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He sat silent for a moment, then again smiled, suddendly and very pleasantly, adding, „And I’m not a bit surprised.. This confirms, most of us feel— and as all of us, I’m certain, will come to feel— a theory we’ve been calling ‘twig-in-the-river.’ Would you like to hear it?” I nodded. “Well, time is often compared to a river, a stream, as you know. What happens at any one point in the stream depends at least partly on what happened upstream earlier. But a tremendous number of events occur every day and every moment; billions of events, some of them enormous. So if time is a river, it’s infinitely bigger than even a Mississippi at full raging flood. While you “-he smiled at me-” are the very tiniest of twigs dropped into that torrent. It’s possible, or would seem so, that even the smallest might have an effect; might lodge, for example, and eventually cause a barrier that could affect the entire course of even the great stream. The possibility, the danger, of important changes seems to exist. But does it really? What are the chances? There is virtually a one-hundreded-percent probability that a twig tossed into that enormous and incredibily powerful current, into the inconceivable momentum of that vast Mississippi of events, will not and cannot affect it one goddam bit.
Time and Again
Jack Finney
I should’ve known better.
Chasing the high left by a book with an impulse buy of another aimed to replicate that same experience never works. It is the third time that it has happened since I started this blog, and the result is always lacklustre and unfair to the book at hand. It first happened when I read In the Heart of The Sea because of Moby Dick, and then it happened again when I read A Stay Against Confusion on account of my enjoyment of The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and now for the third (and final?) time it has happened with Jack Finney’s Time and Again. This time, the instigator of this mistake is the wonderful science-fiction timetravel novel Somewhere in Time by Richard Matheson which I crowned as my last and favorite book of 2022.
Jack Finney’s book appeared on my radar during the preparation of my post for Somewhere In Time where I learned that Time and Again is: (a) a science-fiction book, (b) and a time travel book, and that (c) the time travel methodology is via self-hypnosis within an environment that remains static between the two time points, and that the (d) the time period explored is also the end of the 19th Century. Those four very specific coincidences tickled me and, in addition to the glowing reviews and the craving for something like Somewhere in Time, I caved in and bought the book.
For the purpose of clarity, Time and Again came first. Finney’s book was published in 1970, whereas Somewhere in Time saw the light five years later. Based on my research, both authors conceived each project independently of one another, but the similarities and timeline do cast some doubts about Somewhere in Time‘s originality. However, if we disregard each book’s nativity, and we focus solely on execution, I’d still consider Somewhere in Time as the better piece. But, since the odds of this happening where stacked against Time and Again, I’ll withhold further comparisons between the two and invite potential would-be readers to check my review of Somewhere in Time if they are interested. (Editorial note: I was going to space out the two books because I knew that, no matter what, the memory of Somewhere in Time would skew my reading, and that time could perhaps help to lessen its influence. There are two reasons why I did not adhere to this: my to-read pile only contained author’s that I’ve already read recently, and Time and Again happened to be mentioned during the preface of the previous book I read, so I took it as a sign and just rolled with it).
Time and Again tells the story of Simon (Si) Morley, an artist in his late twenties, that is recruited for a secret government project created to travel back in time. The method of time travel is simple, the time period is replicated within a close location, so that the intended traveler can convince himself -with hypnosis playing a part- that he is indeed within that time period. After successfully managing to go back from 1970s New York to it’s 1885 version, Simon begins to fall in love with the time period, its costumes, and a beautiful girl, but the repercussions of his actions have yet to be determined, and with each successful mission the scope of the project and Simon’s desires and ethics begin to conflict.
My favorite aspect of Time and Again is that it is an illustrated novel. The way Jack Finney works in the sketches that his protagonist (again, an artist) makes, or the pictures that he takes of 1885’s New York, simply enhances the novel. I may be in the minority here, but I embrace illustrations and pictures within books. I couldn’t imagine The Lord of The Rings without Allan Lee’s (or Tolkiens) artwork, or Dante’s Divine Comedy without Dore’s hellscapes, or Moby Dick illustrated by Rockwell Kent; and I certainly can’t conceive Time and Again without its illustrations. These images add another layer to Simon’s trip that make the story come to life.
I’ve also thoroughly enjoyed that the implications of time travel are addressed and end up being a point of conflict. By today’s modern standards, they may not read as particularly clever or though-provoking, but I can see these being quite enthralling at the time of publication. The project first works under the theoretical implication that the time traveler is like a twig in a river; the effects of his travel minimal and incapable of disrupting the intended course of the stream. Once this theory is disproved, the darker under tones and implications of the misuse of this new power begin to emerge and climax on an ending that is extremely satisfying. The twig in a river presentation somehow stuck with me and I decided that it’d be a great preface to this review.
My main gripe with the story is with the way one of the threads takes over the time travel aspect of the novel. Without spoiling the details, this thread begins with a rather arbitrary reason for Simon to go back to 1885, and continues with an equally arbitrary mystery resolution when he eventually manages to go back in time. I understand that once you go back in time, your traveler needs to do something, and there needs to be some form of narrative momentum, but it is very arbitrary on account of being a government program. (Editorial note: OK, one more comparison with Somewhere in Time. In Richard Matheson’s story I was fully invested in the plot, because the plot is the character – as Aristotle would say –. Whenever Time and Again de-prioritizes Simon’s experience for the resolution of this arbitrary mystery the focus of the novel gets lost).
On the subject of problematic threads, I’m very surprised that Kate’s trip with Simon (Kate being Simon’s girlfriend in the seventies) never really amounted to anything. I thought that her success in unlocking time travel would play a bigger role – she is after all the second person to achieve this task and the project heads are aware of her success–, but her involvement with the project ends quite abruptly and it is never revisited. Imagine what would happen, if she went rogue and caused irreparable damage to the future. Those would be the kind of stakes that, in my opinion, would make for a more compelling narrative. (Editorial note: I don’t have a particular interest in reading it, but I am aware that Finney wrote a sequel to the book that was published in 1995, titled From Time to Time. I’ve glanced at the plot and it still revolves around Simon which, to me, is another missed opportunity by Finney to use Kate).
Finally, on a stylistic level, there were times when the level of detail became repetitive and tedious. The book ends with a footnote (which technically should be an endnote) where Finney states that “my efforts at accuracy became compulsive”, so I’ll file this complaint under that desire of accuracy with this warning for would-be readers. (Editorial note: my breaking point was the description of the goods sold in a shop; somehow I reached it at the expense of a pickled jar, which I did not need to know that it was pickled).
I finished Time and Again by Jack Finney the 5th of May; I read most of it during a trip to and from Malaga. Overall, I think that the book is just OK; mind you I’m very biased by my reasons for buying it.
Since I’ve lowered my to-read pile to just three book and those that remain are from author’s that I already know, I’ve decided to let them simmer for a bit and indulge in other books during this summer. This text constitutes my last post of a very successful reading-run which means my writing has finally caught up with my reading, and the next review might take a bit longer to pop up. Until then, and as always, thanks for reading.
Author’s note: This text is dedicated to my cat. She unexpectedly passed away on the day I finished reading this book. She came into my life- also unexpectedly- and gave me joy, happiness, and companionship. I’ll miss her forever and will travel back to my memories with her. This is the last picture I have from her, she was basking in the sun and enjoying life.
Editorial Notes 