Large Ham: A conversational duel between two nineteenth century bullies is observed by Morley from his twentieth century perspective: "And now Pickering and Carmody were acting their roles in a time when the melodramatic conventions of the stage were largely accepted as reality.Kate and Julia both master it instantly just based on Si describing it to them, making the project volunteers look like chumps. Instant Expert: It takes Si weeks of training and preparation to achieve time travel.Nonetheless the scenes in which Morley goes from bemusement to awed understanding as to what the Project is, and why an unsuccessful commercial artist like him is being offered a role in it, are real page-turners. In-universe, Morley himself acknowledges that what all these people in their incredibly realistic historical stage sets had been attempting to do had been clear to him for some time before either he or anyone else came out and said it.
It is obvious from the very title of the book, not to mention the blurb and cover art, that time travel is going to be involved somehow. Foregone Conclusion: Invoked and lampshaded regarding the nature of the top-secret project that Si Morley is being asked to join.Establishing Character Moment: In his first proper appearance, Jake Pickering very nearly (and very intentionally) breaks Si's hand with a handshake.The US government systematically trawls through army records. Unusually for this trope, the process of finding and recruiting the very few people capable of time travel is portrayed as being handled rationally. More accurately, he's one of the chosen few. Born in the Wrong Century: The premise of the novel.Originated the interesting concept of going back in time via surrounding the protagonist with all the trappings of the Victorian or Edwardian Era and imagining yourself to be back in time.įinney wrote a well-received sequel much later, From Time To Time (1995), before he died.
It helps that the Victorian Gothic Dakota Apartments received Retroactive Recognition due to this novel, becoming once again the home to high-class artistes such as John Lennon.
Much of the early part of the novel is devoted to the protagonist's lovingly created nostalgia for the period, creating a definite mood for the setting. Slow-paced, exceptionally well-researched intrigue follows as Si attempts to solve a nearly hundred-year-old mystery. However, Si (through his girlfriend) has a personal stake in the time period in question, which leads him to take a trip back to the New York of the 1880s. Commercial artist Simon "Si" Morley is chosen as a candidate for a government experiment in Mental Time Travel. A classic Time Travel novel written in 1970 by Jack Finney.
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