Time and Again

By: Jack Finney

Narrated by: Paul Hecht

Length: 17 hrs

Publisher's 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.

Transported from the mid-20th century to New York City in the year 1882, Si Morley walks the fashionable "Ladies' Mile" of Broadway, is enchanted by the jingling sleigh bells in Central Park, and solves a 20th-century mystery by discovering its 19th-century roots. Falling in love with a beautiful young woman, he ultimately finds himself forced to choose between his lives in the present and the past.

A story that will remain in the listener's memory, Time and Again is a remarkable blending of the troubled present and a nostalgic past, made vivid and extraordinarily moving by the images of a time that was... and perhaps still is.

©1970 Jack Finney (P)2011 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

"Go back to a wonderful world and have a wonderful time doing it." ( The New York Times)

The absolute best! My favorite novel of all time!

Even after reading and listening many times over the last 25 years, "Time and Again" remains my favorite novel of all time. Does not get any better than this.

AMAZING writing! Love of time travel not necessary

Wonderful writing, vivid details. If you love New York this is a must reed! Riveting! after reading the other reviews, I'm shocked that they hated the details and the slow easy pace. I guess it's why so many young people today don't wanna here about what life was like in the 50s and 60s... they've never experienced a simpler life and how wonderful such a life can be ...I've read this book a second time, it was even better. I had no idea why the writer never mentioned the killing of John Lennon at the Dakota, well now I know, it was from another time!!! This is my favorite of all the hundreds of audio books I've ever listened listened to!!!

Worth making it to the end

The details of 19th century New York can be, at times, a bit overwhelming to listen through.

I have to say, in the end, the vivid descriptions, and the relationships, make complete sense and are a compelling listen.

I will be listening to the sequel; I’m looking forward to it.

A Gripping Time Travel Saga with a Few Weak Elemen

Where does Time and Again rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I would put this book in the top twenty percent of the audiobooks I've listened to so far, though just where in that twenty percent might vary from day to day. Once I really got into it, I couldn't put the book down. And the narrator is incredibly easy to listen to.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Time and Again?

I've often wondered what someone from the past would think of our modern world. The telling of Julia's experiences in the twentieth century does a nice job, I feel, of dealing with that question, and that had to be the most memorable moment for me.

Which scene was your favorite?

See my answer to the previous question as, in this case, "most memorable" equals "favorite".

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

A Time Traveler with Ethics

Any additional comments?

My only gripe with the plot is that I fel the idea of time travel through hypnosis is a bit corny. It almost had me thinking unfavorably about the book at first: I was going to finish it because I wanted to know how it ended. But once I got past that issue, I found myself carried away by the story, and I can understand why Stephen King, in his comments at the end of 11/22/63, praised this book as much as he did. I highly recommend it.

Awesome time travel!

Great story. Wish it continued on and heard what his life was like beyond this ending.

We LOVE Jack Finney's Time and Again

Would you consider the audio edition of Time and Again to be better than the print version?

My husband and I love to listen to this together and usually listen as we are travelling in the van. Better and more fun than reading solo in a book.

What did you like best about this story?

The descriptions of New York in the late 1800's and the premise of the story that we could go back in time and experience the earlier time. There is also the contrasts of the different types of lives the people lived then. We can actually feel that we are there with the main character. And, of course we enjoyed the end!

What about Paul Hecht’s performance did you like?

Somehow it seems easy to tell the different characters he portrays. He has a wonderful rich voice, although it can lull me to sleep if I am tired!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Where the past comes alive.

Any additional comments?

I love the ending, too. We gave our first copy of the book to someone to read and never saw it again, but our first introduction was on the radio in Kalamazoo so we fondly remember it being read to us chapter by chapter.

Good but underwhelming

This book was well written and the narration was very good, but when I went into it thinking it’d be comparable to 11/22/63, I was very underwhelmed. I was waiting and waiting for that aha moment and it just didn’t happen. Again, there were good parts and it was not a bad read but comes out on the bottom in comparison.

Preachy

It was ok. It was preachy and sexist, but it was written long ago. It was a bargain price, so I guess I can't complain.

A fine story, a fine performance

A fun and convincing story, dated only by an annoying habit of the time; women are referred to as girls. One sentence nearly ruined the book for me; it expressed an irrational fear of young black men. I think it was a product of the times though, however irrational.

an enjoyable read

This is one of the books that you will come back to again and again. This is a plausible story of time travel complete with a poignant love story and a real historical disaster. One finds himself lost in the story, and isn't that the goal of an audio book?