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Finally on audio -- one of the most beloved tales of our time! Science fiction, mystery, a passionate love story, and a detailed history of Old New York blend together in Jack Finney's spellbinding story of a young man enlisted in a secret Government experiment. Transported from the mid-twentieth century to New York City in the year 1882, Si Morley walks the fashionable "Ladies' Mile" of Broadway, is enchanted by the jingling sleigh bells in Central Park, and solves a 20th-century mystery by discovering its 19th-century roots. Falling in love with a beautiful young woman, he ultimately finds himself forced to choose between his lives in the present and the past. A story that will remain in the listener's memory, Time and Again is a remarkable blending of the troubled present and a nostalgic past, made vivid and extraordinarily moving by the images of a time that was...and perhaps still is.… (more)
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Other reviewers have complained about the fact that the book is dated, and I agree: it's not yet dated enough to be entertainingly old-fashioned (like H.G. Wells), but it is dated enough for some aspects to be annoying: the treatment of women in particular. Perhaps this is also why I couldn't enjoy the book: it was just an outdated aesthetic.
The book is illustrated, but the quality of the reproductions in the book is so bad that it might as well not be. Besides, if a picture is worth a thousand words, including the illustrations should have enabled the author to keep the book much much shorter.
I freely admit that I'm not much for time travel books, normally, though I love fantasy--this brings together everything I love about suspense, literary fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction in general, into a tale that feels more real and translated into fiction than it feels like a story.
I'd absolutely recommend, and I'm so glad to have discovered this author.
Extended review:
Recruited as a subject for an extremely secret government project, commercial artist Simon Morley bridges the interval from the New York City of 1970 to the same city as it was in 1882. How his life and those of others
The author isn't shy about revealing his fascination with the everyday sights and events of New York in the late nineteenth century; in fact, at times it seems as if his whole purpose were to show off the extent of his research. He has an ability to bring the period and place to life, as if he himself had seen it first hand, making us feel as though we were seeing it too. Finney's use of contemporary illustrative art, photographs, and newspaper stories lends authenticity to his very evocative rendition of time and place. If at times it does seem to grow long, I think perhaps that's only a matter of my own twenty-first-century impatience, cultivated by an environment in which a five-second computer response time is referred to as "forever."
One of the most interesting aspects of this story, however, is almost certainly outside the author's design: namely, his depiction of a major U.S. city in the late middle of the twentieth century. In 1970, Richard Nixon was president; the Cuban missile crisis and the Kennedy assassination were events in recent memory; the Civil Rights movement was in progress, although (to judge from the author's use of language: young women are all "girls") women's liberation had a long way to go in raising public consciousness; pollution was already a major issue, but computers were still a novelty, and small electronic devices were science fiction. In contrasting 1882 with 1970, Finney shows us a period 46 years ago that seems calmer and safer than 2016, even though in so many ways it already felt dark and dangerous at the time.
This is not a heavy or especially serious book, although it has its moments (and there are a few little questions of logic and continuity). It's mostly just an entertaining fantasy, with an extra dose of verisimilitude to make us feel as if we'd been there. And that we might want to go again.
brief outline:
Si Morley, who works at an advertising firm in New York City has been "selected" as a possible candidate for a secret project run by a group of scientists, historians & the military. He is subjected to various types of tests before he even finds out what the deal is: traveling back in time. He is slated to go to San Francisco but instead chooses to go back to New York of 1882, to solve a mystery for a friend. He occupies an apartment at the prestigious Dakota, one which stood vacant in 1882, leaving some part of 1882 in that room. (It's complicated.) Anyway, he makes the trip back and although warned not to interact with anyone, he realizes that he cannot be a true part of time without involving himself with those around him. His interactions have to do with the mystery he is bent on solving, and make up the bulk of the story, leading Si to a point where he must make some serious choices that may have an impact on the future.
I loved the old photos & drawings; they really were able to make things a bit more real for a time.
This is one of those books that should not be missed. I can even forgive the romance.
Dialing in to New York City circa 1882, the main character Si Morley becomes wrapped up in a mystery that involves his present day girlfriend’s family. Eventually, after meeting a woman in the past, Si must make a choice. Despite the charm and imagination of the premise I wasn’t quite convinced with the method of time travel as it seemed entirely too simplistic, but the ethical and moral questions that arose during the course of the book were handled intelligently and in a way that enhanced the story.
By stressing the human angle of the story and using illustrations and photographs of New York in the 1880’s, Time and Again becomes a light, romanticized story that is appealing in its guilelessness but personally I prefer a little more grit in my science fiction so although I enjoyed this story well enough, it isn’t going to find a place on my favorite books list.
However, if you can accept Finney's novel as a product of its time, all becomes clear.
Sentimentalism aside, Time and Again is just a beautifully constructed book, and a perennial favorite. Some may find the story plodding, too detailed, but I love it. The sheer volume of description takes one, like the time traveler Morely, right back into the 1880s. Obviously, Finney's research was exhaustive.
The descriptions... well, defy description. I can't say I knew much about NYC, much less in the late 1800s, but I do now. Finney really makes it live and breathe.
But this isn't just a time-travel novel, oh no! This is a romance-mystery-adventure. Like all great books, Time and Again really defies genre, instead getting you involved in the lives, trials, and tribulations of the people that inhabit it.
Again, though,it is a novel of its time, and even the most unobservant reader is bound to notice the glaring sexism as secretaries are leered at, commented on, and never called anything, anything, but "girl." A mock butt-slapping incident twigged me for days. Thankfully, most of the novel is set in 1882 where, oddly, Si's sexism more or less disappears.
