FROM TIME TO TIME

Rating:
Summary: Good Idea, Bad Execution
Review: "Time and Again? was probably Finney's masterpiece, and the idea of a sequel is interesting. However, this sequel is based upon a rather weak premise to begin, and it never really gets off the ground. The problem with any sequel is that it is automatically subject to comparison with the original, and "Time After Time" just does not live up to its predecessor.

Rating:
Summary: good stuff
Review: >>Did anyone else notice that accd. to Time and Again, Si's father took him to the Big Apple in the 1950's to see the el but in the sequel his father was a vaudivillian who died when Si was an infant?<<

I just have to respond to Nicole who wrote this review. Si went back and changed the past, so that the whole future was different... do you really think that his own past/future would not be affected? It's a time travel quirk, not a mistake.

Rating:
Summary: From Time to Time this is a pretty good book...
Review: ...but overall it's a disappointment.
I enjoyed Finney's original "Time and Again". This "sequel to a sequel" (I think that's what the author's note called it) was uninspired and made me wonder if the original was as good as I remembered.
I expect that most writers of historical fiction and historical fantasy devise characters and plot first, and then do their research. As I listened to this audiobook I had the distinct impression that Mr. Finney chose a time period (1911-1912), did some research, and then devised a plot to use as much of the research as possible, whether or not it made any narrative sense.
For example, long sections of text described vaudeville in much more detail than made any sense for a subplot.
I also had difficulty in believing the characters' motivations, actions and dialogue. For example, the main character travels back to 1912 and immediately hooks up with a pretty young lady because he is so "completely alone" in the world. Well, if I'd just left a young wife and 4-year old son in 1887 New York City, when I arrived in that same city only 25 years later I think I'd see how they were doing first. (Then maybe I'd buy a drink for the pretty young lady.)
Anyway, Finney's research was interesting and there were some good moments in the book. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: From Time to Time this is a pretty good book...
Review: ...but overall it's a disappointment.
I enjoyed Finney's original "Time and Again". This "sequel to a sequel" (I think that's what the author's note called it) was uninspired and made me wonder if the original was as good as I remembered.
I expect that most writers of historical fiction and historical fantasy devise characters and plot first, and then do their research. As I listened to this audiobook I had the distinct impression that Mr. Finney chose a time period (1911-1912), did some research, and then devised a plot to use as much of the research as possible, whether or not it made any narrative sense.
For example, long sections of text described vaudeville in much more detail than made any sense for a subplot.
I also had difficulty in believing the characters' motivations, actions and dialogue. For example, the main character travels back to 1912 and immediately hooks up with a pretty young lady because he is so "completely alone" in the world. Well, if I'd just left a young wife and 4-year old son in 1887 New York City, when I arrived in that same city only 25 years later I think I'd see how they were doing first. (Then maybe I'd buy a drink for the pretty young lady.)
Anyway, Finney's research was interesting and there were some good moments in the book. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: From Time to Time this is a pretty good book...
Review: ...but overall it's a disappointment.
I enjoyed Finney's original "Time and Again". This "sequel to a sequel" (I think that's what the author's note called it) was uninspired and made me wonder if the original was as good as I remembered.
I expect that most writers of historical fiction and historical fantasy devise characters and plot first, and then do their research. As I listened to this audiobook I had the distinct impression that Mr. Finney chose a time period (1911-1912), did some research, and then devised a plot to use as much of the research as possible, whether or not it made any narrative sense.
For example, long sections of text described vaudeville in much more detail than made any sense for a subplot.
I also had difficulty in believing the characters' motivations, actions and dialogue. For example, the main character travels back to 1912 and immediately hooks up with a pretty young lady because he is so "completely alone" in the world. Well, if I'd just left a young wife and 4-year old son in 1887 New York City, when I arrived in that same city only 25 years later I think I'd see how they were doing first. (Then maybe I'd buy a drink for the pretty young lady.)
Anyway, Finney's research was interesting and there were some good moments in the book. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Does not quite measure up to the prequel, but...
Review: ...it still is an entertaining story. I had read the previous reviews and thought against purchasing this book. I'm glad I changed my mind. Despite the prescence of a compelling mystery/plot as its predecessor (those went undeveloped or unexplored in this book), the story is nonetheless another wonderful journey into the past, with detailed and vivid descriptions of the way things were. I found it to be easy reading, another late night page turner, just as the previous story. If you enjoy Jack Finney's descriptions of a man journeying back to explore another world, another time, and can make it through until he springs the surprises on the reader, you should enjoy this book.

