a fantastic turnaround from previous novels that relied on lack of communication because communication was impossible, she now brilliantly shows how even an inundation of devices and channels cannot improve how we talk to each other. Machines and breakneck-pace lifestyles will only make matters worse!
And then, goodness, the telepathy.
I don't think I even need to cover that, because we all know how cool... and how terrible! telepathy would be. Briddey has no control over what comes in and what goes out of her own head. She's desperate to keep secrets from one person who overhears her while she must talk to another. But isn't it awesome that this exists?
That's pretty much telepathy in a nutshell, if you ask me.
Crosstalk is an excellent book when I force myself to think of it only as communication satire. As a romantic comedy, it falls down, and I will take the blame for that as the reader. Willis is witty, very witty! But she is almost too good at writing the hectic, interruptive, misfiring conversations between her characters. I felt truly anxious and stressed by Briddey's family behavior, the lack of respect all characters had for each other's privacy or consent, how no one could finish a single sentence or thought without being interrupted at least once - maybe twice! - by another person. "This is just so rude!" my mind wailed. I boiled with frustration. I wanted to punch Trent in the face. I wanted to slap some backbone into Briddey. I wanted to throttle C.B. until he came clean. I wanted to slam the door in everyone's faces!
This is just not a good mental space to appreciate a screwball comedy or a light romance. It's hard to laugh at the same sentence that's reminiscent of one's own social anxieties. It's hard to imagine a budding romance or anything sweet blossoming in conditions this toxic.
Willis achieves something with the comedy, the romance, and the science, but I'm not sure what. I can hold this book up to the light and find a few key lumps of stuff in it that looks good, but the rest is already dissolving into a frustrating tangle in the back of my brain. These frustrations take the form of "could haves" and "should haves". But I'll end with just one: Briddey could have been stronger. Most of Willis's main characters seems helpless, clueless, or flailing, much of the time. But Briddey seemed an unusually flat, dim doormat. I think the spark in Crosstalk could have taken hold and crackled if Briddey had fought back, or simply said "No!" and walked out the door.
May 20, 2021
Briddy's boyfriend, Trent is begging her to get an EED, a neurological device embedded in the brain, so they can have a deeper emotional connection. Her loud, boundary-free Irish family — who keep barging in on her at work. And at home. And in her car. And pretty much everywhere else too — are dead-set against it. As is C.B. Schwartz, an antisocial genius who works in the basement of the cell phone company Briddy and Trent both also work for. Briddy is determined to make her own choice for once. But unintended consequences have a way of derailing even the most straightforward plans.This is the fourth Connie Willis novel I've read (along with one collection of short stories). Her books/stories seem to fall into two categories: dark and heartbreaking, or comic and a little silly. While I appreciate both kinds of stories, I think I lean more towards Willis's more serious works. (To be fair, Passage did meld heartbreaking and absurd very well.) This book falls into the comic, homage to P.G. Wodehouse, Willis territory.
Crosstalk is very typical Willis: much of the story unfolds during long, rambling conversations between characters, with many interruptions and digressions. This is pretty true to life, except as readers we're used to getting the condensed version of conversations, rather than this kind of reflection of how people actually talk and interact. I enjoy this writing style, since it creates a sort of game of trying to pick the pertinent information out of all the background noise. Sometimes I grab onto what actually does matter, and sometimes I follow the distraction and get completely surprised by what happens next.
I definitely enjoyed this book, and lived it in my head while I wasn't reading. But at the same time, it's also a good 100 pages too long, and bits of it got pretty repetitive. If this had been by any other author, I would have 3-starred it. But it's by Connie Willis, which means that the wisdom and insights tucked throughout the story are well worth getting to, and even worth reading too many pages for.
My biggest quibble is that a big plot point hangs on trying to make cell phones do something I found utterly unbelievable .
My second biggest problem with this book is that it’s set in 2016, and wow does it feel dated. I was able to accept the alternate futures in Willis’s time travel books (no cell phones!), and Passage felt outside of time in a way, despite some anchoring to the real world. But this one? Most of the real-world references were probably stale before it even rolled off the presses.
