TIME AND AGAIN

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: One of my all-time favorite fantasy novels and one of the few books I enjoy reading again and again!

Rating:
Summary: time travel for dummies
Review: As other customer reviews have noted, this novel is occasionally charming. But it is hard to ignore that the mechanism of time travel, which is central to the story, is barely examined - let alone explained. This renders the book whimsical fantasy. It is also - no pun intended - dated, if only for the sexist descriptions of what makes the female characters attractive to the jerk who tells this tale. The accompanying appropriated illustrations and photographs are feebly selected with insipid captions. I never believed for one second that "Si" made a living as a commercial artist. "Time and Again" is unusually lame for a cult novel and I don't understand its popularity.

Rating:
Summary: Possibly the Most Annoying Hero In SF
Review: Not a bad book, quite charming in places, though there are more interesting time travel novels around, Robert Silverberg's "Up the Line" for example. What really got me was the willingness of the pathetic self centred little twerp who is the "hero" to sacrifice (for all he knew) millions of lives and alter the course of history to gratify his puerile romantic impulses in respect of some woman from the past he's only known for a day.

Rating:
Summary: Starts off good then fizzles
Review: I have been wanting to read this book for a while, but was disappointed when I finally got around to it a few weeks ago. I am surprised that all of the people who are marveling at this book's supposed greatness ignore a great big gaping hole in it. This story is supposed to be about time travel via the mind. Well then, how on earth was Si able to just take his girlfriend Kate along on his visit to 1882? Does just dressing up in a 19th century outfit give one that ability? Maybe then we should all try it. It was so ridiculous and so implausible that I nearly stopped reading right then and there. If Si was able to just take Kate along, on the power of his mind, then he could've taken any of the guys he was working for. Dumb, dumb, dumb...

Finney uses this ploy again when Si and Julia are trapped in the arm of the Statue of Liberty. Surprise, Si takes them both back to the present. Again, then he should've been taking the whole kit and kaboodle back with him, ie, all of the police who were hot after them. I am really amazed that no one, save one reviewer, has mentioned this.

Finney's description also drove me crazy after a while. I am a native New Yorker, and while I enjoyed the descriptions, the detail became nerve wracking after a while. Especially that fire in the World Building--I finally just couldn't read anymore and skipped ahead to where they were out of it. And his break-up with his present day girlfriend was so completely idiotic, when he decides to go live in the past. He tells her something like "it really hasn't worked out for us." Huh? They had been getting along just fine. He was thinking of marrying her, she went back to the past with him, and she knew nothing of his 1882 girlfriend Julia. Apparently, Finney had no idea what to do with her, so just decided that readers would be stupid enough to think that they'd missed something and the relationship was indeed falling apart.

All in all, this book was a good idea that might have succeeded in the hands of a more skillfull author.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book!
Review: This is one of my favorite books. While slow at first, I never even considered not finishing it. The story itself is imaginative without being too science fiction-y. The author's descriptions of New York in the 1880s are wonderful. And while it's true that folks familiar with NYC might enjoy it a tad more, don't let that stop you. The descriptions are vivid; all you have to do is close your eyes and you will be transported just like Si Morley. The best part of the book was the ending. My jaw dropped and I reread the last three pages several times. I never saw it coming. While I could not have labored through this book in one sitting, I picked it up hungrily and enjoyed every moment.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book!
Review: This is by far one of my favorite books. While slow at times, I never even considered not finishing it. The author's descriptions of New York in the 1880s are wonderful. I can see why folks who are more familiar with NYC may enjoy it a tad more, but don't let that stop you. The author paints a wonderful portrait; all you have to do is close your eyes and you will be transported just like Si Morley was. What made the book, though, was the ending. My jaw dropped and I re-read the last three pages several times. I never saw it coming. While the book was not something I plodded through in one sitting, it was one I picked up hungrily every chance I got. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: laborious
Review: Although at times the plot proved intriguing, Finney dragged out his story with great detail over little action. The character development was weak, and the timing poor. Definitly not a classic.

Rating:
Summary: Clever, surprising historical romance w/ time travel twist
Review: I was vacationing in Pentwater, Michigan, this past weekend and saw Finney's Time and Again on the bed and breakfast's library shelf. Strange, I thought. This is only a "library" of two book shelves of varied literary styles (from Tolkien to Sheldon to the Bible); coincidental, as well, since I had this book in my hand two days before and almost bought it...but decided to read it another day.

Well, that day came. I read the entire book over the weekend, mostly in the mornings before breakfast...and Saturday night from about 3:30 a.m. until 5:30 a.m.