Rating:
Summary: Huge Inconsistancy
Review: Apart from all the other logical flaws, hasn't anyone noticed that although Si meets "Z" initially in 1912 when he boards the Titanic in 1911 Archie recognizes him (and isn't too thrilled to see him because of their prior interactions). I can't believe Finney or the editor didn't notice.
This book could have been so much better; what a shame.

Rating:
Summary: Just Imagine ....
Review: Can you imagine being able to travel in time, merely by thinking yourself there. You could do it; what you would do is set up a space that's decked out to resemble the time you want to go to. Or, simply find a spot to sit where nothing has changed. A park bench that looks out onto a copse of trees with nothing of your present time in sight.

What for?

To go back in time and find the person you need to make a World War something that just didn't happen ... to save the Titanic from sinking by walking up to the captain and telling him he must change speed and course.

Jack Finney almost convinces that this can be done as he takes the reader through his charming tale of From Time to Time.

Rating:
Summary: Better than the original!
Review: Clearly, from reading the other reviews, I must be the only reader who thought this was the better book. As much as I loved TIME AND AGAIN -- and it's a permanent part of my library and a book I've re-read dozens of times -- when I saw this in a bookstore (sorry, Amazon), I grabbed it. At first I was disappointed, but on a second reading began to pick up the magic that was, if anything, stronger the second time around. The opening chapter, of people unrelated to Si Morley who gather at a curious meeting to pinpoint strange alternative versions of history, is intriguing and exciting. And as Rube Prien struggles with his own disjointed memory and sets in motion the return of the Project, things pick up even more. By the way, check out the true stories on the Titanic -- Archibald Butt, a pivotal character in this book, DID in fact travel on its maiden voyage and failed to return home, despite his importance as an aide to President Taft (who beseiged the White Star Line office with inquiries about him). But we've seen so much Titanic lore recently that it's almost a relief that the climactic scenes are so brief. Read it, read it again, and love it!

Rating:
Summary: Rose-Colored Glasses, Anyone?
Review: Finney is, as many reviewers noted, writing a historical novel rather than a time-travel story. He's clearly nostalgic for the world of pre-WWI America, and clearly wants the reader to share his longing for what he sees as a lost "golden age." If you share his nostalgia and his "golden age" view, you'll probably like the book a lot. More power to you.

I tried, but I just couldn't do it.

My problem, I think, is that I just can't see 1912 as the Golden Age that Finney sees it as. I'm interested in it, but not nostalgic for it--not with the teeming slums, the hideous working conditions, the ingrained racism, the casual oppression of women, and the disease-ridden summers that Finney leaves off-screen. Finney's a novelist, not a social historian, and he has every right to pick and choose his scenes (believe me, I'm *glad* we didn't see Si Morley visit the dentist in 1912). Well before the end of the book, though, I'd had enough of his relentless insistence that "everything was better back in the Good Old Days."

_From Time to Time_, for all its fascinating details, is set in the same rose-colored version of 1912 that you see in "The Music Man" and Disneyland's "Main Street USA." If that's where your taste in historical novels runs . . . enjoy. If you prefer your tours of old-time New York a little grittier, try Raymond Paul's _The Thomas Street Horror_ or something by E. L. Doctorow.