neurofiction: ‘Passage’ by Connie Willis
Written on February 22, 2009
Passage by Connie Willis (Bantam, 2001, 2002) is a “neurofictional” account of scientific research on near-death experiences. Willis is usually classified as a science fiction writer, but here that would be in the sense of “fiction about science.” The premise is that a researcher has found a psychoactive drug that simulates the near-death experience. He enlists psychologist Joanna Lander to interview research subjects but she soon volunteers to take the drug herself and this intensifies her quest to discover the meaning of the experience.
The back of the book has a rather odd blurb from Newsday that calls Willis “a true heir to John Donne, Kurt Godel and Preston Sturges….” so try to imagine that combination in a novel! I found the story compelling and consumed the whole 780 pages over about three days.
Filed in: cognitive science,consciousness,fiction.