Objections to implausible plots and a sense of ancient history aside, this was enjoyable enough that I would consider rereading it despite the bloat and datedness (soon it will feel like a time capsule!). So 4 stars it is.
November 15, 2016
I really, really ended up enjoying this, but it was touch and go there for a bit. Connie Willis's writing always has this distinct, relentless tone to it, and it gets under your skin until you see where it's going. I've had that same experience with all the books I've read by her, although the tone takes a different specific tenor every time. In Doomsday Book it was the tedium of death. In To Say Nothing of the Dog it was the farcical nature of time travel. And here it's a relentless onslaught of information directed straight towards our narrator, whose name is Briddey Flannigan. She's very Irish. (That's important.)
Crosstalk is a semi-satirical, near future sci-fi, romantic comedy. Briddey and her almost-fiance decide to get a medical procedure done that will allow them to sense each other's feelings. It's supposed to foster connection and honesty in their relationship. Only, things don't go as planned, and when Briddey wakes up from her surgery, it's not Trent she's connected to. You can see where this is going. But also, you CAN'T. The plot of this book is like a snowball. It keeps rolling and rolling, picking things up and getting bigger in scope as it goes.
The constant action meant the book was constantly verging on being TOO MUCH but I thought it managed to balance enough that I wanted to keep reading. Briddey also leans a little too far into the frustrating character department before she eventually course corrects. But overall, I highly enjoyed myself reading this. I would *really* like to see it as a movie, and I'm definitely going to be buying it for an eventual re-read, because I can see it being a comfort read in the future.
Crosstalk is a semi-satirical, near future sci-fi, romantic comedy. Briddey and her almost-fiance decide to get a medical procedure done that will allow them to sense each other's feelings. It's supposed to foster connection and honesty in their relationship. Only, things don't go as planned, and when Briddey wakes up from her surgery, it's not Trent she's connected to. You can see where this is going. But also, you CAN'T. The plot of this book is like a snowball. It keeps rolling and rolling, picking things up and getting bigger in scope as it goes.
The constant action meant the book was constantly verging on being TOO MUCH but I thought it managed to balance enough that I wanted to keep reading. Briddey also leans a little too far into the frustrating character department before she eventually course corrects. But overall, I highly enjoyed myself reading this. I would *really* like to see it as a movie, and I'm definitely going to be buying it for an eventual re-read, because I can see it being a comfort read in the future.
December 28, 2019
Reader, I have done something I didn't think I would ever do. Not only have I had to DNF another book just before the end of the year, but I …
… I skipped to the end!
Yes, I know! Sacrilege! But I could not finish Crosstalk. The constant storm of interruptions from Briddey’s phone and the people in her life was literally causing my introvert brain to feel anxious and stressed. If I have any praise for Connie Willis in this book, it’s only that her writing is good enough to manifest the negative symptoms of over-connection in my own body.
Chocolategoddess’ review captures pretty much all of my thoughts about this book, from the potential to cause anxiety all the way to Briddey’s lack of intelligence or agency, to the problems with all the other characters. She goes into much more detail about this than I’m willing to.
Briddey a bimbo. I don’t use that word lightly. When the story begins, she is head-over-heels for this guy Trent, who is so obviously a basket full of red flags. But no, she—and all the women in her office—think it’s “so romantic” that Trent wants to get an EED with Briddey before he proposes to her so that she can “feel how much” he loves her. I can feel the contempt and sarcasm dripping from every sentence Willis has written; Crosstalk is a deliberate pastiche and send up of romance and also an ersatz romantic comedy (more on that when I discuss the ending). Briddey is supposedly in some kind of executive position at a tech company, yet it’s unclear what she actually does (or how she ever accomplishes any work with everyone interrupting her).
