Bellwether (novel)
| Bellwether | |
|---|---|
 Cover of first edition (paperback) |
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| Author(s) | Connie Willis |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Bantam Books |
| Publication date | 1996 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 247 pp |
| ISBN | 0-553-37562-8 |
| OCLC Number | 33078699 |
| Dewey Decimal | 813/.54 20 |
| LC Classification | PS3573.I45652 B45 1996 |
Bellwether, a 1996 novel by Connie Willis, is a book that can fall into many genres, such as comedy, fairy tale, romance, and science fiction. The novel is broadly based on the unsettling concepts of human culture. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1997.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
The main character, Dr. Sandra Foster, studies fads in Boulder, Colorado. Her employer, Hi-Tek, wants to know how to predict fads, in order to take advantage of this knowledge and thus to possibly create one. While Dr. Foster is extensively researching and analysing fads, Hi-Tek itself is swept by management fads. In addition, the Management wants one of its employees to win the mysterious Niebnitz Research Grant (the fictitious award is very similar to the MacArthur Fellowship's Genius Grant). Meanwhile, the employees struggle with chaos created by the administrative assistant from Hell. Willis uses humor to come to an unsettling conclusion.
[edit] Resolution
The scientists experiment with sheep, finding that they are guided by bellwethers, which are "indistinguishable from the rest of the flock, only a little greedier, a little faster, a little hungrier, [a] little ahead of the flock." Analogously, fads are started by some persons among the crowd, who, even without realizing it, are a little ahead of the rest.
It is worth noting that Willis is also creating a subtle reworking of Robert Browning's Pippa Passes. In Browning's work, which is explicitly mentioned in Willis's, a cheerful girl, Pippa, passing by folks in a village influences everyone to the good. In Willis's novel, the administrative assistant from Hell, Flip (which is short for Phillipa, as is Pippa) likewise influences everyone, but doesn't do so with charm and her influence may not be to the good.
[edit] References
- ^ "1997 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1997. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
[edit] External links
- Bellwether at Worlds Without End
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