Customer Reviews

The Man Who Folded Himself

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

When this time-travel classic first appeared thirty years ago, I was a grad student in history and my mind was full of the academic debate over the nature of causality -- so Gerrold's thoughts on the subject made quite an impression on me. I stole his arguments shamelessly for use in the TA lounge. I had met him at a con a couple of years before, when his reputation derived almost entirely from tribbles, and I believed at the time that he was going places. Sadly, he never quite made the big time and I imagine most younger discoverers of science fiction have never heard of him. Still, any fan of time travel fiction knows this book well and I doubt anyone can ever match the psychological and philosophical complexity of Dan Eakin's life in possession of the Timebelt. This artifact is the only one of its kind (logically, when you think about it) and so Dan is the only time traveler, . . . but there's plenty of him to go around, because time travel is actually the creation of alternate realities. There are young Dans and old ones, hetero- and homosexual versions, even male and female. Some go insane, some become degenerate. Some find love, some lose it. But Dan is his own universe: "I am a circle, complete unto itself. I have brought life into this world, and that life is me." If you're looking for a Time Patrol adventure yarn, this isn't it. (There isn't even all that much plot in the usual sense.) But if you want to think about the consequences of personal, individual time travel, you can't do any better than this one.

I think narcissism and time travel go hand in hand. Dan/Don/Danny/Diane et al is not much different than Dave Lister. I enjoyed the book quite a bit, though I have to wonder if the author retconned some of Dan's early stock picks. The original book was published in 1973, so unless the author has a time belt of his own or is psychic, he wouldn't have known about Apple and Sony. I'd love to get a first edition and compare those passages... The time travel plot and "twists" are fairly standard, the ending didn't suprise me but I did enjoy this telling of the story. The journal entries from the various incarnations allowed for a character growth that doesn't usually happen in this genre of book. I also liked the rather frank exploration of the main character's sexuality.

Ok, I just read this book last night (it is a short read), and I've been thinking about it. A lot. As the title to this review states, I am pretty sure I liked this book, maybe even loved it, but something is holding me back from singing its praises.

I did feel that the sexual themes were an interesting touch yet at times the writing surrounding the more intimate scenes felt like it was in a different voice -- more stilted. I think Gerrold limited himself some, too. This book could easily have been 300 or 400 pages. I agree with some of the earlier reviewers that are wondering why we were not given more details of what Dan was up to in his time travel pursuits.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. It is an intriguing novella that really approaches some fascinating topics. If you enjoy time travel fiction, I do suggest you pick up a copy.

In 1975 (the year events begin in this book), I borrowed a copy of TMWFH from my brother (I was 15 that year). The book left such an impression on me; it got me started on a life-long fascination with time-travel -- the paradoxes, the ability to manipulate the present through events in the past, etc. The fact that 26 years later, I was motivated to order a used copy off Amazon says a lot for the staying power of the story. Wonderful re-read after all these years, the story still holds up extremely well.

This is a book about the human aspect of time travel -- perception of self, free will, loneliness, wanting, hopelessness, etc. Not a particularly uplifting read but it will make you think. Isn't that what a good book should do?

I love books that have a time travel theme and looked forward to reading this book, as it had come highly recommended. This book is more like a long short story or a very brief novella, which is a mercy, considering how disappointed I was by it. It was merely ok. In fact, there was very little about it that I found to be engaging, though I do not affirmatively dislike the book.

The book is about a young man, Daniel Eakins, who inherits a belt that allows him to travel in time. The book itself is like a diary that the main character keeps of his journeys in time. He writes mostly about meeting other versions of himself, both male and female, and making love to those versions. His presence at some of the greatest moments in history, which he does go to see, consist of nothing more than a laundry list to indicate that he had been there. There are also journal entries by some of his other various incarnations, which is a moderately interesting contrivance.

Still, there is little substance to the book in terms of plot, as well as little character development. The time spent in other eras are glossed over quickly, as if too much time would be wasted in doing otherwise. Daniel does try to change some historic moments, with some interesting consequences, but that, too, is glossed over. The book almost reads as if it were a stream of consciousness narration, which is, perhaps, congruent with keeping a diary or journal. The exploration of sexuality in which the author engages is certainly novel, though slightly creepy.

