Time and Again

Not so much a science fiction novel as a romantic fantasy. The method for time travel is not mechanical, so don't expect any time machine. How time travel is achieved is not really satisfactorily explained, although a good part of the start of the story is taken up with the "smoke and mirrors" of the time travel project. Apparently, all that one needs to do is to change your brain's modern expectations into the expectations of a past period. This involves no more than choosing and studying the period to be travelled to, then living in an exact mock-up which recreates life in that past period. This will "rewire the expectations" so to speak.When it comes right down to it, the author might just as well have proposed magic as the secret to travelling in time.The storyline is heavily larded with photographs and descriptions of New York in 1880 and the book takes rather a rosy view, concentrating on how much spiritually better life was, back in the day: how much cleaner the air was (doubtful); how much simpler, tougher, more enthusiastic and naïve the people were, enjoying the very fact of being alive in a way modern folk cannot. The bulk of the book comes across as a psychological and sociological study, an effort to bring to life the mindset of the chronological arrival point (as the author imagines it) rather than science fiction. There's the occasional nod toward poverty, but this element of past New York is not looked at much and only appears as something regrettable and best not dwelt on.Stripped of the fantasy elements, the plot itself involves the protagonist's choice between two women, both of whom he brings out of the time of their birth for brief visits back or forward as the case may be. It is not clear how this is achieved without the women having any of the mental preparation that was formerly necessary for the protagonist's own initial time trips. Apparently the women only have to be physically near him to make the journey with him (which is absurd as it contradicts the original premise upon which the time travel methodology was expounded).There is a melodramatic backdrop of heroic rescue and political corruption which sparks some interest, but this subplot cannot overcome the feeling that the novel is basically a conventional travel book given the added twist of a holiday romance, all transferred to 1880.There is some humour and wit to the character of the protagonist, particularly displayed before the first time travelling trip, when he's recruited to join the project and is given a tour, but this element of the character makes fewer appearances once the time travel has been achieved.Not really recommended for the science fiction buff.

'Psst! Wanna work on a secret project for the Government? So secret I can't tell you anything about it!' Most of us, I suspect, would shy away from such an unlikely offer, but not the hero of this time-travel classic. This is the first of many suspensions of disbelief needed to get the most out of this book. The project turns out to be a highly implausible method of slipping into 1882 New York, basically to see if it can be done.Once the rather laborious set-up is done with, it gets very interesting, and the descriptions make the period come to life. They are a little overdone, but the photos help, and it becomes clear this is a labour of love on the part of the author. Once the plot gets underway, the usual time-travel plot logic problems occur, notably the ending, which I won't give away.Even so, I really enjoyed this, and my thought throughout was that it cries out to be made into a large scale deluxe hardback, complete with street atlases and photographs of New York in 1882 and 1970, when the novel is set. The publishers are missing a real opportunity! I've read nothing else like it in the fantasy genre. Some of the 1970s perspective is a little dated now, and the poverty of the period is alarmingly by-passed for much of the time, but this was still a most enjoyable read.

I am left a bit confused at the end of this book. I thought it started off really well, I loved the idea of Si Morley willing himself to travel across time to the Dakota Building in New York in the late 1880s. Maybe if you are American, you will enjoy this book a lot more, knowing New York and all the buildings mentioned.I did enjoy the story, and couldn't figure out what was going to happen, or how it was going to end, but I found the last two thirds of the book quite heavy going, in particular I found the section which deals with the fire, very long. The time when Si and Julia are trapped in the office went particularly slowly, I found.There were an awful lot of names to remember, and I just couldn't be bothered to keep working out who was who. I did like the section which takes place in the boarding house, and the sleigh ride sequence.This could have been made into a marvellous film, and I'm surprised that nobody has ever attempted it.It's different, and you will get absorbed by this book, it will make you think about time, and how the world has changed .....