The constant interruptions are supposed to be funny, a social commentary on how we are all too connected these days. I get it. I empathize and sympathize, Willis. Yet exaggerating it to the level of farce creates a new problem, because it undermines Briddey’s credibility as a protagonist. She has boundary issues in the sense that she literally has no boundaries. She lets her family access her apartment any time they want and hasn’t communicated clearly the fact that they can’t constantly be calling her at work. I would get if it’s one problematic family member, but it’s all of them, including the 9-year-old who acts more like a 13-year-old. (Having skipped to the end, I understand there’s a plot justification for Maeve’s precocity, but it is still jarring and she is still a total Mary Sue by the end of the book.)
Carrie at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books has another great review that echoes a lot of what I’ve said here as well.
Briddey’s lack of agency bothers me so much because there’s really no point in spending all this time in her head (literally) when she’s just along for the ride instead of coming up with ideas herself. After she has her EED installed, she literally spends the next day or so letting other people make decisions for her. And that’s kind of the point where I stopped reading, because I was just done.
I skipped to the end because, despite my misgivings about the writing, Willis had me wondering what was actually going on. The revelations are both more and less interesting than I was hoping. This could have been a much better book had Willis taken things in a different direction. (I’m reminded a bit of Slan .)
Read the two reviews I linked. Don’t read this book if you might feel at all overwhelmed by constantly having the narrative interrupted. I’m not joking: near the end of the book Briddey is trying to have a conversation with another character and Maeve butts in every two lines of dialogue.
To echo another reviewer: “Even though I did not finish it I know I did not like it so - 1 star.”
… I skipped to the end!
Yes, I know! Sacrilege! But I could not finish Crosstalk. The constant storm of interruptions from Briddey’s phone and the people in her life was literally causing my introvert brain to feel anxious and stressed. If I have any praise for Connie Willis in this book, it’s only that her writing is good enough to manifest the negative symptoms of over-connection in my own body.
Chocolategoddess’ review captures pretty much all of my thoughts about this book, from the potential to cause anxiety all the way to Briddey’s lack of intelligence or agency, to the problems with all the other characters. She goes into much more detail about this than I’m willing to.
Briddey a bimbo. I don’t use that word lightly. When the story begins, she is head-over-heels for this guy Trent, who is so obviously a basket full of red flags. But no, she—and all the women in her office—think it’s “so romantic” that Trent wants to get an EED with Briddey before he proposes to her so that she can “feel how much” he loves her. I can feel the contempt and sarcasm dripping from every sentence Willis has written; Crosstalk is a deliberate pastiche and send up of romance and also an ersatz romantic comedy (more on that when I discuss the ending). Briddey is supposedly in some kind of executive position at a tech company, yet it’s unclear what she actually does (or how she ever accomplishes any work with everyone interrupting her).
The constant interruptions are supposed to be funny, a social commentary on how we are all too connected these days. I get it. I empathize and sympathize, Willis. Yet exaggerating it to the level of farce creates a new problem, because it undermines Briddey’s credibility as a protagonist. She has boundary issues in the sense that she literally has no boundaries. She lets her family access her apartment any time they want and hasn’t communicated clearly the fact that they can’t constantly be calling her at work. I would get if it’s one problematic family member, but it’s all of them, including the 9-year-old who acts more like a 13-year-old. (Having skipped to the end, I understand there’s a plot justification for Maeve’s precocity, but it is still jarring and she is still a total Mary Sue by the end of the book.)
Carrie at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books has another great review that echoes a lot of what I’ve said here as well.
Briddey’s lack of agency bothers me so much because there’s really no point in spending all this time in her head (literally) when she’s just along for the ride instead of coming up with ideas herself. After she has her EED installed, she literally spends the next day or so letting other people make decisions for her. And that’s kind of the point where I stopped reading, because I was just done.
I skipped to the end because, despite my misgivings about the writing, Willis had me wondering what was actually going on. The revelations are both more and less interesting than I was hoping. This could have been a much better book had Willis taken things in a different direction. (I’m reminded a bit of Slan .)
Read the two reviews I linked. Don’t read this book if you might feel at all overwhelmed by constantly having the narrative interrupted. I’m not joking: near the end of the book Briddey is trying to have a conversation with another character and Maeve butts in every two lines of dialogue.
To echo another reviewer: “Even though I did not finish it I know I did not like it so - 1 star.”
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