Customer Reviews

All Seated on the Ground

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When Connie Willis writes humour, you'd best sit somewhere alone to read. You won't be able to explain, otherwise, why you're laughing out loud after only a couple of pages at her description of Meg's Aunt Judith (not just hers; don't we all have one?) whose dour frowning eyes, scowling lip and stony countenance make Meg tremble even more than the aliens whose rigid, condemning countenances are so similar. Well yes, by the way, the aliens have landed but they refuse to say why, where from, or anything else for that matter - they just sort of, well... Glare (much like Aunt Judith).

Willis' plot of the aliens who refuse to communicate is so preposterous (and so refreshingly novel) that it rings true. Like all good mystery writers (and make no mistake, this is a mystery novella despite its SF trappings), she provides the real solution very early in the piece and then lays several trails of red herrings, each of which the reader will follow to its inevitable dead end. Superb duplicity! Along the way is some of the best comic writing of the year: why would aliens abduct female humans for sexual experimentation? Given their reported appearance, why wouldn't they be more attracted to, say, warthogs, ferrets or aloe verae? Not just a funny question, but a good one; I'm going to set up a trip wire near my watermelon tonight.

Typical of Willis, minor characters grab centre stage occasionally and treat us to perfect cameos: Belinda and her classmates who are consumed with knowing if their teacher has fallen in love with Meg rather than why the aliens are acting so strangely at the Mall (yes, I kid you not); or Dr. Wakamura (with a doctorate in perfumology) who insists on spraying the aliens with essence of pizza to initiate communictation. Willis' usual bizarre entourage of support characters storms the beaches in full force here.

Willis' message - as usual - embodies a love and acceptance of humanity regardless of our ridiculous shortcomings (though many of these are gleefully lambasted) and the route to salvation, whether through God, aliens or some other mechanism, once again typical of Willis, is emblazoned with a sign that says, `Come ye all, or come ye none.' An ecumenical Christmas message indeed.

At about 25,000 words this is, at best, a short novella (it's about a two hour read) and many might quite reasonably baulk at the price for 120 or so pages. But this is brilliant writing, and - let's face it - it's cheap at the price. Previously, writers like Dickens took advantage of the season and, for instance, he issued his Christmas stories (and ghost stories) annually because he knew they'd sell; marketing came first, quality came next. So, yes, there's the cost factor; but - then again - what would you pay for a first edition Dickens these days? And what about one where quality came first? ... as it does here.

Connie Willis is one of my favorite writers and I've been a little bit disappointed lately that she seems to be repeating herself. Here, however, she's taken many of the best elements from past short stories and combined them into something fresh and wonderful.

It's nearly Christmas and the aliens have landed. Far from being a menace, however, or bringing greetings from another planet, the aliens are just standing there and scowling, with a look of "utter, withering disapproval," much like Meg's Aunt Judith, as a group of researchers from scientists to linguists to clergymen, politicians and an aroma expert try, unsuccessfully, to communicate with the aliens. The only thing that seems to get through to the Altairans, as the authorities in Denver, where the aliens have landed, have named them, is certain music, especially Christmas carols. Journalist Meg and seventh grade girls choir teacher, Mr. Ledbetter, believe they have nearly figured out a way to communicate with the aliens, if they can just work out the details before the alien ship takes off or the aliens kill everyone on earth.

This slight volume (less than 126 pages in easy to read print) flies by with laugh out loud funny moments, Christmas cheer, current pop culture references and lots and lots of music. While this should really be part of a Connie Willis short story collection (why, in fact, it wasn't included as part of Willis's recent collection "The Winds of Marble Arch" isn't entirely clear to me), it's nevertheless a fun little reward for loyal Connie Willis fans, as it blends her love of Christmas stories, aliens, romantic comedy, and screwball comedy with the wonderful sense of tolerance she brings to her work. If you've never read any Connie Willis you'll probably be better off starting off with one of her novels or the Winds of Marble Arch, her most recent short story collection. If you're already a fan, however, or you just need a quick laugh for the holidays (even after the fact), this may be the book for you. It only took me about an hour to read it and I loved every minute of it. It's pure delight and so deserves 5 stars even for such a slender volume. Or you could wait a couple of years until it gets included as part of a collection. Nah -- why wait when it's so much fun now?

