Customer Reviews

As Time Goes By

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2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

As Time Goes By: A Novel of Casablanca was ex-Time magazine music critic Michael Walsh's second novel, and it serves as both prequel and sequel to one of the most popular movies of Hollywood's Golden Age. Unlike Scarlett, Alexandra Ripley's sequel to Margaret Mitchell`s Gone With the Wind, As Time Goes By was neither widely praised nor reviled, perhaps because there was not as much media scrutiny for Walsh's exploration of the lives of Ilsa, Rick, Victor Laszlo, Louis Renault, Sam, and all "the usual suspects" after the fade-to-black in Casablanca.

Walsh was no fool when he undertook this project. Indeed, in his afterword, he says. "Everyone knows Casablanca. Everyone loves Casablanca. Therein lies both the challenge and the danger of writing a novel of Casablanca."

Walsh's approach is to treat the movie as a centerpiece sandwiched between the two timelines depicted in the 38 chapters of his novel. His prose is crisp and fast moving, echoing the tone of the Epstein Twins' screenplay while expanding the story both backward to Rick Blaine's past in New York's seedy underworld and to a perilous mission in Victor Laszlo's Nazi-occupied homeland, Czechoslovakia.

Purists -- and I know there are always going to be Casablanca fans who feel this way -- will probably say the movie was fine without a sequel (forgetting or ignoring the two failed TV series based on Casablanca), but this book is a pleasure to read. Particularly worth noting is how Walsh blends Casablanca's fictional characters and historical reality. At the heart of As Time Goes By is Victor Laszlo's involvement in Operation Hangman, the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi "Protector of Moravia and Bohemia" and architect of Hitler's "final solution." Although the inclusion of the Casablanca cast is fiction, the details of the operation and of its tragic aftermath are historically accurate.

Another bonus is Walsh's literary talent. His narrative captures the pace of its source perfectly, and his ear for the characters' voices is almost uncanny. Readers who allow themselves to fall under this novel's spell will hear the voices of Claude Rains, Paul Heinreid, Ingrid Bergman, and especially Humphrey Bogart in the exchanges between characters. There are also many "inside gags" for knowing Casablanca fans within the pages of this wonderful novel, such as the inclusion of "As Time Goes By" composer Herman Hupfeld, into the storyline. Like the movie it plays homage to, As Time Goes By is romantic, witty, and dramatic.

Every once in a great while, Hollywood produces a movie that is so popular, so beloved, that its many fans clamor for a sequel, wanting to know what happens next to the characters they have gotten to know and care about. And of course, Hollywood is happy to oblige, knowing that certain films which were written as stand-alone projects (Jaws, for instance) have the potential to become cash cows.

Sadly, often the result is a poorly written or directed sequel that is nothing but a pale copy of the original. Many people know, for instance, about Robert Mulligan's elegaic coming of age story, Summer of '42. It's an indelibly beautiful and memorable film. But does anyone recall the sequel, Class of '44?

The Golden Age of Hollywood of the 1930s, '40s and '50s has its share of classics that sparked off some demand for sequels. Gone With the Wind (one of my personal favorite books and movies of the time period) was often cited by those who wanted to know more about Rhett and Scarlett after the indomitable Mrs. O'Hara-Butler utters her famous "Tomorrow is another day" line. However, GWTW author Margaret Mitchell reputedly never wanted to write a literary sequel, and her premature death certainly precluded a change of mind. It was not until much later that the Mitchell estate approved Alexandra Ripley's Scarlett that a sequel was written.

Another favorite from the Golden Era that fans wanted to see more of was Hal B. Wallis' production of Casablanca. This wonderful film, directed by Michael Curtiz and winner of the 1942 Academy Award for Best Picture, surely had many loose plot strands to tie up in a sequel...not all of them centering on the Rick-and-Ilsa love affair, of course, but clearly most fans wanted to see this star-crossed couple reunite on-screen.

Despite several dismal attempts to transport Casablanca's characters and situations to television, the film's many admirers had to wait until 1997, when former Time magazine staffer Michael Walsh wrote As Time Goes By: A Novel of Casablanca.

Walsh's novel not only recreates the original movie's pace and moods (even going as far as using most of the spoken intro that starts the film) by using almost cinematic language, but it also serves as both prequel and sequel to Casablanca. Walsh uses the movie's fade out scene ("Louie, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship....") as a jump-off point for the continuation of the 1941-'42 storyline while giving us revealing insights about events in Rick Blaine's past hinted at in Casablanca's dialog but never really explained.

Walsh interweaves the various strands involving the film's major players with one of World War II's most controversial cloak-and-dagger episodes, placing Victor Laszlo and Ilsa Lund (and, inevitably, Rick, Sam, and Louis Renault) right in the middle of the only Allied assasination attempt on a Nazi leader.

I really liked this novel. I started reading it last fall, and after watching Casablanca again I finished it, amazed and pleased with the way the author captured the movie's tone and the characters' voices. It is full of every ingredient that made Casablanca work so well: a storyline full of action, suspense, and romance, quick-witted quips and revealing exchanges, and a long-awaited reunion of one of the most memorable couples ever to emerge from the silver screen. The only thing that's missing from As Time Goes By is a stirring Max Steiner score, but otherwise, this book is a worthy literary sequel to a true Hollywood classic.

This is not "Casablanca".

That's pretty obvious. I am going to be completely honest here: this is a fun novel that is clearly a labour of love by the author. However, it's more to do with action than the bitter romance of the original movie.

