Fiction, Fiction Subjects

Passage

Name: Passage
Author: Connie Willis
ISBN: 9780553580518

by Connie Willis

Write a review

Overview

A tunnel, a light, a door. And beyond it ... the unimaginable.

Dr. Joanna Lander is a psychologist specializing in near-death experiences. She is about to get help from a new doctor with the power to give her the chance to get as close to death as anyone can.

A brilliant young neurologist, Dr. Richard Wright has come up with a way to manufacture the near-death experience using a psychoactive drug. Joanna’s first NDE is as fascinating as she imagined — so astounding that she knows she must go back, if only to find out why that place is so hauntingly familiar.

But each time Joanna goes under, her sense of dread begins to grow, because part of her already knows why the experience is so familiar, and why she has every reason to be afraid.

Yet just when Joanna thinks she understands, she’s in for the biggest surprise of all — ashattering scenario that will keep you feverishly reading until the final climactic page.

Synopsis

But each time Joanna goes under, her sense of dread begins to grow, because part of her already knows why the experience is so familiar, and why she has every reason to be afraid.

Yet just when Joanna thinks she understands, she’s in for the biggest surprise of all — ashattering scenario that will keep you feverishly reading until the final climactic page.

Publishers Weekly

In a departure from her usual historical theme, Willis (Miracle and Other Christmas Stories) pries open the door at the end of the tunnel of Near Death Experience (NDE) while holding firmly to her endearing brand of exasperated humor. Dr. Joanna Lander, a psychologist separating the truth from the expected in NDEs, is talked into working with Dr. Richard Wright (pun intended), a neurologist testing his theory that NDEs are a survival mechanism by simulating them with psychoactive drugs. When navigating the maze of the hospital in which the cafeteria is never open, dodging Mr. Mandrake who writes popular books on NDEs and fabricates most of his accounts and finding uncorrupted participants for their experiments becomes too difficult, Joanna herself goes under. What she finds on the Other Side almost drives her and Richard apart, while solving the mystery of what it means almost drives her mad. Joanna holds nothing back as she searches her mind and her experience; readers will be able to puzzle out the answers just as she does. That this work is less tightly packed than most of Willis's novels somewhat undercuts the tension. Even so, the plot twists, the casual wit and the enjoyable characters will satisfy fans. The shocking occurrence 100 pages from the end is a good indication of Willis's power as a writer. (May 1) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

About the Author, Connie Willis

Connie Willis has won major awards for her novels and short stories. Her first short-story collection, Fire Watch, was a New York Times Notable Book. Her other works include Doomsday Book, Lincoln's Dreams, Bellwether, Impossible Things, Remake, Uncharted Territory, To Say Nothing of the Dog, and Miracle and Other Christmas Stories. Ms. Willis lives in Greeley, Colorado, with her family.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Library Journal

When psychologist Joanna Lander agrees to join Dr. Richard Wright's experimental study of near-death experiences, she embarks on a mental and spiritual journey to an unknown but eerily familiar "place" the borderland between life and death. With each successive session, Joanna's sense of fear and uncertainty grows, sparking a sudden insight into the nature of human consciousness as it approaches the end of life. The author of The Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog continues to expand her storytelling repertoire, achieving new dimensions in subtlety and irony while simultaneously constructing an unforgettable tale of courage and self-sacrifice. Highly recommended. [See "Crossing The Final Frontier," an interview with Willis, p. 136. Ed.] Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Willis explores NDEs (Near Death Experiences) and, correspondingly, the afterlife, the human spirit, and the promises and limitations of science and medicine. Joanna Lander, a psychologist studying the phenomena at Mercy General, teams up with newcomer Richard Wright, a neurologist conducting research in support of his theory that NDEs may be a survival strategy and that understanding the brain functions of the dying may be the key to preventing premature death. Their nemesis is Maurice Mandrake who, having authored one best-selling book on NDEs and the afterlife, seeks patients' validations of his foregone conclusions for a sequel. Willis's strength has always been her vivid characters, and Passage contains quite a collection, from Vielle, ER supervisor and Joanna's confidant, to her brilliant, former high school English teacher, now a victim of Alzheimer's disease. Surely, though, few novels possess a character so appealing and memorable as the irrepressible Maisie, a nine-year-old with a severe heart condition. The book's size and its pace, which may seem glacial at times, should not deter readers; Willis wants them to puzzle over clues and debate theories alongside Joanna and Richard, experiencing, as they do, each step from uncertainty to understanding. Willis also makes much use of metaphor and foreshadowing, although nothing prepares readers for the surprising plot twist that occurs two-thirds of the way into the book. This novel will draw not only science fiction fans, but also those who have wondered about their own passage from this existence into the next.-Dori DeSpain, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

New contemporary, near-mainstream outing for the celebrated author of To Say Nothing of the Dog (1997), etc. Joanna Lander, a clinical psychologist at Denver's Mercy General hospital, studies patients who've had Near Death Experiences (NDEs). Her biggest problem is Maurice Mandrake, bestselling author and self-appointed life-after-death expert; Mandrake keeps reaching the NDE subjects before Joanna does, inducing them to confabulate, rendering their accounts useless for Joanna's purposes. Worse, he keeps trying to enlist Joanna to his cause. Then Joanna meets neurologist Richard Wright: he's developing a scientific theory about NDEs, using an experimental drug to simulate NDEs while scanning activity in the brain. Joanna agrees to collaborate with Richard, and quickly identifies several of his subjects as Mandrake spies. Another subject abruptly quits, terrified of what she's experienced. So Joanna agrees to attempt the drug-simulated NDE herself. Like many of those she's interviewed, she experiences a long dark passage with a brilliant golden-white light at the end, and sees shadowy figures swathed in white. Are they angels, as Mandrake insists? In further NDE trips, Joanna explores beyond the door at the end of the tunnel-a place oddly familiar, in a way she can't quite recall. Other NDE reports seem to tie in with hers. But Joanna will find to her horror that the distinction between near death and actual death is by no means well defined, and that she's still at the beginning of a long, extraordinary, chilling, fascinating journey. Once again, Willis has developed an idea that bears all the authority of a genuine insight: disturbingly plausible, compelling,intensely moving,and ultimately uplifting.