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    Time and Again
    Time and Again
    Time and Again
    Audiobook17 hours

    Time and Again

    Written by Jack Finney

    Narrated by Paul Hecht

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    The 50th anniversary edition of the beloved classic that Stephen King has called “THE great time-travel story.” Featuring a brand-new introduction by the New York Times bestselling author of Recursion, Blake Crouch.

    When advertising artist Si Morley is recruited to join a covert government operation exploring the possibility of time travel, he jumps at the chance to leave his mundane 20th-century existence and step into the past. But he also has another motivation for going back in time: a half-burned letter that tells of a mysterious, tragic death and ominously of “fire which will destroy the whole world.”

    Traveling to New York City in January 1882 to investigate, he finds a Manhattan teeming with a different kind of life, the waterfront unimpeded by skyscrapers, open-air markets packed with activity, Central Park bustling with horse drawn sleighs—a city on the precipice of great things. At first, Si welcomes these trips as a temporary escape but when he falls in love with a woman he meets in the past, he must choose whether to return to modern life or live in 1882 for good.

    “Pure New York fun” (Alice Hoffman, New York Times bestselling author), Time and Again is meticulous recreation of New York in the late nineteenth century, exploring the possibilities of time travel to tell an ageless story of love, longing, and adventure. Finney’s magnum opus has been a source of inspiration for countless science fiction writers since its first publication in 1970.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateMar 8, 2011
    ISBN9781442342859
    Author

    Jack Finney

    Jack Finney (1911–1995) was the author of the much-loved and critically acclaimed novel Time and Again, as well as its sequel, From Time to Time. Best known for his thrillers and science fiction, a number of his books—including Invasion of the Body Snatchers—have been made into movies.

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    Reviews for Time and Again

    4/5

    1,165 ratings87 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Thanks to insomnia and a slow shift at work, I read all of Jack Finney's remarkable book Time and Again, which was written in 1970. Both historical fiction and science fiction, the focus of the novel is time travel through a process of intense learning about a period in the past combined with the practice of self-hypnosis. And it works! Artist Simon Morley is the first to jump to the past successfully, from 1970 New York City to the same city in 1882. Despite his careful preparation for the journey backwards, Simon is overwhelmed, not surprisingly, by the reality of being in New York in 1882. Everything is the same, but different. Trinity Church is the tallest building in the city. The Statue of Liberty does not yet grace the harbour. Food tastes better, houses are colder, fire is lethal as almost everything in the city is made of wood. Fire plays a large and terrifying role in the book. Like any good story, there is a romance - or two, in this case, one in the present and one in the past. There are schemes of blackmail, murder, sledding in Central Park on a snowy day, and the joys and struggles of a sudden transition to a different era, a different century. I liked the book and thought that Finney's story had interesting ideas, and certainly it is a good book. May I say that it was, possibly, too masculine for my taste? There was a flavour of a Boys' Own periodical in it that I never could get past, where women are in the script because they have to be, not because they're welcome. Finney is obviously no woman-hater: the women he designs for Morley are capable, intelligent, beautiful, and feisty, but there is a masculinity to them as well. Still, it was a good and creative book, and I enjoyed reading it.
    • 5/5
      A great time travel story ... I've read it several times over the years. Nothing like it!
    • 4/5
      "In November 1970, Simon Morley, an advertising sketch artist, is approached by U.S. Army Major Ruben Prien to participate in a secret government project.He is taken to a huge warehouse on the West Side of Manhattan, where he views what seem to be movie sets, with people acting on them. "It seems this is a project to learn whether it is feasible to send people back into the past.Si travels by what appears to be self hypnosis to NYC 1882.The past holds blackmail, subterfuge, romance among other things.Initially, his activities in the past are making no difference to the present.Dr Danzinger (originator of the project) resigns when it appears that time manipulation has occurred in another wing of the project.The plot evolves............---------------Bear in mind that the book was written over 40 years agoThings may appear simplistic and not very challenging to the readerWhile not an engrossing tale, it's an enjoyable tale.3.5 ★
    • 5/5
      An interesting story with real history blended in. Time worthy reading.
    • 5/5
      Slow start but overall good listen! I recommend listening. Bravo
    • 5/5
      This book was such a trip - no pun intended. I really enjoyed it on two levels; I found the story interesting. Time travel books are among my favorites even though this is a bit different from the usual. The second level of enjoyment came from reading a book written in 1970. It was like another layer of time travel albeit one not intended by the author. This is a book that takes place in a world of locks and keys, dial up telephones and typewriters. I suspect for a generation who did not grow up in that world it must seem very alien. For me it was like a touch of nostalgia and I suspect it added to my enjoyment.Si Morely is an artist who is working for an ad agency (where he draws with a pencil!). He's approached by a man to join a government program but he can't know what it is until he knows if he qualifies. It's all very mysterious but Si is bored at his job and he really has no connections so he figures, what the heck. Si passes the test and he learns that the program is about time travel.Si has a girlfriend who's adopted father had a sad history part of which included a letter mailed in New York in 1882 so using the "method" Si wants to go back to that period to watch the letter being mailed. Of course he is not allowed to change history. As Si learns what he needs to know things are not all as up and up as they seem and he needs to figure out whom he can trust and he has to figure out where he belongs.I truly enjoyed this story. It held my interest 'til the end. It was so very different from books written today and I don't even know if I can tell you why. It really was like stepping back into another world. I'm keeping it to read again because I suspect I'll find something on a second read through that I missed on the first. The characters are well developed and diverse and the plot is full of fun little twists and turns. The addition of the old photos and drawings only adds to the fun of the book.
    • 4/5
      A great mind bender! Well written and a very good story. I liked the narrator too! I thought it was a little too long and, at times, I found myself wishing it was over. A LOT of detailed minutiae which was indeed somewhat tiresome!

