Customer Reviews

Somewhere in Time

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book was one of the most romantic love stories ever told. When the movie came out in 1980 I was immediately enthralled by the subject matter, as well as the fact that Christopher Reeve was more than just Superman (I was only 8 years old at the time). But the time travel has captivated my interest ever since. I own the movie and watch it at least once a year. It took me another 20 years to actually seek out the book and read what I knew would be a more detailed, beautifully written story. I was right. I must write the ever-popular cliche, "The book was better than the movie." The setting was more vivid and I felt we were let into the heart and mind of Richard Collier, as well as Elise McKenna. The book makes me want to run to the Hotel del Coronado again and see it through the eyes of the author. I will give a very high recommendation for this book and encourage anyone interested in time travel or romance to run and read this treasure.

A terminally ill man falls in love with a famous turn of the century actress. The only trouble is that they are separated by a span of about seventy five years. What is a man to do? Why travel back in time, of course.

That is just what Richard Collier does in order to be with the beautiful Elise McKenna, the woman of his dreams. Or does he? Does he really travel back in time, or is it merely the delusion of a desperately ill man who seeks to find meaning for his existence? Does his tenuous hold on life in the present mirror his equally tenuous hold on life at the turn of the century? Is his death ultimately the only way for these unrequited lovers to be united, at last?

This is a beautifully poignant love story in which the longing the protaganists have for each other is palpable. A bittersweet sadness permeates the pages of this book, as Robert and Elise pass through life, each a shadow on the consciousness of the other. One only hopes that they find in the hereafter, what they were denied in this life.

This wonderfully imaginative and inventive book draws the reader into its fantastical web. A veritable page turner, it is a classic story of a love which will not be denied. Read the book, and then see the movie with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. You will not be disappointed.

It's 1971, and on the flip of a coin, 36 year-old Richard Collier, dying of a brain tumor, travels toward San Diego, and happens upon an old hotel. There he finds the captivating photograph of a young actress, Elise McKenna, who performed at the hotel in 1896. He decides to research everything he can about her. The more he learns, the more deeply he falls in love with her, and the more he's convinced that he has been to her time, and that they were in love. The 1980 movie, Somewhere In Time, starring Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, and Christopher Plummer, was based upon this 1975 novel by Richard Matheson. The novel's pull on the heartstrings, however, is even more intense, and the ending to the novel is much more tragic. The proposed sequel, MEMOIRS OF ELISE (different author), though not nearly as exhaustive as Somewhere in Time, does a good job of suggesting what happened to Elise after Richard disappeared from her life, and the events that helped her discover that Richard had come to her from the future.

I hate those sappy romance movies and novels but this story is one of my all time favorites. After seeing the movie over and over for years, I hunted down the author and the book and I wasn't disappointed.

This book fills in a lot more details than the movie(of course) - and basically if you loved the movie, you'll love the book.

The entire mystery of the woman with the watch and the 'what ifs' just captured me from the get go. You know its a doomed romance from the get go but the romantic period of time it takes place in just captures your imagination.

This is, by far, one my most favorite of stories. The "true love" of soul mates joined and separated by the lending hand of fate. Richard Matheson is an excellent writter. This story derives straight from the heart and is volleyed back at yours with a clearity that takes you deep into the soul of his characters. The birth of this beautiful story is, in my opinion, the offspring of nearly every time travel, paranormal, romance story available today. If you haven't already, read the book. The movie verision hardly does it justice. I highly recommend this enchanting, and yet sad book to anyone.

I first read this magical book almost fifteen years ago, and like the movie based upon it, it's stuck with me and haunted me ever since. Both compliment each other wonderfully.

I won't bother to rehash the story, since others have done so more effectively here. Needless to say, like any good novel that becomes a movie, the text story is much richer than the onscreen experience. You can almost feel yourself living and breathing the world of 1896 as Richard Matheson manages to strike a perfect balance of a realism, and romanticism.

