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Summary: This book is the "Howard the Duck" of fiction
Review: You must NOT remember this. One can only imagine what prompted a sequel to "Casablanca" where Louis Rennault and Victor Lazlo are killed off, Richard Blaine is cast as a Jewish mobster on the run, but he and Ilsa still end up MARRIED and returning to Casablanca. The author unfortunately misses the whole point and tenor of the classic motion picture. The only greater disappointment is that a major publishing sanctioned this book. What next, Marie Osmond as Ilsa in the TV movie?
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Summary: I can't wait!
Review: I am among the many who have loved Casablanca for years, but I am not one of those close-minded individuals who think that a sequel should never be made. Someone was going to do it sooner or later and I'm delighted that Michael Walsh has been assigned this task. His first novel "Exchange Alley" is marvelous storytelling and I expect the same for "As Time Goes By." For those who want their imagination to provide the sequel to Casablanca, DON'T READ IT and leave this wonderful author alone. =)
Rating:
Summary: why, why, why, why, why?
Review: Why muck with a classic of one medium, try to force it into another, and then make matters worse by telling us what happened after the fadeout when a key reason CASABLANCA is so popular is that we all have our own ideas of what happened later.
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Summary: "This isn't going to be very pleasant for either of us."
Review: "I suppose you know that this isn't going to be very pleasant for either of us."So said Louis Renard in the film "Casablanca" and, unfortunately, it applies to this book also. Mr. Walsh has created both a pre-quel and sequel to the basic story line of the famous movie, and for that deserves praise for the effective use of his imagination. While there's little likelihood that his ideas would match yours or mine, I salute him for putting in the effort to think it through. Sadly, once he sat down to write it out, it became clear that he hadn't quite thought it through enough to fill an entire book, but he wrote one anyway. There seems to have been a bounty on the inclusion of as many of the film characters as possible, even when it makes no sense whatsoever. (He even includes Herr Heinze - remember his rather innocuous character: "Can you imagine us in London?") You'll be happy to know, his print appearance is just about as brief and serves no useful purpose at all except to convince the reader that Mr. Walsh has indeed watched the movie. Why are so many virtually "background" personalities included unless it's to fill pages? Another filler tactic is to lift as much dialogue from the script as possible, repeating it frequently lest we forget it, and on several occasions putting it into another character's mouth (guess who says, "Here's looking at you, kid." this time around). There is a story line, and it's plausible and imaginable, just poorly written. It attempts to add "Terminator" style action while it swings back and forth between actual historical facts, somewhat twisted film plots and a strong dose of imagination. In some hands this might have worked; it doesn't here. With an abundance of novels from which to choose, you don't need to read this, even (ESPECIALLY!) if you're a "Casablanca" fan. Let your own imagination fill in the "before" and "after" to Rick's café. But I'll go you one better and offer my own paraphrase of the patriot-come-lately Rick Blaine: "It doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world." At least not in this version of the story.
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Summary: Just like any other sequel, only more so.
Review: Like most people who buy this book, I am a huge fan of the movie, "Casablanca". I purchased, "As Time Goes By" to it to bring back the emotions of the movie. As I began reading the book I almost stopped myself many times thinking I was cheating my cherished Casablanca memories. The story or my love for the original movie kept me reading. Mr. Walsh did a good job of creating an interesting past for Rick, however his future was pretty hooky. Some of the characters headed into unbelievable areas. Victor Laslo turned very dark and jeopardizes Ilsa's life for his obsession. Mr. Walsh cheapens his tale with tongue in cheek references to Humphrey Bogart's career and cause of death. All that said it was not really a bad book. I hope it is not made into a movie so that I will not be tempted to see it.
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Summary: All nay sayers...
Review: Please do yourselves a favor and LISTEN to this book on tape. I'll guarantee your opinion of As Time Goes By WILL change (and perhaps earn Walsh more well deserved stars). Herrmann and Redgrave do a fantastic job with the characters of this terrific story. They put so much life into the characters of this novel, you'll swear you're watching the rest of the movie. I enjoyed this book very, very much and began listening right after TCMs Christmas showing of Casablanca in Dec. of '04.
Thanks Michael, Edward, Lynn, and the producers of this fantastic book on tape. A job well done!
Rating:
Summary: good, but not amamzing
Review: I think this book didi a good job of capturing the spirit of the movie, but fell a little short in the execution. I am glad I now know where Ilsa and Rick came from, but somehow the book just doesn't do the original story justice.
Rating: 
Summary: Good read
Review: Don't get me wrong, this is a good read. The end seemed rushed somehow. I didn't quite understand why some of the things happened the way they happened to bring up the end. I think the author had basically run out of ideas to stay to the ending he anticipated. I guess that's because I could picture an ending wtih more finality and he left himself open for further stories in the future. Also, I had trouble picturing Humphrey Bogart as the character of Rick as this author portrayed him. If one forgets that it is based on CASABLANCA, then one might be tempted to rate it a 4.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but not great
Review: If you are an fan of CASABLANCA as I am you will find AS TIME GOES BY interesting. The author creates a story line that give Ilsa and Rick and past and a future. The problem is that we all remember Ilsa walking off into the foggy night with Victor. Somewhere deep in each persons heart you think of the person that you really loved but whose love was unattainable. Therein lies the beauty of the movie. We all want to hope that someday she and Rick maybe got together or that they spent the rest of their lives with other people but still dreaming of Paris. Although I found the book an interesting read, it just didn't work. You really can't add to someone else's story.
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Summary: End of a beautiful friendship
Review: This book is similar to the first fifteen minutes of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," in which all of Indy's quirks are explained down to the scar on his chin. Only in this case, it's not funny, or even fun. Walsh gets the characters' flaws correct, but completely misses their strengths -- especially Renault and Victor Laszlo, who seem to be completely different people here. He also removes the nobility from both Rick and Ilsa, making their sacrifices vain in both senses of the word.
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