      Overall, though, a very good story and well worth a listen.
    • 1/5
      time travel is fiction, but at least give me a plausible way of being transported. this was hypnotism, boo for Stephen king for recommending it.
    • 3/5
      Fun time travel novel in which our hero travels back to January of 1882. The way he goes, via self hypnosis, strikes me as improbable, but I suppose as a mechanism it functions as well as any. Essentially a historical novel rather than sci-fi, the book not only takes us back with a story, but also shows us pictures and drawings from around the time - adding to the verisimilitude.
    • 5/5

      You know the drill: if you're going to write about time travel, you're going to run into paradoxes and other problems. How to give a believable explanation of the science of time travel? How do you go back in time to change something in the past, if by changing it, you wouldn't have ever needed to go back in time in the first place? It's enough to make your head explode (mine just did).


      Fortunately, in Time and Again, Finney doesn't bother going through the gymnastics of trying to make it all airtight. He doesn't waste the reader's time on the whys and hows of time travel: instead, he focuses on telling a story and describing the world of New York in 1882, the setting to which our protagonist travels.


      Si Morley, an artist who is unsatisfied with his advertising job, is approached by an ultra-secret government agency. They are recruiting him as a candidate for a new project, one in which he will attempt to go back in time.


      As Morley moves between his contemporary 1970s New York City and the city of the 1880s, he takes in his surroundings with an artist's eye, and that is half the pleasure of the book right there: leisurely, loving descriptions of fashions and architecture of the day; passages describing the everyday world of 1882 and its inhabitants, going about their everyday lives. It all comes to full-color life, in contrast with the static, monochromatic photographs and relics that survive from the era.


      Needless to say, Morley gets in over his head in 1882, and through chance and recklessness, threatens to upend history and the lives of those he encounters. He also runs into an ethical dilemma as the ultimate goal of the government project evolves into something other than time travel for its own sake.