The subject matter fascinates me. I've always loved stories about time travel. Some of my favorite episodes of The Twilight Zone touch on that subject ("Walking Distance," especially). Plus, one of my favorite movies of all time is Somewhere in Time. On top of that, I'm in advertising. So the main character's profession was of interest to me as well.

I had never read any of Finney's books before, although I was aware Richard Matheson borrowed heavily from this book for his own book, Bid Time Return -- which became Somewhere in Time. (In the movie Somewhere in Time there's a running reference to a time travel book called, I think, Travels Through Time by a Professor Finney. That was Matheson's tip of the hat to Finney's book.)

Because Finney was new to me, I didn't know what to expect. I wasn't familiar with his style, his plots, his characters and his endings. So I savored every word, only reluctantly putting the book down throughout the day (such as when I sat on the beach for three hours; in hindsight, a mistake since now I look like a boiled lobster).

I've read other reviews that complain about the intricate details of New York getting in the way of the story. Baloney. The rich detail only adds to the realism and makes the story that much more fascinating. Finney's description of 1880s New York, for example, is totally engrossing. I longed to see it myself!

Of course, maybe one of the reasons why I liked the detail so much is that I've stood outside the Dakota building. I've been in Central Park. I've looked up at the spires of the Dakota from within Central Park and was blown away by the architecture. So, that probably helped make the book more "real" to me.

Nevertheless, Finney's slavish attention to detail helped make the story "believable."

As the ending approached, I kept wondering if Simon Morley, the main character, would stay in the past, or return to the present. Would he be with Julie, from 1880s New York, or return to his girlfriend in present day New York. Or would one of them join him in either era? I honestly had no idea what would happen!

Admittedly, I had to read and re-read the part in the beginning about the letter mailed on blue stationery a half dozen times or more to make sure I got the names and dates correct. But I was amazed how all the subplots came together in the end. Surprises abound, let me tell you.

Speaking of surprises, the ending was a total shock. Not necessarily which era Si Morley chose to stay in, but the little twist regarding the Project. My mouth dropped open when I read the last page...and I quickly turned back to the beginning to re-read the setup...then back to the ending. Brilliant. I never would have thought of that.

The only strange letdown, to me, was the note at the end of the book from "J.F." regarding Simon Morley's adventures (was it called "Afterword"? I don't remember). At first, I thought it was a cool idea that "J.F." would recount how he came to write Simon's story. That makes the book seem that more more "believable." But too much is said, too much is unsaid, and the last line sort of deflates the book's own ending. I have mixed feelings about that one page. I would have left it out, or written it differently.

By the way, the title of my review represents my opinion that time travel is only an incidental, albeit necessary, part of the book. So if you don't like science fiction, please don't shy away from Time and Again. It's not a science fiction book. To me, the book was a melancholy historical romance that just happened to have a time travel twist to it. In other words, anyone who likes a really good love story, especially one that takes place - in large part -- in the past will love Time and Again.

And if you just so happen to be a sci-fi/time travel buff like me, then you just may find Time and Again that much more fascinating.

Rating:
Summary: I think I stand alone....
Review: Admittedly, I am not a New Yorker. Nevertheless, I truly appreciated the character descriptions, the authentic drawings, the lithos and newspaper reproductions of the individuals and marvelous scenes of excitement (sleigh rides) and pictorial depictions of trauma (the fire) of New York in the early 1880s (see "credits" on the very last page). I know that these treasures of Finney's word pictures are gems to dyed-in-the-wool Big Apple Born friends to whom I shall give this book. I rated the overall story a 3-star because of the one major flaw that I could not "forgive." Finney seemed to take writer's license at the plot's crisis point when Si and Julia are "in the Statue's arm." Prior to that time, I was truly hooked regarding "How is our hero going to get out of this one?" The build to this crisis was a cliffhanger! However, Si's (and Julia's) escape seemed a real cop-out! I was disappointed with this easy-out, albeit it was one option. It was the easy option. Too predictable. Other than this biggie, the story was good and well developed. Sorry Jack, but you just missed a 4 or a 5*. I'll surely read your work again. Caleb Carr's "Alienist" is my breather withing the late 1800s before I return to J. Finney. Best for more good writing, M.

Rating:
Summary: Time and Again is Timeless
Review: Time and Again is a book that joins the short list taken to the desert isle. Along with Hornblower and Jane Austen and Sherlock and Atlas Shrugged and a very few others.

It is about journey and not just destination. I first read it in the '70s and return regularly. It is a book that almost makes you jealous of those whom you refer; they will soon have a first-time experience that is very special.

When I read some of the other reviews it became clear that this is a book you either 'get' or you don't. For those that do, it has become an old friend with which to find wonder and comfort.

For those that don't; oh well, your loss that you did not close your eyes, and go along for a timeless journey.