'Time and Again' by Jack Finney

Summary: One of the most beloved tales of our time!

Science fiction, mystery, a passionate love story, and a detailed history of Old New York blend together in Jack Finney's spellbinding story of a young man enlisted in a secret government experiment.

MY THOUGHTS:

The Goodreads summary call this 'one of the most beloved tales of our time,' and my back cover blurb says, 'this illustrated novel quickly became a cult favourite. Such high praise seems a bit overdrawn to me, but it is quite a fun read. And it was published in the year 1970, when I was a tiny baby. This is also when the 'modern' starting point of the tale takes place, which is quite interesting.  

Si Morley (short for Simon) is a 28-year-old artist who gets a rare invitation, based on his army records, to join a secret government project. He's told that he has an even rarer blend of skills and qualities that might tick their boxes. When Si discovers that the secret mission involves the possibility of time travel, he's quick to opt in.

The methodology involves a mixture of intense immersion in time capsules of a former era, along with self hypnosis training. The premise is based on some Einstein-backed theories that time, rather than being an arrow-straight, linear projection, is more like an ever-spinning ferris-wheel in the cosmos, which the initiated can learn to board and disembark at will. (That's how I'd interpret it based on my reading of this novel.)

When he realizes he possesses the knack, Si elects to visit his own home base, New York City, in 1882. His girlfriend, Kate, is the custodian of a mystery from her stepfather, whose own father, wealthy and respected financier, Andrew Carmody, received a cryptic letter that resulted in 'the burning by fire of the whole world...,' and the repercussions caused his death. Si is appointed to get to the bottom of it, if he can. Who sent the letter at the specific time it was franked, and why? 

Of course Si gets in deeper than he ever imagines, first becoming a tenant at a guesthouse, then eavesdropping on a blackmail plot, and finally getting embroiled in a huge, city disaster. In some ways, it's quite a conventional time travel tale. Si develops an intense personal interest in changing the trajectory of time, since he'd hate to see Julia, the girl he's falling for, marry the unscrupulous crook, Jake Pickering. 

The head honchos of the project back in 1970 (or I guess I should say forward!) are carefully monitoring the effects caused by their time travelers, since of course going back in time and interfering with unfolding events could prove catastrophic. They counsel their men to abide by what they consider the 'twig in the river' theory. A small twig flicked into a raging torrent shouldn't effect the flow one iota, provided they tiptoe carefully. 

Si's reasoning for ignoring all this and plunging in willy nilly is quite interesting. For doesn't Julia count as much as any person from his own era? Just because she was born way back in their past, why sacrifice her well-being over any number of faceless folk who hadn't been born while she lived? Standing back to be a spectator is more than his conscience can take. (The fact that she's a hot chick who he's in love with has a lot to do with his high-minded stance about this, but he conveniently overlooks that.)   

I have a problem with the idea that Si would so quickly and easily turn his back on the good thing he has going with Kate. Just because Julia is a figure from the past doesn't negate infidelity. It's hardly different from going overseas and becoming besotted with another girl there. So I can't talk myself out of thinking that Si is a rat. 

But Jack Finney has a fun way of telling his tale. He's collected all sorts of historical, illustrated documents to weave throughout the pages, presenting the artwork and photos as Si's own. He draws from history, using a devastating fire to build his plot around, and even slips in his own time traveler, Si, as a real anonymous gentleman rescuer featured in the newspaper. And the savage, corrupt police chief Thomas Byrnes is drawn from history too. 

At first it seemed Finney was going totally flat out for a romanticized view of the past. Si remarks that faces from 1882 appear way more animated and purposeful than those of 1970. 'They moved through their lives in unquestioned certainty that there was a reason for being and that's something worth having. Losing it is to lose something vital.' But he balances it by revealing the miserable desperation of the general populace, especially through the eyes of one poor streetcar driver.

Warning: some chapters are incredibly long! The crazy eventful chapter 19 alone could've been split into several. No wonder chapter 20 starts with, 'I slept late next morning.' I'd consider this book a must-read for anyone at all familiar with New York City (which I'm definitely not). You can follow the characters' progress street by street.  

Overall I quite enjoyed this. Finney succeeds in creating the feeling that time is a powerful solvent. Catastrophic events of yesteryear become tiny drips in history. This holds true whether or not we manage to suspend our disbelief and buy into the concept of time travel. 

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