Customer Reviews

From Time to Time

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Finney's sequel to Time and Again is a sad attempt at recapturing the success of his first novel. Maybe I was hoping for too much since the first novel was so enjoyable, but as one reviewer said, this historical novel falls flat. The ending to Time and Again was so perfect for the story Finney had created and his attempt to alter the ending was ill-advised. The possibilities with time travel are endless and you could essentially have an infinite number of sequels, but you can only strike gold once, which Finney should have realized. Read the first one and don't bother with this.

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!

Some 25 years after the publication of his classic "Time and Again," Finney succumbed to that storytellers temptress--sequel. Finney brings back the hero of that book, Si Morely, from his cozy existence in 1880s New York for an entirely unentertaining stroll through 1912 New York in an awfully dull attempt to prevent WWI. It should be noted from the get go that this is no sci-fi, time travel extravaganza, rather it's solidly a piece of historical fiction--and if you're not interested in the minutiae of 1912 New York, don't even pick it up. Somewhere in the 25 years between the two books Finney apparently lost all ability to plot: the first chapter of the book (which is actually rather intriguing) has next to nothing to do with the rest of it, Morely is given no real motivation to come back to the present and then return to the past to carry out this mission, but then at the end, he is given a really excellent motivation! Why not just give him the plausible motivation from the beginning?

In the meantime, the reader must wade through lengthy descriptions of clothing verbatim reportage from period newspapers, and aimless set pieces that have much less to do with the plot than they do in displaying Finney's ample knowledge on the time and place. A tiresome, lengthy interlude involving a dance demonstration is even more infuriating when it becomes apparent that it's been set up to provide a cameo for a young Al Jolson. Similarly, when Si becomes baffled by the description of a building, he decides he must take an aerial tour of the city, piloted by a new friend. This is a convenient way for a lengthy exploration of the progress of aviation at the time. Never mind that the description of the building he's been given to work with is obviously the Flatiron Building--only one of New York's most famous pieces of architecture. Most egregious is the mind-numbing foray into the world of vaudeville, which Si undertakes in order to grab a glimpse of his father as a child. One part of this has a vaudevillian (who is completely unrelated to the plot) spend six pages recounting his less than interesting life story! Oddly despite expending great effort to glimpse his vaudeville antecedents, he never even thinks of looking up his 1880s wife and son, who live in, oh, Manhattan...

Let's not even get started on the "Jatta" girl, who pursues him. She's clearly a time-traveler as well, something he either fails to recognize (is he retarded?), or purposefully ignores (why?). Oh yeah, the climax comes aboard the (sigh) Titanic, on it's rendezvous with an iceberg. I love historical fiction, but in the end, one wishes Finney hadn't been so keen on period detail to the exclusion of any semblance of storytelling. E.L. Doctrow's "Ragtime" covers the same rough time period and place, but manages to tell a good story while doing so.

It is rare to read as divergent reviews as are seen here for this book and its predecessor. The key seems to be that if you are a science-fiction reader looking for a story about time travel, you'll be dissappointed. This novel and its predecessor are light and thoroughly non-convincing on the 'science' of time travel; that topic is shunted off as expeditiously as possible. Rather, these novels are about what it would feel like if a 1990's person with a love and awe of the past (you) were to find yourself in New York City in the late 1800's to early 1900's. They are about Finney's mastery at painting scenes that take you there. That is, they should not be judged as novels ABOUT time travel, they should be judged by how they succeed AS time machines. In the tens of thousands of scenes that have been painted in the thousands of novels read in a lifetime, nothing compares to the palpability of Finney's Titanic pulling up to the dock after successfully crossing the Atlantic.

Time and Again was good because if you accepted the single premise, that one could be self-hypnotized into going into the past, the rest followed logically.

Here, the reader is called upon to suspend his disbelief almost continuously. That the seemingly airtight way Time and Again was ended could be reversed, for example. That Morley, given being sent to 1912 to prevent World War I and save his son, would not instead look up his 1912 self (surely still alive and not yet sixty) or at least Julia, and have them find a way to save his (their?) son. That would be an insurance policy in case Si failed in his mission, and Si is bright and curious enough to come up with this or a similar scheme--after all, it is not unlike the plot resolution to Time and Again.

Even though Finney was dying as this was published, I still have the feeling that the book is a setup for a never-written third book of a trilogy. The final chapter seems unresolved. Possibly, it was due to Finney's illness. But he was a great, if underrated writer--but this could have been better. Maybe he was writing to augment his estate.

I also feel that there is an excess of detail, that Finney is sort of showing off with the level of his knowledge (or research) about the past. Take the play to which a chapter is devoted, or the dances, etc.

Just an offhand thought--isn't Si sort of wasting himself in the 1880s by working as an illustrator? Why isn't he trying to invent the zipper or writing Gone With The Wind or doing something else that will assure his and his family's financial security?

...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.

I just sat through the excruciating audio version of from Time to Time. For much of the time, I was screaming at the tape machine that it does not matter what color the man's pajamas are and please do not read the ENTIRE classified ads out loud from the 1912 newspaper. I cannot believe that 6 of the 8 casettes were devoted to minutia about Tessie and Ted, longwinded stories by vaudevillians and detailed descriptions of the Mauritania and only 2 casettes dealt with a plot of any sort.

