Book Rec: Time & Again by Jack Finney

 There are a small hand-full of books that have stuck with me ever since I read them several years ago. They're not new, not terribly popular, not anything you'll see on BookTok or Bookstagram. But they made an impression on me and have become some of my all-time feelgood favorites.

The first one of this bunch is Time & Again by Jack Finney. It's got time travel and some romance. it was written in 1970 so it's definitely not contemporary to us but I think that's part of the appeal. Here's the official summary:

When advertising artist Si Morley is recruited to join a covert government operation exploring the possibility of time travel, he jumps at the chance to leave his mundane 20th-century existence and step into the past. But he also has another motivation for going back in time: a half-burned letter that tells of a mysterious, tragic death and ominously of “fire which will destroy the whole world.”

Traveling to New York City in January 1882 to investigate, he finds a Manhattan teeming with a different kind of life, the waterfront unimpeded by skyscrapers, open-air markets packed with activity, Central Park bustling with horse drawn sleighs—a city on the precipice of great things. At first, Si welcomes these trips as a temporary escape but when he falls in love with a woman he meets in the past, he must choose whether to return to modern life or live in 1882 for good.

If you've ever looked at an old photograph and found yourself wondering what it was like in that time, in that photograph, you will enjoy this book. I was more captured by the time travel aspect of it than the romance to be completely honest, and it's not the usual kind of time travel as we've seen portrayed in other movies and books. I think it's a super unique way they go about it, even if it's not thoroughly explained. 

I really enjoyed how descriptive the narrator was in relaying his experiences in the past. I felt like he reacted the exact same way I would had I gone back to the 1880s. He spent a lot time walking around, taking in the sights: the people, the buildings, the horses and carriages, the clothing details, the gaslight lamps on the walls - everything. These are the details I would be paying attention to, too. It's like walking into a sepia-tone photograph and getting an up close and personal account of everything in it. I loved that about it.

A lot of it centers around the Dakota apartment building, which is a famous landmark adjacent to Central Park that has been there since the late 1800s. It's where a lot of famous people have lived as well. John Lennon famously lived there and died there. It's still there now, and it's there when the narrator goes back in time. That's another thing that fascinates me, how much the world can change around certain objects that don't change at all. Think of all the people who have walked by that building, all the change it has "seen". It puts a lot into perspective.

I highly recommend trying this one if this sounds remotely appealing to you. I do NOT, however, recommend reading the sequel. Do yourself a favor and pretend it doesn't exist. 

And if you do give it a try, please let me know what you thought!!