      Finney makes amazing use of photographs, illustrations and newspaper articles from the time, weaving them into his story and giving it life and resonance. Along the way, there is plenty of suspense and drama, but be prepared to take your time, as there is no lack of description. Finney wants to make sure that the reader really sees New York in 1882, and he succeeds on that count.


      Time and Again can be forgiven if it doesn't give us a blipping, beeping, science-filled description of a time machine; it also earns forgiveness for setting aside the paradoxes of time travel. Instead of tangling us up in explanations, Finney surrounds us with a living, breathing world, a time and a story well worth stepping into.


    • 4/5
      Combination of science fiction and historical fiction, this book mixes time traveling with a heavy dose of New York City history. Set in “present day” of 1970, the year it was published, I felt like I traveled in time twice, once to 1970 (how times have changed since then!) and again to 1882, making the title even more apropos. Perhaps this clever author was thinking ahead? The protagonist, Si, is recruited for a governmental project involving time travel, which only a handful of candidates can perform. He has a personal motive to help solve a mystery involving his girlfriend's family.

      Full of elaborate historical detail and descriptions, it evokes the desired feeling of what it was like to live in New York in 1882. The plot drives the story, and once it picks up the pace, it is a gripping adventure. To me, the only drawback is the character development, particularly with respect to the romantic component. I didn’t get a sense of what drew these people together, and this element was important to the story, since it is the basis of some key decisions. I found it an enjoyable and imaginative adventure. Recommended to those who enjoy books about time traveling and readers of historical fiction.
    • 3/5
      I might have loved this had I read it in the 1970s, but I have long grown totally bored with the straight up guy protagonist and a totally plot driven narrative. And all the gushing at how wonderful life was in 1882 NYC seemed very shallow to me. Knowing your loved ones will be subject to smallpox and polio and all the other delights of pre-antibiotic medicine are such and well, the 50 years after 1970 probably weren't much worse than 1882-1932.
    • 3/5
      A work of fantasy involving time travel. In this story the main character travels between NYC in modern times to NYC in the 1800s. It was interesting to see the bustling city compared in the different centuries. The book doesn't get into time travel much, does discuss the ethical dilemmas of time travel, and the motivation one has to change history. I have to admit that I had never heard of this book. It was published in 1970 and is the first book of a series.
    • 4/5
      A time travel story set in NYC in the 1970s and the 1880s, and also a mystery with some interesting twists along the way. I enjoyed the story quite a bit and only have one quibble: the love story felt superficial and only there as a way to get the main character to make certain decisions. I wasn't invested in the romance aspect at all and there was no chemistry between the two characters. I think the book would have been better without it, honestly.
    • 4/5
      A nostalgia trip with time travel and amateur sleuth genre trappings. Most enjoyable was the 1882 NYC period piece aspect, the mystery serving as Macguffin to steer the reader around various points of interest: arm of the Statue of Liberty resting in Madison Square; Police Inspector Thomas Byrne's contribution to municipal police culture; the city's municipal plan and architecture; representative folkways and social customs. A love triangle is less crucial to plot than to character, perhaps typically of romance, but to Finney's credit the relationships provide insight into narrator Si's motivations and neither Kate nor Julia are sideshows or conquests. What isn't clear is whether the misogyny is Finney's or his character's -- perhaps it's both, it's on full display throughout.The central mystery places characters into various historical episodes while chasing down the hidden references in a family letter. Those details from 1882 NYC are tied to a 1970s military project into time travel, and Si's personal interests soon entangle with instances of municipal graft and to the catastrophic Great Fire on Park Row. Mundane details of the period are woven in: the practice among gentry to custom order heel prints, for example; the sights & sounds of a horse-drawn bus ride through Manhattan, or operation of the el system on a winter's day. In this respect Finney crafts a historical novel, almost as immersive as Patrick O'Brian's. The twist in the tail is satisfying but wouldn't have been necessary for me to enjoy the story overall. It ties together various threads, though, and doesn't seem a cheat when it arrives. The meta aspect of the manuscript itself is even less necessary, though I'm always curious to get an accounting for a first-person narrative, so I was satisfied that Finney provides a fitting rationale.