Passage - Softcover

Willis, Connie

3.72

9,631 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007118260 ISBN 13: 9780007118267

Publisher: Voyager, 2002

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Sf thriller exploring our greatest journey and our greatest mystery – death itself – from the winner of both the Hugo and the Nebula awards.

Psychologist Dr Joanna Lander has spent two years at Mercy General Hospital studying patients who have been declared clinically dead but then revived. Many have had near-death experiences, NDEs, which are remarkably similar the world over.

Then brilliant young neurologist Richard Wright discovers a way to induce an NDE using psychoactive drugs. He’s convinced that NDEs are a survival mechanism, and that through them more patients might be brought back from the edge of death. Patients like Joanna’s young friend Masie, who is almost certain to die before she gets the heart transplant she desperately needs. So when Joanna realizes that Richard’s project is under threat due to a shortage of suitable subjects, she volunteers to take the dangerous journey to the limits of knowledge herself.

Immediately fascinated by her simulated near-death experiences, Joanna becomes increasingly desperate to discover the meaning behind the strangely familiar images and feelings she encounters. As she begins to unravel the mystery, her sense of dread grows. Because a part of her already knows why the experience is so familiar, and why she has every reason to be afraid.

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Review:

Most of us would rather not spend a lot of time contemplating death, but the characters in Connie Willis's novel Passage make a living at it. Joanna Lander is a medical researcher specialising in Near Death Experiences (NDEs) and how the brain constructs them. Her partner in this endeavour is Richard Wright, a single-minded scientist who induces NDEs in healthy people by injecting a compound that tricks the brain into thinking it's dying. Joanna and Richard team up and try to find test subjects whose ability to report their experiences objectively hasn't been wrecked by reading the books of pop-psychologist and hospital gadabout Maurice Mandrake. Mandrake has gained fame and fortune by convincing people that they can expect light, warmth, and welcoming loved ones once they die. Joanna and Richard try to quantify NDEs in more scientific terms, a frustrating exercise to say the least.

The brain cells started to die within moments of death. By the end of four to six minutes the damage was irreversible, and people brought back from death after that didn't talk about tunnels and life reviews. They didn't talk at all... But if the dying were facing annihilation, why didn't they say, "It's over!" or, "I'm shutting down"?... Why did they say, "It's beautiful over there," and, "I'm coming, Mother!"

When Joanna decides to become a test subject and see an NDE firsthand, she discovers that death is more and less than she expected. Readers are in for some shocks as Willis reveals the secrets and mysteries of the afterlife. Unfortunately, several running gags--the maze-like complexity of the hospital, Mandrake's oily sales pitch and a tiresomely talkative World War II veteran--threaten the pace of the story near the middle. But don't stop reading. We expect a lot from Willis because she's so good, and Passage's payoff is incredible--the ending will leave you breathless, and more than a little haunted. Passage masterfully blends tragedy, humour and fear in an unforgettable meditation on humanity and death. --Therese Littleton, Amazon.com

Review:

‘A compelling story on an irresistable theme ... a profound and haunting parable’ LOCUS

‘Passage masterfully blends tragedy, humour and fear in an unforgettable mediation on humanity and death’ Amazon

‘Deep matters are discussed whilst a gripping story unwinds...a remarkably good and unsettling book...the ending alone should have you thinking for years to come.’ SFX

‘Once again, Willis has developed an idea that bears all the authority of a genuine insight: disturbingly plausible, compelling, intensely moving, and ultimately uplifting’ Kirkus

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