Crosstalk

érdektelen szófosás.

You know, I really had high hopes for this story, which is kind of like “Dark Mirror” meets “Abbott and Costello”. In showing us a satirical vision of the our obsession with connectedness and instant communications, Connie Willis could have made a powerful statement about conformity and lowest common denominator entertainment. In sending up our demand to know what is always on everyone's minds via social media apps like Twitter/X and Facebook, she shows us our vanity, shallowness and insecurities. But in casting the novel as a silly romantic comedy/farce, she dilutes some of its power.
The basic premise is that a neurosurgeon has developed technology that, through a brain implant, allows emotionally-bonded couples to experience one another's emotions. Trent and Briddey, two young lovers who work for an Apple-like electronics giant, are planning to undergo the procedure so that they can be more fully connected – at least, that's according to Trent, at whose insistence they are planning to do it. They do, over the objections of a co-worker, CB Schwartz, and, as expected in romcom, hijinks ensue – the hijinks in this case being Briddey and CB discovering they have a telepathic (as opposed to merely empathic) connection. Which is fine, I guess, and there are some funny bits along the way but it's the way Willis brings about the complications that kind of got on my nerves.
Willis uses fractured, elliptical dialogue, interruptions from ringing phones (and absolutely grating family members), and disjointed conversations to create misunderstanding and confusion. Typical of Willis, she also uses subtle hints and narrative misdirection to spring plot twists that set the narrative careening off in a new direction.
But after awhile it all becomes tiresome, delay and obfuscation for their own sake. As with any romcom problem, this one could have been solved with a simple conversation but, as with every romcom ever, the characters choose the least sensible response.
Fans of Willis's novel To Say Nothing of The Dog will recognize her style and wit. In that book, though, it came across as Wildean comedy of manners. In Crosstalk it feels a bit forced. Unlike To Say Nothing . . . (and the other time travel novels), which handwaves away the sci-fi elements, Crosstalk bogs down in complicated explanations of the causes and effects of the telepathy. And in standard romcom fashion (no spoiler), true love wins, the crooked is made straight, the complications simplified, and the characters stand blinking in the bright, shiny dawn of new possibilities.
It's ok, but just ok. If you're looking for Connie Willis's magnum opus, this isn't it.

Briddy Flannigan is thrilled when her boyfriend Trent wants them to get a new technology implanted that is supposed to bring them even closer together. But when she starts hearing someone else instead of Trent she is very confused. Does it mean that Trent is not her soulmate? Is it the other person. Along with add her very intrusive Irish family who bug her constantly at work, at home. She cannot think straight.

The first part of the book seems a bit slow but around the 1/3 mark it picks up and then I really enjoyed the ride.

The premise of the book is that technology has created too much communication. You might expect a thoughtful Black-Mirror-like reflection on our tech addictions and anxieties. Instead, you get a story written by someone who apparently does not know how Facebook works. Or Twitter.

At one point, one of the characters says, “I'm guessing you don't want to be seen coming home on a Sunday morning dressed like that... Especially since one of your neighbors is bound to be on Facebook.” How does Connie Willis think Facebook works??? It's truly astounding.

In another section, a character has invented a way to delete tweets. That's right. Delete tweets. Which you can do right now. The characters also seem to think that you send a tweet like a text message, to an individual person. In which case, having trouble deleting them actually makes some sort of sense? I don't know, but I tell you, it is fascinating.

Also, the main character, Briddey, turns off her phone when she doesn't want to talk to someone, and then is unable to use her phone for other things like directions. This is actually part of the plot.

There are other flaws: Briddey has no concept of boundaries. She has given most of the other characters in the book the KEYS TO HER HOME. Part of the plot hinges on her not being able to go home because someone whom she is avoiding might be there. (MAYBE DON'T GIVE THEM YOUR KEYS.) What's more, soon after this, she says that it would be been easier for her to communicate with someone if she had given them a key to her apartment and then put a note on her bed. REALLY.

More: The love interest continuously lies to her for her own good and this is deemed acceptable.

Even more: Briddey seems incapable of sorting out “look what you made me do”-type arguments and believes she's the cause of other people's bad actions. She acts like an abuse victim, but the book doesn't seem to notice.

