Time and Again by Jack Finney Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Time and Again
Book Review: "Oh call back yesterday..."
Summary: 3 Stars
Inevitably based on the play / film "Berkeley Square" and select episodes of "The Twilight Zone", this is a lovingly researched novel and an enjoyable tale. Simon Morley is plucked from his uninspiring job as an advertising agency artist by a mysterious government official with an offer not to be refused...to travel by act of will into another time. To succeed, Morley must create the very essence of 1882 New York in his mind; the texture and colour of a past age. I welcome the news that this book is to be brought to the screen. So long as it is sensitively handled, it will benefit from a large Hollywood budget; with the Statue of Liberty making it's biggest cinematic impact since "Planet of the Apes". This book lacks the emotional core of the later novel "Bid Time Return" by Richard Matheson (who wrote for "The Twilight Zone") and the exploration of inescapable fate and paradox theory. To thoroughly explore this theme I would recommend for anyone to read both titles.Book Review: 90% nostalgia, 8% romance/adventure,2 % fantasy
Summary: 2 Stars
I enjoyed most of this. 90% of it is often excruciatingly detailed nostalgia/travelogue of 1880s NYC; 8% is fun romance/adventure and 2% is sci-fi/fantasy.Book Review: A Classic
Summary: 4 Stars
Those who approach Time and Again expecting hardcore science fiction time travel will be sorely disappointed. While Time and Again does contain numerous instances of time travel, it is definitely not science fiction. And this is okay. Even if Finney had written the book today, I doubt that he'd change a thing. Time and Again is timeless, a real classic. And, it's a classic that's fun.I'm not a New Yorker and not at all familiar with most of the places Si visits and talks about in the novel, but it was enormous fun reading about them, both "then" and "now." The fact that the book is, for the most part, historically accurate, only added to my enjoyment.
I do have one bone to pick with Finney and it concerns the abrupt manner in which Si handled his relationship with Kate. It seemed quite out of character to me.
Time and Again is a book to be read when you want to be entertained but you really don't want to think too much. It's a book to be read when you simply want to have fun.
Book Review: A Depressingly Pessimistic Novel
Summary: 2 Stars
Having read so many positive reviews about this book, I went out of my way to obtain it. The story moved smoothly, having its exciting moments, and the time travel method was unique and imaginative. What turned me off to the book was its underlying theme that the quality of life in modern times is inferior in almost every way to that of the late 1800s (the "good old days"). Obviously this was because the book was written in 1970, when the Vietnam War was turning hopeless, the Cold War was at its height, environmental regulations hadn't been enacted, race relations hadn't stabilized from the upheavals of the 1960s, advances in medical science hadn't become practical, and the information age was still in the future. I had forgotten how difficult that time was! In Finney's view the world could never hope for more and he escapes to what he views as the better times of yesteryear(ignoring child labor, "Jim Crow", etc.). Ironically, Finney's pessimistic philosophy tells me more about the world of 1970, when the book was written, than about the late 1880s. I had forgotten how difficult the late 1960s & early 1970s were! Had he written this in 1999, I believe it would have drastically changed the philosophy of this book. I can only worry about those people who loved this book with such a passion. They must be extreemly depressed!Book Review: A Gem of a Book
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this book back in 1996 and never read it, until last week. I'm so glad I did. It keeps you mesmerized from start to finish with it's descriptions of 1882 New York. I felt like I was the time traveler, traveling first to 1970 and then to 1882. I'm amazed at the changes in our own world since the book was written in 1970. In fact, a few times they made references to customs of 1882 that were unthinkable in 1970, but now are pretty common place.
I'm getting the sequel next.