This book, which feels more as if it were an outline for a book, would probably be of interest only to die hard, time travel fans. If you are not such an individual, deduct one star from my rating and avoid this book. As is its central character, the book is in a state of arrested development.

The Man Who Folded Himself is a good book. It's not your standard time-traveling tale. Don't expect Marty-and-Doc-like adventures in the Old West or zooming back to the time when your parents were dating. Don't expect the hero to be chased by allosaurs or Huns or anything like that. This is a tale that focuses on the psychological effects and philosophical questions caused by time-travel (don't let that intimidate you). It's thus a good read: original and thoughtful, and avoids all of the clichés and pitfalls of the genre. Have an open mind and you'll have fun.

This is an interesting time travel book but it is difficult to say anything about the plot without creating spoilers. I really enjoyed it though it was riddled with paradoxes that seemed to make it difficult at times to understand the timeline of Daniel Eakin, the main character.

Daniel inherits a time travel belt from his Uncle Jim. He uses it to travel through time constantly and through paradoxes, create thousands of versions of himself. Daniel ends up living his life with these different versions as his companions (in more ways than one).

Throughout the book there are a lot of philosophical arguments as to what Daniel and his multi versions of himself (Don, Danny, etc.) do. It all leads up to a big surprise ending!

I just finished reading this book for the third time, and I loved it even more than before. Gerrold's handling of classic time-travel problems such as paradoxes by using the quantum bifurcation theory is brilliant, and the book actually reminded me a little of William Sleator's _Strange Attractors_. However, it is much better written, more grim, more wide-spanning, and, most strikingly, less innocent. It also has traces of Robert Heinlein's short story _All You Zombies_, but it much more fully fleshed out. Some passages I found incredibly moving, such as the narrator's description of when he has been ("I have seen Creation. I have seen Entropy"), and the ever-increasing age gap between himself and his female counterpart, Diane. The book depressed me to no end, and that's why I loved it.

This was a fantastic book, one of the best on the subject of time travel and it took an ultra realistic viewpoint that really connets to the reader. It also incorporated several philosphical aspects of life, love, and happiness and how these things can be manipulated for better or worse.

It's good to read books like these and recall the days when SF was intelligent and good instead of the watered down not even good cyberpunk that it is today.

I give this book 5 stars because it is highly reccomended for fans of the real SF genre.

Plus I would also say that in terms of plot quality surrounding time travel this one would be on par with Heinlein's "By his Bootstraps."

A Must READ!

In Gerrold's The Man Who Folded Himself, 19 year old Dan Eakins is given an unusual gift by his Uncle Jim just before he dies...the gift is a belt that allows the user to travel backwards and forwards through time at a whim. What does Dan do with such a remarkable gift? (What would any of us do?) Dan travels into the past and wins big at the track. But Dan is not alone. Dan finds another version of himself...also a time-traveler, to share his temporal exploits...and, over "time", Dan discovers many versions of himself, all time-travelers; and all find themselves in the same predicament Dan finds himself in: How exactly does one find meaning with one's life -- where does one look? -- when the only person that will ever truly understand you, is you?

I didn't really know what I was expecting coming into this book. It is quite short and I wasn't sure how Gerrold was going to fit a full story into the minimum number of pages. However, Gerrold did a good job, despite its length, the story felt complete.

As a time travel story, Gerrold makes a number of predictions about the future. Since this book was first published in 1973, we have had time to see how some of Gerrold's predictions have turned out, and in several cases, Gerrold was quite accurate.

But ultimately, this story is not about whether or not this prediction or that one has come true. This story is not even really about time travel. Gerrold effectively uses time travel as a device to make a statement about the human condition. No matter who we are or where we hail from, no matter our upbringing, people need other people to...for lack of a better way of putting it...make us not feel lonely. This is what Gerrold emphasizes...at times, in ways that are not so subtle.

The only book I have ever read that has made me feel this way after turning the last page was Ken Grimwood's Replay. Both stories use time travel as a device to make it plain that not only do we need other people like us to keep us sane, but those people are out there, and they are often found in the most unusual of circumstances.

Overall, despite Gerrold's brevity with the written word, I certainly recommend this tale to anyone who is interested in a story of time travel that is done in a most thoughtful manner.