Time and Again

At the end of Stephen King's 11/23/63, the author thanked Jack Finney for writing the Time and Again, the classic of the genre. That planted the seed in my head to check out the audiobook. Stephen King was right. I liked 11/23/63, but it does not compare to the great Finney novel. I have read Time and Again twice, and loved the audiobook just as much as I enjoyed reading and rereading that novel. This story makes New York City in the 1880's totally come alive. I felt transported in a way that no other time travel story has done. Si Morley is the man who travels back from 1970. He is an artist, and describes 19th century NYC as only an artist can do. This novel is also a mystery and love story, and has an action-adventure element to it. The only weakness with this story is the very flimsy science that this time travel experiment is based on. Don't let that ruin this otherwise amazing and wondrous novel. I have listened to many audiobooks in the past few years, and Time and Again may be my very favorite. I already know that this will be one I will listen to again. The reader is great. It's a first person narrative, and the voice fits perfectly with the narrator, Si. He also sounds like he is from 1970. One other good feature - there are few details from modern life, and the "present" could be 2012 as well as 1970. The author clearly wanted to write a novel that would not be dated in a few years. He succeeded.

I really wanted to like this book and was looking forward to it. It took exactly 4.5 hrs to get to anything of interest and then it started picking up the pace. It left me with the feeling as if I had been standing in line all day to go down the waterslide and as I got to the top and it was my turn, they closed the water park and told me to go back down using the stairs. All that anticipation for nothing...

I felt this could have been a much more intriguing and interesting story but it left me flat. I don't consider it a complete waste it has it's moments but few and far between.

Yes, I believe so. It certainly pales in comparison to the Stephen King story that led so many of us to it, but it's an interesting tale in it's own right. I'll agree with other reviewers that the detail in the story drags on forever, and it definitely could have been told as well or better in half the words, but overall it was an intriguing story and I enjoyed it.

Unfortunately, the narration also suffers when compared to Craig Wasson's performance of

For anyone who is considering this based on the afterword in King's

I listened to this book years ago on cassette tape from the library and was excited to find it here on Audible only to be disappointed that it was abridged. I wrote to Audilbe asking for the unabridged, but received no feedback. Just as I was about to give in and get the abridged version, I discovered that the unabridged had just been added. : )

The combination of science and historical fictions makes for an engrossing tale the details of which I don't recall exactly, but which I look forward to rediscovering!

Incredibly, this book was recommended by Stephen King in the epilogue of 11-22-63 (a book I HIGHLY recommend). He called it a "definitive time travel story". How could I admire his writing so much and HATE what he liked?

I'll just flat out tell any sci fi junkies, the time travel is completely incidental to the story and very badly designed. Think faster-than-light spaceships using a really really powerful solid rocket. He even violates his own "physics" at one very important point.

As for the story, it could have been told in an hour. He spends so much time explaining and detailing the scenes and people, you will fight the urge to skip forward. I did it routinely and marveled at how he was still droning on after minutes of skipping. His descriptions and ponderings are inane and do nothing to either further the story or develop the characters. The narrator has a deep, authoritative voice which stands in contradiction to the sophomoric writing. He is obviously an artist. He spends a good deal of the book discussing art.

As for the review that calls it a "love story"... well it's much more that than "time travel", but if you're looking for a good love story, DO NOT listen to this. As I mentioned: character development is non-existent. There is no chemistry, no feeling. The story is simple, predictable and extremely shallow unless you are into him going on and on about how incredible it is that he is really in another time and how amazingly different New York is in the 19th century. And art. Incessant discussions of art -- drawing, photography, carving
...

Im a sucker for just about anything related to time travel so I had to get this. I actually heard about this book from a Stephen King interview. He said this was his favorite time travel story so I looked it up right away. I really liked the story and wished there was more of them. Great escapism. well narrated.

I, too, found this book through Stephen King's recommendation in 11-22-63. I also noted that Jack Finney was a master of sci-fi

I enjoyed the historical glimpses of the 1880's

Julie

Not really - but I looked forward to listening to it.

This book was written a long time ago about a time even longer ago...writing has evolved as we have evolved...so don't expect an action packed book. Look for a slow read that takes you to a different time and place...it's an easy and enjoyable read.

I listened to this book shortly after finishing 11-22-63 by Stephen King.

Compared to 11-22-63, Time and Again has less "color" and dramatic scenes but compensates it by style and softness.

At least 1/4 of the book are descriptions of streets and buildings in NY which are "There" or "Not There", as someone who has never been to NY I could not associate anything with those parts and found it rather boring. 11-22-63 is better in this sense, it really submerges you into the world of 1950'es without need of knowing street names, numbers and buildings.

"Time and Again" is a book I have loved for a long time. So glad Audible now has the unabridged version and that Stephen King recommends it in his new book.
Jack Finney makes the reader (or listener, in this case) believe that time travel really could happen -- and is happening in this story, which provides mystery and romance as well. The characters and plot grab attention from the start and pull you through every chapter. Paul Hecht has a great voice, maybe a little too "radio" to be really expressive. I actually enjoyed Campbell Scott's narration in the abridged version better. But abridged is just not good enough for this book, so go with the full version anyway.
I'm sorry some avid Stephen King fans did not like "Time and Again". I don't agree with them. This book is a great bargain on Audible -- give it a try.

Absolutely not.

There is no real plot. The main character doesn't have to do anything extraordinary to time travel; he just uses hypnosis. Then, when he is in the past, he pretty much just walks around and looks at things. I kept waiting for something -- anything -- to happen. I finally gave up at the halfway point.

Sure. He didn't bring any personality to the reading, but he didn't do anything wrong, either. I'd give him another try.

Disappointment. I love most of Stephen King's books, so I jumped on his recommendation of this book, thinking that such a talented writer would only recommend something stellar. I cannot understand what kept King's interest at all.

The only reason I shopped for this book is because Stephen King recommended it, and I'm sure hundreds of his other fans would say the same. King had to know what a huge influence he would have on Finney's sales. Shame on him for wasting our money and our time.