//Time travel: Finney's mechanism is reminiscent of William Gibson's Jackpot novels, resting on a concept of time travel as information exchange. Gibson explicitly addresses the concomitant problem of material bodies in different timeframes, how an identity (personality) traveling between times can reside in a body at all times; Finney's hand-waving is most acute in this aspect of the story.On my wishlist for a long while, pleased to find a used copy as hoped. Should look into both Richard Matheson's Somewhere In Time and Darryl Brock's If I Never Get Back for similar period piece time travel stories.
    • 1/5
      Three and a half chapters in and it was still setting up the story which is so dated I just cant' stand it. I'm done.
    • 3/5
      The first half of the book is exquisite detail of 1880s New York City with some 1960s New York City thrown in as the framing storyline. Interestingly, that framing storyline—at the beginning of the novel—could have easily been 21st century New York City. (The references in the penultimate scenes of the book, though, root it quite firmly in the cold war of the 1960s.) Near the dead center of the book, the narrative takes off like a rocket and hardly takes a breath until the closing sentences.The excessive description is tedious and perhaps only appreciated by an aficionado of the era. I found myself reading quickly through parts of it and having to back-track to pick up important plot details. Still, I'm happy to have read it.
    • 1/5
      What the fuck? What the fuck.
      I ran into this early in the book: "and because the Negro you walked by eyed you warily, as you did him, each of you trying to conceal it."
      I let it pass as I though it was some weird paranoia.
      Then I came upon this whopper: "it had turned cold; and half a block down the cross street, on the corner of which I was standing, a group of young Negroes was walking toward Lex, so I didn't hang around to encounter them and explain how fond I'd always been of Martin Luther King."
    • 4/5
      Si, the main character here, is recruited by a government agency to participate in a time travel project. Thus, he travels back to New York City in 1882. He falls in love with someone, also. Much of this novel focuses on that place and era in detail (with illustrations/photos throughout); so those without an interest in old NYC may not find this as engaging as I did.
    • 5/5
      Fantastic ending. Starts out a bit slow and picks up steam throughout. The leap of imagination for time travel is rather reasonable. Very enjoyable read.
    • 4/5
      Time and Again by Jack Finney was originally published in 1970 and has grown to become a classic novel about time slip or time travel. This book even has a few fan sites that are devoted not only to the book but to the New York City locations that are visited during the course of the book. The story is fairly simple; a man is recruited by a mysterious government organization to investigate the idea of time travel. Of course, once successful, questions of morality arise about what, if anything should be tampered with in order to affect a change in the future.Dialing in to New York City circa 1882, the main character Si Morley becomes wrapped up in a mystery that involves his present day girlfriend’s family. Eventually, after meeting a woman in the past, Si must make a choice. Despite the charm and imagination of the premise I wasn’t quite convinced with the method of time travel as it seemed entirely too simplistic, but the ethical and moral questions that arose during the course of the book were handled intelligently and in a way that enhanced the story.By stressing the human angle of the story and using illustrations and photographs of New York in the 1880’s, Time and Again becomes a light, romanticized story that is appealing in its guilelessness but personally I prefer a little more grit in my science fiction so although I enjoyed this story well enough, it isn’t going to find a place on my favorite books list.
    • 5/5
      There's something about this book that makes it possible to believe in time travel, and that alone makes it something far beyond time travel books I've read in the past. Finney manages to build this world and the premise so carefully, and the logic is so wonderfully simple and sensible in its own way, that his utterly real characters make it seem as if we're not reading about some other world, but our own reality where, just perhaps, this might be possible. That's the beauty of this book, combined with his wonderful characters and writing that sucks you in and all but demands that you keep turning pages. Each time I sat down to read a few chapters, I read far more than that, and had to be forced by time or my eyes to finally put the book down.I freely admit that I'm not much for time travel books, normally, though I love fantasy--this brings together everything I love about suspense, literary fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction in general, into a tale that feels more real and translated into fiction than it feels like a story.I'd absolutely recommend, and I'm so glad to have discovered this author.