This is not a sacreligious text in any way to the movie: it's a fun continuation that is worthy of a read. So long as you don't go into it expecting a perfect novelisation of "Casablanca" you'll enjoy reading this - it's well written, lively and the sly winks to Bogart's character in the movie and Bogart's career are used well to flesh out the story and develop the characters.

Walsh has taken a brave step - he was bound to get into trouble for writing a sequel to "Casablanca". I would agree that a few too many loose ends are tied up in this novel, but on the whole Walsh's grasp of the ambigious past (and future) work well without making Rick an open-book character.

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!

Perhaps more true to the facts of the film than the facts of history, Michael Walsh does a good job of tying up loose ends and presenting a plausible storyline to continue the classic WWII era film. Walsh did his homework in analyzing the details of Rick, Ilsa, Renault and Victor Lazlo's pasts, and I don't think the blame for his inability to really pin down their personalities can be laid entirely at his doorstep - after all, the script of the film had been worked on by many different hands, the characters themselves were inconsistent in the film (which actually contributed a sense of realism), and much of the characters' backgrounds and motivations were left to the viewer's imagination.

The book involves an assassinatin plot on famous Nazi Reinhard Heidrich, who is tall, slender, handsome, and elegant in this fiction, unlike the wide-hipped large-bottomed homely Heidrich of historical reality. And while Walsh casts him as a Hitler admirer, historically it is probably more accurate to say that Heidrich resented the Feuhrer, viewing himself as more qualified to lead the nation. There is some speculation that Hitler felt Heidrich a threat, and in fact Heidrich's widow swears that he was recovering nicely from the bombing, when Hitler put him in the care of his private physician, followed shortly thereafter by Heidrich's death.

All this aside, 'though, the book is an entertaining read (if not exactly a page-burner) for those who long for another story with the familiar cast and crew of one of the most beloved films of all time.

Michael Walsh's novel As Time Goes By is a great companion to the film Casablanca. I especially enjoyed the background Walsh provided for Rick Blaine. It's top notch. Fans of Cablanca should definitley give As Time Goes By a try.

This was a real pleasure to read, and I've been 're-reading' scenes in my head ever since. Much of the style and the cadence of the movie's dialog was captured in this novel. I could 'hear' the characters speaking - especially Rick and Renault.

Wonderfully crafted character backgrounds, especially for Rick in New York in the 30's. I totally got it. Happy also to see the attention paid to Sam and Renault.

Can't wait to see who picks up the movie rights!

So, grab a copy, pour yourself a stiff bourbon, or a glass of champaign ("sure does take the sting out of being occupied"), relax and travel back to 1941.

Actually, I didn't read this book but rather listened to it read to me by the very talented Alexander Adams through Time Warner's audio version of the novel. I got caught up in the storytelling on a long trip and found myself urging the narrator to get on to the next chapter so I could find out what happened next in crime-ridden Harlem or war-torn Europe. Being a fan of the movie and fully aware that most sequels bring disappointment, I was hesitant at first to purchase this audio-book, but my curiosity at what the author, Michael Walsh, envisioned as the outcome of events following Casablanca and glimpses into the past of most of the major characters, overrode my concerns. I'm glad I took a chance. This is a very creative and well constructed book, and the author is clearly as big a fan of the movie as anyone. He seeks to enhance our appreciation of the film, I think, and to me he did so very well.

I never really thought of too many questions regarding "Casablanca". That it is one of the greatest movies ever made everybody knows. But I have always watched it as a whole, never wondering that much about everybody's lives. Of course we all get curious about Rick's past, but it's part of the movie. Now, though, after reading this novel, it becomes somewhat clearer, and it's easier to understand some character's actions. If you're not from some cult religion that regards "Casablanca" as sacred, than you will enjoy this book, and get to finf out all those tidbits we were all somewhat interested for so long

Michael Walsh writes very readable prose and I am impressed with this grammar, syntax, diction, descriptive ability, and overall use of the English language. He writes far more well than I ever could. Nonetheless, I think he undertook an impossible task in writing "As Time Goes By," which, ultimately, was disappointing to a lover of the nearly film "Casablanca."

Walsh's efforts are clearly a labor of love and I don't know that anyone could have produced a better novel. I like the concept of "As Time Goes By" in terms of its being both a prequel and a sequel to the movie.

What I didn't much like were what he made the characters to be. His reasons for Rick Blaine's inability to return to the United States made me dislike Rick Blaine way too much. I just didn't want Rick to be a reformed mobster and I just couldn't picture him as a renamed Yitzak Baline. Walsh gives all his reasons for the character backgrounds he invented for Rick Blaine, Ilsa Lund, Louis Rénault, et al. and, while I appreciate his reasons, the characters he creates just didn't ring true for me.

The sequel plot doesn't cut it for me, either. It just isn't the sort of thing the Victor Laszlo we saw in "Casablanca" would do.

"Casablanca" as a film is a wonderful thing, far surpassing the play upon which it was based (so I'm guessing, from what I've read about the original plot of "Everybody Comes to Rick's"), one of those amazing experiences in movie-making where everything came together -- cast, writers, director, etc.

When something is that good, who could write anything by way of a prequel and/or sequel that would satisfy.

I did finish the book. I had to see where it went and how it ended. But, frankly, I had to get out my video of "Casablanca" immediately afterward as an antidote for the whole thing, to reacquaint myself with the originals of Rick Blaine, Isla Lund, Victor Laszlo and Louis Rénault because I didn't like the ones left in my mind from having read "As Time Goes By."

As I said, Michael Walsh can write and I'd be happy to read other works of fiction by him, hopefully ones with characters he originated himself.