A review by jfaberrit
Passage by Connie Willis

2.0

When you realize in the middle of a book about near-death experiences that you want most of the characters to just die and get it over with, it is not a good sign. There are some moments of levity, but overall, this is kind of an awful, heavy-handed, repetitive book whose main philosophical point was neither revelatory nor all that interesting. Among the stylistic tics designed seemingly to drive a reader nuts, everyone is always running around endlessly, described in agonizing detail. I get that etting from point A to point B in hospitals with construction projects is hard. I got it the tenth time. By the twentieth time (no exaggeration!) it is just filling space. The understanding of research medicine seems tenuous at best, and the wonder-drug approach at the end a sop to the softhearted for having tortured them so long. A doctor actually tries to undergo a experimental simulated near-death experience to somehow reach a shared dream state with a colleague, as if that makes any sense at all. If someone were to do that in real life, they would be suspended for unsafe research practices and given a psych evaluation because it is, you know, totally crazy. All in all, a confused, repetitive muddle.