Passage (Hardcover)

I really like the touch of providing an alternative interpretation of the standard elements of a "near-death experience". Willis shows how they could be combined to create a different set of images without ignoring any of the classic elements. The plot turns around a pyschologist type who wants to understand what people really experience in such experiences and a neuroscientist who wants to explain what is happening in the brain during an NDE. It is really science fiction, even though it could have been a Robin Cook medical thriller. (Only the last short chapter feels like fantasy for me.)

One of the few repeated elements in Willis' fiction is a well-captured characterization of a little girl who's reactions is critical to making you care about the people in the story. (I'm beginning to think these are as typical of Willis as the "Old Man" was in Heinlein novels). She treats this character with skill and uses the character well to move the plot forward and to provide sort of a happy ending. Structrually, the book reads very much like 3 related novellas, and they each have individual themes and styles. Of the three, I liked the middle story best, after the psychologist experience her own drug-induced NDEs, and as she tries to make sense of them. I think that Willis does an interesting job of presenting that difficult issue of "experiential evidence", as opposed to verifiable experimental evidence.

I give the book less than 5 stars, on an admittedly personal scale, because it doesn't quite live up to its promise for me. Too much of the book led me to think the book was raising questions about the meaning of death, even though the book provides internal warnings that it is more about the methods of medical research. Despite those warnings (and given what a good writer Willis has always been), I was expecting a conclusion addressing some of the broader themes of the work. None-the-less, this is a solid 4-star book, well worth anyone's reading. It would probably appeal to an audience for medical thrillers as well as SF fans.

This really ticks off Joanna...

She asks questions like, "Tell me what you saw?" and "How did you feel?" Non-leading questions, in other words. And if she get's to the patients before Mr. Mandrake does, the results are markedly different; no angels of light and no family waiting for you.

Enter Dr. Richard Wright. He's also interested in NDEs. And he has medical research in mind. He's developed a drug that induces a type of artificial NDE and begins using it on volunteers (with Joanna's eventual help), trying to discover why some people have NDEs and others don't. If he can find out, maybe he can utilize his research to bring dying patients out of their NDE state and back to the living.

Maisie is a ten year old child who's been brought back from death multiple times thanks to a congenital heart defect. And she's Joanna's and Dr. Wright's friend. She thinks that Mr. Mandrake is a flake (which, of course, he is) and is fascinated with disaster stories (like the Titanic and Hidenburg). She's never seen an angel or Godly light during her true NDEs, and Joanna and Dr. Wright soon come to rely on her more than they will ever know.
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Undeniably, Connie Willis is one of my favorite authors. I love almost everything I've ever read by her. Her prose is smooth, her characters memorable, and her subject matter relevant. And PASSAGE is no exception. Joanna, Maisie, Dr. Wright, Kit, Mr. Briarly, Vielle, and Mr. Mandrake all still stick out in my mind. Great characters one and all.

My only beef with this novel (as many other reviewers here have pointed out) is that it's a bit wordy. At 780 pages (paperback), I began to lag a bit while reading. But only a bit! I tiny bit! Mrs. Willis' able writing abilities kept me involved in the story and I persevered.

The ending: For those who enjoy everything tidied up and in one neat little plot developed package, this book is not for you. It'll leave you wondering what awaits us when we all take that final plunge into the PASSAGE of no return.

B+ rating.