Time and Again by Jack Finney Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Time and Again
Book Review: A good novel, but not a good time travel science fiction.
Summary: 3 Stars
The good part of this book is already repeated by other reviews, so I'll just mention the problem I faced when reading this book. The time traveling aspect of this novel is hard to swallow for a scifi reader. I'm not expecting explanation involving quantum mechanics or wormholes, seeing this novel is written in the 70's. But there're certain rules or logics when omitted make the enjoyment of a time travel story impossible for inquisitive readers like me.
The method of time travel in this book is unusual to say the least, when the time traveller comes back from his first two short trips, I keep asking myself how do you know this is not a dream or hallucination? Strangely enough, nobody in the science team asked this question, they're more interested in whether the trip changed history instead of investigating whether there is a trip in the first place.
Some other questions that I tried my best to bury when reading the first half of the book: Where did the time traveller's present body go when he goes to the past? Did it disappear in flash of white light or does it still exist in the present? What can he bring into the past and what can he bring back from the past? I think he did some drawings and took some photos, where did that go?
In the end I did finish this book and some of the questions are answered indirectly, but I didn't enjoy it as a time travel science fiction novel, I think H. G. Wells' work is much better in this aspect, even though it is written more than 100 years ago.
Book Review: A great and magical book
Summary: 5 Stars
Ever since I read this book, I have been fascinated with both time travel and history. Jack Finney has a way of describing the past in such a way that you really believe you are there. Unlike period books, his main character (Si Morley) descriptions of the people and places are from the eyes of a man who sees things from a present perspective. He points out the way people talk, and walk, and spend time together on frosty day. Some people have commented that the way Si Morley travels through time is hokey, I agree. But why devise some clever means, when we all know from the get go time travel is impossible? (isn't it?)
Another time travel book that is written in the same spirit is "If I Never Get Back" by Darryl Brock . If you liked Jack Finney and baseball, you will love this book. Let me know.
Book Review: A great look at New York within an average novel.
Summary: 4 Stars
First, a disclosure: I'm a New Yorker, and I live within a mile of the Dakota building. I had seen it many times in passing, but after reading "Time and Again," I see it in a whole different light. Finney's general premise, that a few places in Manhattan have remained virtually the same over the last 100 years while the rest has changed dramatically, serves as the vehicle for his protagonist to visit the New York of 1884. I have never read a more detailed historical novel; Finney includes countless minutia about old New York, meticulously researched according to his afterword, and he really makes the city come alive for the reader. There are, however, several major problems with the story. If you're NOT interested in New York, don't even think about reading it: you'll be bored silly. Also, Finney's science of time travel is absurd, and hard-core sci-fi fans will be driven crazy by his theory that altering the past can almost never affect the present. Finally, the story is uneven, and Finney tries to make up for a slow first half with a ridiculously fast second half.
In summary, New Yorkers and NYer-wannabees will greatly enjoy the book, while those simply looking for a sci-fi/time-travel story will be disappointed.
Book Review: A lovingly written time travel adventure. Recommended!
Summary: 5 Stars
You know the drill: if you're going to write about time travel, you're going to run into paradoxes and other problems. How to give a believable explanation of the science of time travel? How do you go back in time to change something in the past, if by changing it, you wouldn't have ever needed to go back in time in the first place? It's enough to make your head explode (mine just did).
Fortunately, in Time and Again, Finney doesn't bother going through the gymnastics of trying to make it all airtight. He doesn't waste the reader's time on the whys and hows of time travel: instead, he focuses on telling a story and describing the world of New York in 1882, the setting to which our protagonist travels.
Si Morley, an artist who is unsatisfied with his advertising job, is approached by an ultra-secret government agency. They are recruiting him as a candidate for a new project, one in which he will attempt to go back in time.
As Morley moves between his contemporary 1970s New York City and the city of the 1880s, he takes in his surroundings with an artist's eye, and that is half the pleasure of the book right there: leisurely, loving descriptions of fashions and architecture of the day; passages describing the everyday world of 1882 and its inhabitants, going about their everyday lives. It all comes to full-color life, in contrast with the static, monochromatic photographs and relics that survive from the era.
Needless to say, Morley gets in over his head in 1882, and through chance and recklessness, threatens to upend history and the lives of those he encounters. He also runs into an ethical dilemma as the ultimate goal of the government project evolves into something other than time travel for its own sake.
Finney makes amazing use of photographs, illustrations and newspaper articles from the time, weaving them into his story and giving it life and resonance. Along the way, there is plenty of suspense and drama, but be prepared to take your time, as there is no lack of description. Finney wants to make sure that the reader really sees New York in 1882, and he succeeds on that count.
Time and Again can be forgiven if it doesn't give us a blipping, beeping, science-filled description of a time machine; it also earns forgiveness for setting aside the paradoxes of time travel. Instead of tangling us up in explanations, Finney surrounds us with a living, breathing world, a time and a story well worth stepping into.
Book Review: A magical journey through NYC history
Summary: 5 Stars
Jack Finney weaves us a marvelous story of time travel and late 19th century New York City. Albeit a novel, nonetheless Mr. Finney's research on the period is complete.
I cannot recommend a book more vogorously!