If you've seen the film Somewhere In Time you may be struck by the changes you'll find here. However at the same time you'll likely be touched by the books in-depth portrayal of Elise, sharing the joy she feels as she finds herself giving her heart to a man for the first time in her life. The range of emotions that flow through her, the sense of fear, the uncertainty, the immeasurable joy are simply beautiful. This makes her eventual fate all the more tragic and heart-rending. Her manager, William Robinson is also a completely different character from the one in the film, and is in many ways a much more vivid one.

This is definately not a book for the easily depressed. If you fit into this category I'd recommend watching the movie first as the ending is much less dispairing. This is a book that will forever haunt anyone with a truely romantic heart.

No reason to tell you what the book's about. You can read that elsewhere here - and if you saw the movie, then you'll probably be curious about the book only as an afterthought. Big mistake. The book is much, much more thoughtful, deeply engaging, and rewarding than the movie. The movie made you cry; the book will do something much more lasting. Matheson explores things like the rage at the finality of life (what we breezily call "fate"), and what one's desperation coupled with the conviction of true love can do to change everything you know about life. He is a writer who, no matter what movies ("What Dreams May Come," "Stir of Echoes," "Omega Man," "The Legend of Hell House," "The Incredible Shrinking Man,") or TV shows (numerous Twilight Zones and "The Martian Chronicles") are made from his ideas, he always writes to the heart, & to the heart of the matter.

I read the book back in the '70s & was so moved by it, I would go every year to the Hotel Del Coronado & rent a room around the dates of the book... wandering the underground halls, nothing seems to have changed, if you look with a believing eye. Don't forget to also read Jack Finney's masterpiece "Time And Again," which this book pays homage to.

Richard Collier is a 36-year old writer with a terminal brain tumor who falls in love with a beautiful actress - Elise McKenna. But there's one big problem. She's dead. She lived years ago in another time. But that doesn't stop Richard who figures out a way to travel back in time and win her heart.

Somewhere in Time is an entertaining time travel/romance novel. It's at times both humorous and tragic. If there is one problem with the novel it spends a bit too much time getting to the point where Richard travels back in time. In some ways this helps the novel because Richard uses mental will power to move through time and so the first part of the novel shows us how obsessed Richard becomes and lends believability to the story. The understated humor as Richard adapts to 1896 and in his encounters with Elise and her mother and Mr. Robinson (her manager) are well done. And Matheson has done an excellent job at creating the proper ambiance for the novel. I would have liked to have a more intimate portrayal of Elise McKenna. The first person narrative leaves her character a little less well drawn.

Despite these few quibbles, overall I found the novel quite entertaining.

I know that the movie "Somewhere in Time" became a cult favorite a long time ago. I remember tuning in to HBO years ago and catching the tail end of the movie. I thought it was bizarre and dismissed it. My grandmother later convinced me to give it another try. I did, and I have been hooked ever since. The movie's credits list "Bid Time Return" as the basis for the movie. I spent years trying to find it in my local libraries, only to be disappointed time after time. Finally, Amazon came to the rescue one day. I read the book, and not only did I love the book, I gained a new appreciation for the movie. Yes, some of the details in the book were rejected for the movie, but not the truly important ones. Richard's deep and infinite love for Elise translated beautifully to the big screen. The longing for each other, the supreme happiness of finding each other, the devastating loss of each other and subsequent reunion are the truly significant details. So, if you have only seen the movie, go ahead and fulfill your backward destiny as I did by reading this book. I can't imagine that you could ever be disappointed.

I first read "Somewhere in Time" about 20 years ago, before I saw the movie. In fact I read the book four times before I saw the movie. This book was so beautiful, The setting, the characters, the aura. This book represents what a person would do for the one and only true love. I wish traveling back in time was real. Because I am sure we would love to have a chance to go back to the one we truly might have been our true love and try again. This book was filled with tragedy, hope, determination, and especially a lot of LOVE.. I have recommended this book to many people over the years, and I glad they brought it back to the market.