I love Connie Willis enough that I was willing to give a rom-com a try, but in the end, it wasn't for me. I do love her humor, musical references, and style. The sci-fi parts are quite fun, and it picks up a lot after the mid-point, but the trappings of the genre are just not what I enjoy. Great fun if you're into rom-coms, but she has a lot of better sci-fi if you aren't.

This is a difficult review.
I enjoyed reading this book, but the more I think about it, the more problems I have. Much of it is little things.
Like, much of the book is spent at their workplace, but I honestly have no idea what Briddey's job was. All I know is she works for a cellphone company and keeps putting off meetings. That is it. I'm also not sure why anyone would do the EED procedure with anyone they are not married to or in some other similar committed relationship since your emotions will be connected and there was no mention of the procedure being reversible.
Another point to mention was the science talk which went over my head. I thought it went on a little too long, on that note, I thought there were things that could have been cut or slimmed down to make the book more concise.

Don't let all this negative make you think I disliked the book though. I finished this book in one day and didn't want to put it down. While the writing could be longwinded at times, I also thought that it was really well done.
I was also able to connect to the characters. While Briddey could be annoying and overreact, I always thought she felt like a real person. All the characters really felt real and interesting.

The romance... totally saw it coming and I loved it. I would have liked more romance involved, but I'm a romantic and love reading about people coming to love each other. The thing is I did have one problem with it–or more accurately Briddey's actions towards Trent. I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't go further, but it just really annoyed the heck out of me.

I seriously feel like I'm nitpicking everything, so I do want to mention again how much I loved the plot and the concept. The writing is easy and fun, which gripped me and made me care less about the less than satisfied bits. The book is exciting, information is told throughout and not really dumped on the reader. The sci-fi and fantasy elements are overwhelming and work really well. There is an air of mystery around Trent, C.B. and what happens to Briddey after her surgery. That feeling of knowing something else was going on, I think, is what kept me so engaged in the story.

I will recommend this book to others in the future, and think this one would also appeal to YA readers. If you like slight sci-fi with a mix of fantasy and an undertone of mystery, I think you'll enjoy this one.

My original note said “Connie Willis wrote a new novel! It's about telepathy and our overcommunicated world! “ It's also about helicopter mothers, social media, Joan of Arc, sugared cereals, Bridey Murphy, online dating, zombie movies, Victorian novels, and those annoying songs you get stuck in your head and can't get rid of!” I want it RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” So, let's be clear: I think it was literally impossible for any book to match how high my expectations got.

And it is a good book: Connie Willis at her Connie Willis-est: using some soft sci-fi, comedy of manners and a heavy dose of rom-com to develop a pointed parable on Issues of Our Time (in this case, cellphones and over-connectivity.) And it's fun, but perhaps because I've read basically everything she's ever written, it felt like re-reading a Willis novel, rather than its own brand new thing. I knew the beats, I could predict what would happen at each turn. And it was warm and cozy and fun, but not new.

Also, the genetics were crap. That's not what recessive means and the telepathic pedigrees definitely weren't compatible with an AR gene. Next time, go for autosomal dominant with incomplete penetrance – great for most hand-wavy situations. Even better, Connie, next time you want to write a novel on the genetics of telepathy? Call me! I still love you!

[b:Bellwether 24985 Bellwether Connie Willis https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1431535122s/24985.jpg 1194887] floored me when I first read it twenty years ago; it's still one of my favorite works, one I reread and enjoy periodically. Deliciously absurd, smart, tender, and eminently believable. We recognize the characters and their situations.I'm crushed to report that Crosstalk isn't so much absurd as ridiculous. Uncomfortably so: imagine a three-hour-long Fawlty Towers movie, the manic pace, the constant deceptions and miscommunications; make the characters flatter, driven more by plot requirements than anything internal; toss in periodic doses of improbable magic; that'll give you a sense of whether you want to read this or not. I found it painful. You know the show, don't tell rule? Willis tells too much without enough showing; the reader is simply dragged along for a too-long ride.But, enough. We all have our duds, I won't spend too long griping; I write this simply as a heads-up to any friends considering reading Crosstalk. Try one of her other books instead.