Now with masterfully restored original artwork, lovers of time travel, romance, and adventure can rediscover Time and Again, the beloved classic hailed as “THE great time-travel story” by Stephen King, author of 11/22/63, and praised as a “pure New York fun” by Alice Hoffman, author of The Rules of Magic. When advertising artist Si Morley is recruited to join a covert government operation … join a covert government operation exploring the possibility of time travel, he jumps at the chance to leave his twentieth-century existence and step into New York City in January 1882. Aside from his thirst for experience, he has good reason to return to the past–his friend Kate has a curious, half-burned letter dated from that year, and he wants to trace the mystery.
But when Si begins to fall in love with a woman he meets in the past, he will be forced to choose between two worlds–forever.
Called “the great time-travel story” by Stephen King, Time and Again is admired for its rich, painstakingly researched descriptions of life in New York City more than a century ago, and for the swift adventure at its core. With newly digitized art, you will fall in love with this refreshed classic all over again.more
I love a good time travel story and this one did not disappoint.
I really enjoyed this book for its merit on taking us back in time in a beautiful and fun way. Plus, I loved its originality in having actual drawings and photographs in it. I love “living” in another time and I’ll never forget the chance sighting of the not-yet-placed Statue of Liberty, and the sleigh ride through Central Park. If you enjoy New York City and living in another time period, this is right up your alley.
A vivid, romantic slip into the late 17th century. I very much enjoyed Jack Finney’s Time and Again largely due to the development of the main character and his description of New York in the 1880’s. The drawings and pictures add some interesting breaks in the story, but they are also a bit of a distraction and tended to pull me out of the moment. I picture Finney gathering pictures and drawings for research and the idea popping into his head to actually include them in the novel. I’m wondering if he had to overcome objections by his editor and publisher on this? My next novel starts with a short period piece and it’s a good reminder to gather a few photo’s as I believe it could really help with the level of detail in the descriptive narration.
The additional characters were fine, but none nearly as developed as Simon Morley (main character). I feel like he could of built much more tension with his love interest, Kate, in the current day. She fades from his life with little fanfare and I think Finney missed an opportunity. In addition, he clearly romanticizes the past. While he briefly touches on the plight of orphans and the lower class, the main character quickly shrugs this off. Finney makes a weak case that the past is better than the future, despite all the clues that’s it actually flipped.
I believe that if I was a New Yorker, or spent more time than a few brief vacations and business trips, I would have fallen for this novel more. I know Time and Again is a favorite novel for many and my guess is that it’s Finney’s excellent descriptions of 1880’s Manhattan. I don’t want to spoil the second half, but I think Simon’s relationships in the past are just as limited.
Fantastic, descriptive prose and an interesting story, but imho it falls short in developing enough of the supporting characters and relationships to make this a true classic.