    • 3/5
      The plot was pretty predictable. Great descriptive of NYC in 1882 though.
    • 3/5
      An interesting idea and a good mystery to solve, but in the end Finney's journey back into the past is overwrought with descriptions of late nineteenth-century New York City. I found myself skimming several paragraphs in a row describing the city but not in relation to any plot points. It seems like so much attention was paid to describing the city that motivation and character details were overlooked.
    • 3/5
      I can see potential in this time travel novel, but the scenes in it dragged on for far too long. I enjoyed the character relationships the most.
    • 5/5
      A mystery which is solved by time travel. The illustrations are wonderful.
    • 4/5
      Six-word review: Imagination takes flight across the decades.Extended review:Recruited as a subject for an extremely secret government project, commercial artist Simon Morley bridges the interval from the New York City of 1970 to the same city as it was in 1882. How his life and those of others change as a result is the plot of the novel, which blends mystery and romance with the ever-intriguing theme of time travel. There's a nice twist at the end.The author isn't shy about revealing his fascination with the everyday sights and events of New York in the late nineteenth century; in fact, at times it seems as if his whole purpose were to show off the extent of his research. He has an ability to bring the period and place to life, as if he himself had seen it first hand, making us feel as though we were seeing it too. Finney's use of contemporary illustrative art, photographs, and newspaper stories lends authenticity to his very evocative rendition of time and place. If at times it does seem to grow long, I think perhaps that's only a matter of my own twenty-first-century impatience, cultivated by an environment in which a five-second computer response time is referred to as "forever."One of the most interesting aspects of this story, however, is almost certainly outside the author's design: namely, his depiction of a major U.S. city in the late middle of the twentieth century. In 1970, Richard Nixon was president; the Cuban missile crisis and the Kennedy assassination were events in recent memory; the Civil Rights movement was in progress, although (to judge from the author's use of language: young women are all "girls") women's liberation had a long way to go in raising public consciousness; pollution was already a major issue, but computers were still a novelty, and small electronic devices were science fiction. In contrasting 1882 with 1970, Finney shows us a period 46 years ago that seems calmer and safer than 2016, even though in so many ways it already felt dark and dangerous at the time.This is not a heavy or especially serious book, although it has its moments (and there are a few little questions of logic and continuity). It's mostly just an entertaining fantasy, with an extra dose of verisimilitude to make us feel as if we'd been there. And that we might want to go again.
    • 4/5
      A very interesting read. I highly recommend it.The author transplants you back to early NYC.
    • 4/5
      There's something magical in the writing style of this book. Something that makes there seem (to me) to be less plot, less drama - but makes the subtlety, the emphasis on place & time, to be more than enough to make up for the lack of excitement. I don't know exactly how I feel about this book - it's not SF but I can't seem to view it clearly through a lens of literature either - all I really have is a fuzzy sense of goodwill towards it. And this is the second time I've read it. Maybe I'll get more as I discuss it with fellow fans of Time Travel in our Group Read, this June 2014.
    • 2/5
      This book will appeal to readers who like a slower, more descriptive story, especially those who love New York, because the author describes the city as it was in 1882 in minute detail, and works a famous fire in the World Building into the plot.

      Unfortunately, I found it to be boring and dated; the references to the typing pool or someone’s “girl” unintentionally hilarious. I was frequently reminded of Somewhere in Time by Richard Matheson (another time travel book in which the time travel mechanism is not explained other than a sort of self-hypnosis), but it did not have the romance story to keep me interested (or much plot at all).