Connie Willis is one of the funniest authors around, in the SF genre or any other. She always manages to identify human frailties and make us laugh at them, but she is never, never mean. As a result, I'd pick up ANY story she wrote. Heck, I'd read her grocery list.

She also has the gift -- or curse -- of writing great stories that are relatively short. While she's written a few long books (such as Passage and Doomsday Book), she can tell a wonderful short tale, either as short stories or here, as a novella. (I've lost count of the number of times I've given away copies of her Bellwether, which is also low in the page-count department.) Short fiction is great to read (at least, if you have something else to do with your life), but it makes the pages-per-dollar ratio for a book like this a bit dear.

But I _do_ think you should read this one, even if you have to head to the library to make it affordable until a paperback version comes out or this is repackaged into a larger collection. (That's what I did.) Because it is a wonderful example of Willis' writing: the sweet satire, the love story that's obvious to everyone except the protagonist, the appreciation and love of human absurdity. And Christmas. Connie Willis loves Christmas, and she makes even bah-humbug folks like myself appreciate why. (She has a collection of Christmas short stories, and this one would fit right in.)

The situation itself is simple enough: aliens land on earth, but they refuse to communicate with any humans. Until they start to behave oddly (for them) right before Christmas, and Our Heroine -- and someone she runs into at the shopping mall -- has to figure out why. It's laugh-out-loud funny, and absolutely worth your time.

Incidentally, there's no sex or intimations of such (through there's a bit of poking at the religious right). A teenager could read this without parental disapproval.

Really, this is one of the best and funniest Christmas stories since, well, Jean Shepherd's "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash" (also known as the film "A Christmas Story") and David Sedaris's "Holidays on Ice." It also reminds me, peculiarly, of Kurt Vonnegut's funnier and less morose short stories (such as "Who Am I This Time?"), probably because it is told in such a plain-spoken but still rather antic and witty voice.

It's terrific, romantic in an odd way, and completely cinematic - I wish someone would turn it into a feature film. It would be a great Christmas movie.

Aliens have landed. Now all they do is stand there and glare. Meg finds herself on the commission charged with trying to communicate with the aliens. Their glaring reminds her of her Aunt Judith. While at the mall with the aliens, the aliens suddenly sit down. Now the problem is finding out what caused them to sit down. Meg hooks up with Calvin Ledbetter, a choir director. Together they must unravel why the aliens are finally responding to something.

After a few pages of introductory exposition the action starts up, and doesn't end until the book does. Willis is a master at capturing the fun of the old madcap romantic comedies of Hollywood's golden era. The only problem is the brevity of the work. I can't wait for her to actually put out a full length novel again.

Very entertaining. Read it in one afternoon as I couldn't put it down. Love Connie Willis's work and this is a good example of her wit and writing style.

Yes, this was a little high-priced, for something barely a novella, and yes, I wish it were longer. I loved Connie Willis' "Passages". But it is delightful, and I'm glad I bought it anyway. It is funny and rather sweet, and has that breathtaking fast-moving quality characteristic of her best work, culminating in a highly satisfying ending. It's good. I loved it.

Connie Willis writes a very unusual type of science fiction in this close encounter of the 4th kind. I can't write too much about her plot or characters without giving away too much of the story and the surprises instore for the reader.
It's a short novel, novelette I suppose but very satisfying for all that. She's a writer who's very good at devising really unusual plots or slants on the usual science fiction genre.
If you've never read Connie Willis this is as good a book to start with as any. She doesn't really fall into any of the usual catagories. I've read time travel novels that she has written which have been as much a historical novel, as a science fiction.
So, if you like the unusual or stories that are quite different check her out, you never know quite what to expect.

Connie Willis is a master at what she does...which is looking at sci-fi from a point of view that is easy for an everyday person to imagine. This is a delightful book, a mystery in a sci-fi setting, as so many of her books are. It is also too short. Yeah, it's advertised as a novella. But I was hoping it would be longer.

Then I bought it and realized it was
- quite short
- quite boring.

I won't go back to this well.