For one thing, I thought Joanna Lander went pretty far off the deep end! She made herself a test subject because she was running short of subjects. That bothered me a lot; I had trouble believing a smart medical researcher would go that far. I was intrigued by the ideas about what a dying brain does, but as far as the (brief) depiction of what happens after death, I wasn't so impressed.
Then again, I've been reading rather more spectacular versions of the afterlife for many years now, so Willis had stiff competition in that category! I've taught Dante's Inferno more than once. (I'm afraid I do find it more interesting than the other two parts, though I feel I ought to be more interested in Paradiso.) Bede reports a couple of near-death experiences among the Anglo-Saxons in his Ecclesiastical History. My favorite is the brother who, after a visit to hell (not here a place of flames), frequent goes to stand out in a freezing river. When asked whether it isn't awfully uncomfortable, he simply replies, "I have known it colder."
I mostly did enjoy Passage, though I was stunned and very upset when Joanna died. I was reading that part on an airplane on a flight home from England, and I had tears running down my face while I read! It occurred to me later that that may have been why the man in the seat next to me engaged me in conversation so much later in the flight. Goodness knows why he thought I was crying. He didn't ask, and I didn't say.
ETA: I should probably add that my religious views on the afterlife influence my reaction. I'm not certain what to expect, but I'm pretty sure it's not what Joanna finds!
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Spoilers for Passage
Date: 2010-09-04 06:27 pm (UTC)Then again, I've been reading rather more spectacular versions of the afterlife for many years now, so Willis had stiff competition in that category! I've taught Dante's Inferno more than once. (I'm afraid I do find it more interesting than the other two parts, though I feel I ought to be more interested in Paradiso.) Bede reports a couple of near-death experiences among the Anglo-Saxons in his Ecclesiastical History. My favorite is the brother who, after a visit to hell (not here a place of flames), frequent goes to stand out in a freezing river. When asked whether it isn't awfully uncomfortable, he simply replies, "I have known it colder."
I mostly did enjoy Passage, though I was stunned and very upset when Joanna died. I was reading that part on an airplane on a flight home from England, and I had tears running down my face while I read! It occurred to me later that that may have been why the man in the seat next to me engaged me in conversation so much later in the flight. Goodness knows why he thought I was crying. He didn't ask, and I didn't say.
ETA: I should probably add that my religious views on the afterlife influence my reaction. I'm not certain what to expect, but I'm pretty sure it's not what Joanna finds!