Bid Time Return by Richard Matheson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Bid Time Return
Book Review: Time travel and romance you just can't beat it!
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book many many years ago. It was recommended to me by an elderly librarian while I was still in college. The irony was not lost on me after reading the book and I wondered about who the woman was and why she would have recommended that paticular book. As fate would have it I never saw the old woman again and to this day I wonder just a little about if I would find her young and beautiful should I decide to journey back in time. It's a wonderful read if you've got some imagination and romance in your heart!Book Review: Tiresome
Summary: 2 Stars
This was a short story padded to the gills to make it book length. That much becomes obvious midway through the book, when Matheson constantly repeats the same tired thoughts of the love-sick protagonist -- namely, that he loves and needs the actress Elise. Over and over again we are reminded of this, until I wanted to hurl the book across the room and shout, "Yes! I KNOW IT!" The love story aspect required way too much suspension of disbelief, and was far too cloying. I was practically choking on the endless dialogue and thoughts of the two lovers expressing their undying love for one another -- this after meeting approximately 12 hours earlier.If there was a redeeming factor, it came at the end, which was touching, and maybe even explains some of the unrealistic behavior throughout the book. But I don't think two nicely written pages at the end of the book justifies two-hundred-and-seventy pages of tiresome story. It would have made a much better short story; it would have been tighter, less tedious.
Book Review: Very Heart Warming
Summary: 5 Stars
I was amazed on how creative the Bid Time Return
was. The director of the movie had a good
perspective and the right lighting to create
a movie from this novel. Once I read the book,
I had to pick it up and read it again. The
characters described the smallest details to
explain to us what was happening in the dullest
and darkest moments. I am 19 years old, I am sure
you will love it. It is a book for all ages and
hearts of all kind.Book Review: my all-time favorite book - of any classification
Summary: 5 Stars
I first read the paperback version of "Bid Time Return" in the mid to late 70's when I was sick in bed with a fever, which may have affected my delusion that this was an actual biography - not a novel. Mr. Matheson had me completely enthralled, and wanting to believe that this story had really happened. Disappointed to learn that this was merely fiction, my next goal was to perpetuate this wonderful dream by actually visiting Hotel Del Coronado, which I did - several times. Being there only added to the wonderful atmosphere established by the book. I was thrilled when I learned that it would be made into a movie, but disappointed when I actually saw it. The main problem was that it was set in Michigan, not Coronado Island. And though the hotel was beautiful, it was just not the same. After all, Hotel del Coronado was obviously well loved and researched by Mr. Matheson and was perhaps a distant third in importance after the two main characters, Richard and Elise. Also the movie was set roughly 10 years after the novel's time period. I did love the musical score, but felt Mahler's compositions should have been included, as detailed in the book. After this book, I wanted to learn all I could about Richard Matheson, and later bought "What Dreams May Come", and liked it too, but nothing could match "Bid Time Return". I never read "The Shrinking Man", but understand that in this case the movie did live up to the book. (I remember seeing that and being deeply impressed by it back in the '50's when I was a teenager.) While searching the internet, I see there are many fans of "Somewhere in Time" and can't help but wonder how many of them read the original book. I'm interested in reading "Memories of Elise", as I would naturally want to know what happened to her after Richard disappeared before her eyes. (He touched on it when he saw her as an old woman at a small party when he was in college.) But again, since it was patterned after the movie, and not the book, I'm not sure what my response would be. I agree with Mr. Matheson, there couldn't ever be a sequel, as much as his readers would long to keep the story going somehow.Book Review: my all-time favorite book - of any classification
Summary: 5 Stars
I first read the paperback version of "Bid Time Return" in the mid to late 70's when I was sick in bed with a fever, which may have affected my delusion that this was an actual biography - not a novel. Mr. Matheson had me completely enthralled, and wanting to believe that this story had really happened. Disappointed to learn that this was merely fiction, my next goal was to perpetuate this wonderful dream by actually visiting Hotel Del Coronado, which I did - several times. Being there only added to the wonderful atmosphere established by the book. I was thrilled when I learned that it would be made into a movie, but disappointed when I actually saw it. The main problem was that it was set in Michigan, not Coronado Island. And though the hotel was beautiful, it was just not the same. After all, Hotel del Coronado was obviously well loved and researched by Mr. Matheson and was perhaps a distant third in importance after the two main characters, Richard and Elise. Also the movie was set roughly 10 years after the novel's time period. I did love the musical score, but felt Mahler's compositions should have been included, as detailed in the book. After this book, I wanted to learn all I could about Richard Matheson, and later bought "What Dreams May Come", and liked it too, but nothing could match "Bid Time Return". I never read "The Shrinking Man", but understand that in this case the movie did live up to the book. (I remember seeing that and being deeply impressed by it back in the '50's when I was a teenager.) While searching the internet, I see there are many fans of "Somewhere in Time" and can't help but wonder how many of them read the original book. I'm interested in reading "Memories of Elise", as I would naturally want to know what happened to her after Richard disappeared before her eyes. (He touched on it when he saw her as an old woman at a small party when he was in college.) But again, since it was patterned after the movie, and not the book, I'm not sure what my response would be. I agree with Mr. Matheson, there couldn't ever be a sequel, as much as his readers would long to keep the story going somehow.