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)

A Fun Romp of Fantasy and Adventure

This book was recommended to me by new acquaintances whom I had visited with about a stay my wife and I enjoyed in New York City over the 2011 Christmas holidays. It was the first time I had a chance to get to know Manhattan, its main streets and neighborhoods, and to feel somewhat familiar with the City. That experience greatly increased the pleasure of reading this book, because it is in large part a travelogue of modern and 1880???s New York City, with detailed descriptions of the places, streets, parks, stores, and public transportation of the two eras.

Apart from its interest as a sightseeing companion, the book features a very-well constructed science fantasy, mystery and adventure story. The main character travels from modern New York City into 1880???s New York through a secret time travel project in search of clues to solving a puzzling mystery. He discovers unexpected adventures and romance in his time travels, and the story features some hair-raising suspense as well as a number of completely unexpected (but still consistent with the story) plot twists and surprises. No ???spoilers??? in this review: you will need to read the book to learn what the plot twists are.

Well researched; Mr. Finney clearly did his homework on 1880???s New York. Also, a very entertaining and enjoyable read, particularly if you are familiar with New York City.

Not really worth the effort

It may have helped if the narrator had not read the entire story in a monotone. My adult daughter had walked into the room whilst I was listening, and after a few moments, inquired as to the subject of the documentary I was listening to. I fell asleep several times while listening to the narrator's soothing but monotonous voice. I now wish I had chosen to just read the book instead of listening to it. I may have gotten more out of it. There were only two parts of the story that I, "got into."

Not Quite SciFi

This was originally billed as a Scifi novel, however, it is not. Having said that, it is a very good novel. It is in some ways a truly great novel. If you haven't read it, I must suggest this one. It is a passionate tale that one cannot help but be drawn into and it will catch your imagination.

More

loved it! we need a book two. please are there any more like this one?

The best time story .... period.

If you enjoy stories about time travel, look no further. This is the best of them all. Nobody paints a picture in your mind like Jack Finney.

Excellent!

What a wonderful weaving of story, mystery with touches of history. A Gem of a book.

lovely historical New York time jump adventure

I picked this up due to Stephen King noting its influence on his 11/22/63 book, and it did not disappoint. It's a solid time travel story, playing with the time travel concept and offering a lot of enjoyable in-depth history of New York City. Si Morley, our protagonist, is recruited from his advertising artist job in the 1930's and sent back to New York of 1882. There's a family secret to unravel, and the mystery kept me guessing all the way through. A very enjoyable story, with just a touch of romance, and featuring a harrowing building fire in the 1880's. It's charming without being sugar-coated. It feels a bit like a graphic novel or a movie with very descriptive details that made the story feel vivid.

Marvelous!!!

It is said on occasion that the movie is rarely better than the book. Here, the immediacy of the voice invoking the descriptions lends power to the basic premise of the book. This book is diservidly a classic, this recording is even better.

Great story!

This is a classic time travel story that I listened to years ago but it was just as good a second time!

I’m new to Audible and reviews, so!

I like the narrator and he kept my interest up, the story was pretty cool though I will have to listen to it again because it had me so kicked back I often missed parts I really needed to know!!! I liked it enough to be happy to hear it again!!!