Really just a great journey through the past. So, like Si, hop on board an old horse-drawn bus, sit back, and just enjoy the scenery.
Si is working an unfulfilling job at an advertising agency in New York City when
I particularly didn't care for Finney's romanticization of the past, in the voice of his main character, toward the end of the novel. Every time has committed its own crimes against humanity. The late 1800s were certainly no golden age, when you consider child labor, the unequal status of minorities and women, and the extreme poverty of some with no social safety net -- a facet of the time that Finney explores in the novel. In many ways, the 1970s are immeasurably better, so it seems naive to presume that the people of the earlier age were somehow more "real" or "alive." This is a personal bugaboo, but it bothered me bothered me quite a bit when I was reading the novel.
When Finney does finally get around to the meat of his story, things get very exciting very quickly. There's a devastating fire, a police chase, a sweet romance, a conspiracy, a mystery to be solved and, of course, leaps about in time. I just wish those events had made up more of the meat of the novel.
The only part that dragged just a bit for me was the section about the fire. It seemed like it had a bit too many details and wasn't very interesting to me.
I also did not like that things were so neat and easy with Si and Kate near the end of the book. I can't say more because I don't want to spoil it for anybody else. It just didn't seem realistic to me.
I loved what Si decided to do at the theater at the end. After the way he was treated by the board members, I thought this was his own way of serving up justice.
Simon agrees to be part of the experiment, which turns out to be time travel. The first part of the project involves being immersed in the culture of the time "Si" is going to visit. He needs to be aware of what exists in this time and what doesn't, what types of clothes people wore, what books and newspapers they read, etc. Once he has completed this phase then he is ready for actual transport to New York City in 1882.
I have to admit up front on this review that I have never been a fan of fantasy fiction. In many ways you can call me a "doubting Thomas" because I have problems with plots that expect you to just "believe." I tend to be very logical and scientific in my thinking, so I require rational explanation in order to "buy in" to the concept of time travel. Time and Again's plot, however, requires the reader to just "believe."
Simon's character is directed to "observe, don't interfere" when he travels back in time. And he regularly reminds himself of this, yet so many of his actions I would classify as "interference" and I couldn't understand how he felt he was justifying his behaviors.
And at one point in the novel, the scientists indicate that another participant's time travel resulted in a man not being born. However, they felt this was inconsequential as the man was inconsequential. I found that extremely bothersome. I was also a bit doubtful about their approach to confirming that the time travel trips didn't alter history, but again, the novel is expecting the reader to simply "believe."
I did find Finney's treatment of the scientist group very interesting. They initially start out with the goal of just observing. But as they achieve success with each trip, they want to push the envelope to see how far they can go with the experiment. And this of course calls into question ethical boundaries.
Simon is a likable character, and the plot includes a minor mystery that Simon finds himself wrapped up in during his trips to 1882. And the element I enjoyed the most about the novel was its historical look at New York City in 1882. The book is definitely not without merit. But for this "doubting Thomas" there was too much I just had to "believe" and too much I questioned to make it a real winner.
To all of which I say: whatever. It's an outlandish theory, but I suppose not a whole lot more so than other time travel theories. At any rate, Si Morley can do it, and repeatedly goes back to New York in 1882 with the idea of observing a certain event. Naturally, he is only supposed to observe, and not get involved in any way with any of the people of that time. Of course, that doesn't work out so well.
And the story itself becomes much different from what you think it will be as it goes along, which is always appreciated. Dealing with the ethics and possibilities of time travel, Si must make a decision that could effect the course of American history. In the end, though, he makes what seems to be a different decision.
Finney deals with these complexities in a subtle, interesting way, saving this book from becoming just another "Connecticut Yankee".
Si Morely is an artist who is working for an ad agency (where he draws with a pencil!). He's approached by a man to join a government program but he can't know what it is until he knows if he qualifies. It's all very mysterious but Si is bored at his job and he really has no connections so he figures, what the heck. Si passes the test and he learns that the program is about time travel.
Si has a girlfriend who's adopted father had a sad history part of which included a letter mailed in New York in 1882 so using the "method" Si wants to go back to that period to watch the letter being mailed. Of course he is not allowed to change history. As Si learns what he needs to know things are not all as up and up as they seem and he needs to figure out whom he can trust and he has to figure out where he belongs.
I truly enjoyed this story. It held my interest 'til the end. It was so very different from books written today and I don't even know if I can tell you why. It really was like stepping back into another world. I'm keeping it to read again because I suspect I'll find something on a second read through that I missed on the first. The characters are well developed and diverse and the plot is full of fun little twists and turns. The addition of the old photos and drawings only adds to the fun of the book.
Without giving too much away, I was disappointed by
The "visual aids" in this book added to the ambiance.
I loved this book until the last few pages. The author had a point to make, and he did it explicitly to make sure readers don't miss it. For me, a lot of the fun in reading time travel books is in wondering how things will resolve. The removal of uncertainty at the end of the book left me feeling disappointed.
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.
He is taken to a huge warehouse on the West Side of Manhattan, where he views what seem to be movie sets, with people acting on them. "
It seems
Si travels by what appears to be self hypnosis to NYC 1882.The past holds blackmail, subterfuge, romance among other things.
Initially, his activities in the past are making no difference to the present.
Dr Danzinger (originator of the project) resigns when it appears that time manipulation has occurred in another wing of the project.
The plot evolves............
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Bear in mind that the book was written over 40 years ago
Things may appear simplistic and not very challenging to the reader
While not an engrossing tale, it's an enjoyable tale.
3.5 ★