I love time travel books. I have not read Finney's first book, although it must have been excellent. This book is awful. The intriguing events in the beginning - possible changes to historic events and alternate streams of history -were never explained or folded back into the plot in any way. Simon Morley, who apparently has the miraculous gift to be able to go back to nearly any time period at will, spent most of his time in the past at plays, restaurants and strolling around.

It felt like the last part of the book, which dealt with changing actual historic events, was slapped onto this historic fiction novel about life in 1912. It was well researched but painfully dull as the reader waited and waited for the protagonist to remember what he went to 1912 for in the first place.

This does not qualify as a time travel novel and the man who wrote this has some serious problems tying together his plot strands.

There are some sequels that you ask yourself, why were they made? This book fall into that category. Granted the original classic left a few loose ends, such as how did Simon and Julia escape the clutches of Julia's estranged fiancée? And if Simon and Julia ended up getting married? The first question is still not answered though we see the second is. Getting beyond that the book is boring and lacks the interesting characters and intriguing plot that the first book so rightly produced.

Ruben Prien is able to reverse the interference that Si produced at the end of the first book to restore the present to what it was. The Project however, ran out of funding and was shut down. Si takes a trip back to the present out of curiosity and meets up with Rube again. Rube presents him with a lame argument as to why World War I needs to be prevented. Si accepts the assignment and goes back to 1912.

While in 1912 there are several chapters where Si goes around taking photos (which the author includes in the book). This style worked brilliantly in the first book, while here it seems like it was forced. The photos add nothing to the story or in enabling the reader to get a better flavor of 1912 New York.

Si then goes about trying to locate a man that Rube only knew as "Z." Z was working on some sort of European pact but disappeared shortly thereafter. Rube felt that had Z not disappeared, the pact would have been in place thus preventing the War. Si's 1912 associates turn out to be dull (the main one is a woman that Si calls the Jotta Girl). When Si finally figures out who Z is, it turns out that Z is just as dull as the other lifeless characters in this book.

I found myself skimming over several chapters of the book. One of these chapters explains an entire play that Si attends. What bearing it had on the story, I had no clue.

Towards the end of the book Rube sends Si back on another try to stop World War I by letting Si know that his own son will be killed in the war. I would have felt it a lot easier for Si to just try to save his son directly and not try to change the course of world events. Someone as intelligent as Si, should have come up with the same conclusion.

How I came to "From Time To Time": I first read Finney's "Time and Again" when I was 10. I loved the way the story really gave me a sense of what it could feel like to be a time traveler (rather the more standard sci-fi focus on the mechanics of time travel). The book is precise about the tiny details that make up daily life, and I was struck by what a "modern" man had to do to adapt to the "olden days." I was also thrilled to find an illustrated "grown-up book." Fast forward 27 years: I find a copy of "From Time To Time" at the bookstore and just have to buy it. Before starting the sequel, I re-read "Time and Again," marveling anew at Finney's skillful descriptions. Like the first time, I couldn't put the book down until I got to the very last page. As an older (and wiser?) reader I found inconsistancies, ridiculous transitions, and other flaws, but it was a great read just the same.

I wish I could say the same for the second book. The opening was promising - a secret gathering of people who look for clues to alternative time flow....a clever (if convoluted) way of bringing back The Project, destroyed by Si Morley at the end of the first book. The rest of the book read like Finney had just cut and pasted a whole bunch of story ideas together, unable to decide what version of Morley to use -- Si as a cad, as a tormented soul, as a flirt, as a secret agent, etc.

The story goes like this: Si agrees -- for no apparent reason -- to go back and try to stop WWI through involvement with the mysterious "Z." His trip takes him to a variety of places in NY (luckily, he bought a trusty camera!), and suddenly, the man who dearly loved the NY of the 1880s and his charming wife, Julia, is waxing poetic about the NY of 1911 and the "Jott Girl," who hits on him throughout the book (not that he minds).

The descriptions of people, places, and things in this book are flat. A lot of time is devoted to things that have nothing to do with the search for "Z" (including a long foray into the vaudeville scene to look for his 12-year old father, culminating in SIX PAGES of one vaudevillian's boring life story), and except for his attraction to Jott, Si seems to be having a miserable time.

Throwing in the Titanic in the last few pages was plain pointless; just a chance to bring in one more little historic reference. But, unlike Si's heartfelt brushes with great moments in history in the first book, here he's like a busy Forrest Gump, just trying to get his face in the picture.

Throughout "From Time To Time," I kept waiting for Si to go look up his wife and child, nearly 30 years in the future. How could a fellow so taken with the interaction of time with time, and so given to flights of philiosophy not even muse about the possibility? It would have been really interesting if Si had run into himself, aged now in pace with his family.

Finney deserves credit for searching out the right old photos, for capturing the spirit of some important moments in American history, and for trying to satisfy all us "Time and Again" fans. Unfortunately, "From Time To Time" doesn't do it.

From Time To Time may not be better than Time And Again, but it passes for an above-average book. I think that I got more laughs out of this book than the first one, but the ending in this sequel isn't very good. Instead of tying everything up at the end, the plot unravels. One must keep in mind, though, that Jack Finney was probably dying near the end of writing his book (he died of pneumonia and emphysema, which take a while to actually kill you, so I've heard), and couldn't put more time into the final few chapters. The rest of the book is perfect though, and the beginning is particularly interesting if you've read the novel this book is based on. I highly recommend it for anyone, but it's certainly not for anyone who hasn't read the first story, as the book refers to it a lot. So, in conclusion, read Time And Again first, then read this book right after. You'll like them both, believe me!