| Commercial artist Simon Morley is chosen by a secret U.S. government project to travel back in time to 1882 New York City -- just to prove it can be done and to observe. He enjoys the sights of the city at that time: still much farming on Manhattan, the Dakota and Museum of Natural History standing pretty much alone, the arm of the Statue of Liberty standing by itself in Madison Square, and many other things. But he also falls in love with Julia Charbonneau, who is engaged to a brusque and brutal man named Jake Pickering. It turns out Pickering has some sort of blackmail scheme going, and Si must decide whether to meddle with events. Finney's 1970 novel is nearly a classic: sufficiently rich and accomplished to qualify as literature. He supplements the excellent story with historic photos and drawings (the latter supposedly drawn by his hero), and it's rather surprising this tale has not yet been filmed. | ||
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Plot & Themes FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story Time Travel: - largely backwards/past Romance Yes Romance plotlets: - Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Time Travel story? Yes Descript. of chases or violence - 10 % planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40 % Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 30 % Story largely takes place in - Middle Ages-1899 Main Character Identity: - Male Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: Eccentric: Yes How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a substantial amount How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Average intelligence Setting Earth setting: - 19th century Takes place on Earth? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment scientific jargon? (SF only) - a moderate amount of scientific explanation How much dialogue? - significantly more descript than dialog |
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