Bid Time Return by Richard Matheson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Bid Time Return
Book Review: I Preferred the Movie
Summary: 2 Stars
Without rehashing what others have said, I thought "Somewhere in Time" was much more successful, one of the few times when a movie is much better than the book it was based on. Among many other things, my main problem was Richard Collier's characterization in the book: he comes across as a pathetic wimp--it is difficult to fathom why Elise would have been interested in him. Also, the screenplay certainly doesn't suffer from the omission of Richard's cancer as a plot element--there is a plausible explanation for his escape to Michigan (writer's block), and it makes his death all the more poignant because it is only of a broken heart, not a tumor.Book Review: JUST AS WONDERFUL NOW AS WHEN I READ IT IN 1975
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a timeless book to be treasured by every generation. I will not lend this one out. (I did in 1975 & it was NEVER returned) This copy will be kept in a safe place. I have never enjoyed a book so much as BID TIME RETURN. I loved it, my Parents, Sisters, Sons and Daughters love it too! I will purchase a copy for my Grandson age 4 years and Granddaughter age 9 months. They will love it as their Mother (my Daughter) did & as I, their Grammy does. I can not say thank you enough to Richard Matheson for this very wonderful love story.Book Review: Matheson's classic love story
Summary: 5 Stars
Warning: spoilers below
This is a very good fantasy novel by Richard Matheson. A young man named Richard Collier is suffering from a brain tumor. He decides that he is going to go travelling and flips a penny to decide north or south. The ends up going to San Diego and stays at a historical hotel. While there, he finds a picture of a late 19th century actress named Elisa McKenna and is stunned by her beauty. Becoming obsessed with her, and falling in love with her, he researches her life and becomes convinced that he has known her before, thanks to a remarkable series of coincidences. He also deduces that this is the woman that he saw when one of his plays was being delivered, who was eyeing him from he audience and then went home and died.
Studying books on time, notably J. B. Priestly's Man and Time, he wills himself back to November, 1896 when Elisa McKenna was at the hotel. Once there, he wills himself into her life and becomes her lover. Her mother does not approve, but the real villain of the story is McKenna`s manager, Will Robinson, who tries to have Collier forcibly removed in one memorable scene. Tied up for the evening, and fearing that he has lost her, Collier descends into depression when it turns out that she has stayed overnight while the company has moved on. There starts the most moving part of this book. They make love after hours of talking and upon waking in the middle of the night, Collier decides to burn his notes of the period. He steps outside and Robinson confronts him with ideas of murder. Collier pushes him and retreats back into the bedroom. There, he discovers a lump in his 1896 suit and discovers it to be a 1971 penny. The shock is immediate and the process irreversible: he flips back into into 1971. He declines quickly and dies.
The novel is presented as Collier's brother found it, with an introduction and afterward by him. This is a tremendously well-written book. Its only flaw, if it has one, is that Robinson is not fully fleshed out as a villain and Collier's confrontation with him at the end of the book could have been more memorable. Nevertheless, this is first class story-telling with a marvellous structure.
Book Review: Not "Somewhere in Time" but a good romantic fantasy.
Summary: 4 Stars
This novel is the basis for the classic film "Somewhere in Time" and that is one of the rare occations when the movie is better than the book. That isn't to say that the book is bad, but the music and the fabulous locations of the film add something amazing.The first person narration of the book, as told into a tape recorder, gives a really cool voice to the first part. The first half, without giving away the plot, is a strange romantic obsession tale, written in a voice reminiscent of Edgar Allen Poe.
Matheson says that the first section of the book was written while at the Hotel in question and you can believe it. It is truly hypnotic and superior to the movie. The 2nd half is quite a bit less, but the power of the opening still resonates in your mind.
If you are interested in this book because you enjoy the movie, read only the pre-time travel bit. It we make the film experience richer. But don't bother with the 2nd bit.
Book Review: Oh the memories...
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book for the first time in 1976 when my wife to be and I were staying in Coronado. For the last 10 years I have been searching bookstores worldwide for this book, both new and used. Thanks to Amazon my wife and I could enjoy our favorite novel in time for her 40th birhtday. Anybody who has ever spent anytime in Coronado, CA. staring in awe at THE HOTEL must read this as well as all romantics.