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indianajane's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
thomcat's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed this slim volume of 12 stories. Most are about time travel, the individual kind used by the author in Time and Again. Often a collection from one author is hit or miss, but nearly all of these stories are very good. Recommended!
kfrench1008's review against another edition
4.0
One of my faves. Had a strong urge to re-read it yesterday. "Hey Look at Me" blows me away every time.
iphigenie72's review against another edition
5.0
I'm rediscovering Jack Finney, I read [b:Time and Again|40526|Time and Again (Time, #1)|Jack Finney|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1393198563s/40526.jpg|6887879] and it's sequel [b:From Time to Time|72694|From Time to Time (Time, #2)|Jack Finney|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327938493s/72694.jpg|2206645] when the latter one came out a few decades ago always thought I would read him again, but that never materialized before About Time. There is so many authors and so many, many books I want to read that sometimes one I really loved falls by the way side of putting it on the to-read list and just forgetting about it.
This anthology regroups the short stories about time (so the title is very appropriate) that were previously published in the two anthologies [b:The Third Level|2176204|The Third Level|Jack Finney|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1305139023s/2176204.jpg|2181877] and [b:I Love Galesburg in the Springtime|2210317|I Love Galesburg in the Springtime|Jack Finney|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1301778554s/2210317.jpg|2216103].
The majority of the short stories are five stars in my eyes, there's only Home Alone that I would give a four stars to, it was a slow starter and I liked the ending well enough, I just didn't get as much into it as the others, but we are talking four and five stars here so not a lot of criticism even on my least favorite of the lot since it surpasses a lot of books I read and quite like.
In this collection, there's a lot of the facets of time-travelling or time distortions that are covered, the big exception is the scientific explanation genre if you need a good scientific background to enjoy a story then this is probably not for you. I liked the fact that sometimes it's time-travelling, sometimes it's the past bleeding into the present, sometimes it's objects or people wanting things that result in time shifting. I will not go more into details because one of the joy for me of reading this book was not knowing exactly where each story was going and I wouldn't want to rob anyone of discovering these gems for themselves.
Something that might worry the casual reader out there is that the most recent stories in this anthology dates back to the 1970s and the earlier ones the 1950s this will not lose the reader in anyway, I'm quite curious about the past and I love history so I googled and wikied a couple of things, but I don't think that I would have been lost if I hadn't been able to do that; great writing and characterization remain always the most important thing and this is demonstrated in these shorts.
I recommend this book warmly especially to time-travelling fans out there, I promise you wont be disappointed.
This anthology regroups the short stories about time (so the title is very appropriate) that were previously published in the two anthologies [b:The Third Level|2176204|The Third Level|Jack Finney|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1305139023s/2176204.jpg|2181877] and [b:I Love Galesburg in the Springtime|2210317|I Love Galesburg in the Springtime|Jack Finney|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1301778554s/2210317.jpg|2216103].
The majority of the short stories are five stars in my eyes, there's only Home Alone that I would give a four stars to, it was a slow starter and I liked the ending well enough, I just didn't get as much into it as the others, but we are talking four and five stars here so not a lot of criticism even on my least favorite of the lot since it surpasses a lot of books I read and quite like.
In this collection, there's a lot of the facets of time-travelling or time distortions that are covered, the big exception is the scientific explanation genre if you need a good scientific background to enjoy a story then this is probably not for you. I liked the fact that sometimes it's time-travelling, sometimes it's the past bleeding into the present, sometimes it's objects or people wanting things that result in time shifting. I will not go more into details because one of the joy for me of reading this book was not knowing exactly where each story was going and I wouldn't want to rob anyone of discovering these gems for themselves.
Something that might worry the casual reader out there is that the most recent stories in this anthology dates back to the 1970s and the earlier ones the 1950s this will not lose the reader in anyway, I'm quite curious about the past and I love history so I googled and wikied a couple of things, but I don't think that I would have been lost if I hadn't been able to do that; great writing and characterization remain always the most important thing and this is demonstrated in these shorts.
I recommend this book warmly especially to time-travelling fans out there, I promise you wont be disappointed.
kaddy's review against another edition
5.0
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A collection of 12 short stories about time travel.
A reminder why I read books! For the "if". What if that happened? what if its true? what if its possible!?
The stories start off in the 1950s, which I'm a sucker for and the book it was mentioned in was Stephen Kings 'On Writing' where he credits Jack Finney for inspiration. I definitely can see that.
Who doesn't have a "growing rebellion against the present"
My imagination is roaring. Thanks for the fun Finney.
A collection of 12 short stories about time travel.
A reminder why I read books! For the "if". What if that happened? what if its true? what if its possible!?
The stories start off in the 1950s, which I'm a sucker for and the book it was mentioned in was Stephen Kings 'On Writing' where he credits Jack Finney for inspiration. I definitely can see that.
Who doesn't have a "growing rebellion against the present"
My imagination is roaring. Thanks for the fun Finney.
ashley073's review against another edition
5.0
I had to read a Finney story (Contents of the Dead Man's Pockets) for a high school lit class a few years back and absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, due to my extreme procrastination, it's taken me 5 years to track down and set out to read any of his other stuff. Thankfully, though, I never forgot my desire to do so!
I started out About Time with relatively low hopes. I loved Contents...but time travel? Not exactly my thing. However Finney's knack for creating instantly relatable, simple characters drew me in once more, and I immediately remembered why I fell in love with Contents.
This is a wonderful collection of easily-digestible and lovably quirky stories . I think there were only 2 that didn't absolutely hook me in (Second Chance & Lunch-Hour Magic). (due to that I would really like to give it 4.5 stars....those 2 were a bit difficult to get through- but the other 10 were so great that I didn't have the heart to knock it down to a measly 4 stars!)
Highlights:
The Third Level
Such Interesting Neighbors
Of Missing Persons
Hey, Look At Me!
But really, all 12 of the stories are worth reading...I will definitely be reading more Finney very, very soon!!
I started out About Time with relatively low hopes. I loved Contents...but time travel? Not exactly my thing. However Finney's knack for creating instantly relatable, simple characters drew me in once more, and I immediately remembered why I fell in love with Contents.
This is a wonderful collection of easily-digestible and lovably quirky stories . I think there were only 2 that didn't absolutely hook me in (Second Chance & Lunch-Hour Magic). (due to that I would really like to give it 4.5 stars....those 2 were a bit difficult to get through- but the other 10 were so great that I didn't have the heart to knock it down to a measly 4 stars!)
Highlights:
The Third Level
Such Interesting Neighbors
Of Missing Persons
Hey, Look At Me!
But really, all 12 of the stories are worth reading...I will definitely be reading more Finney very, very soon!!
stacys_books's review against another edition
3.0
A rather quaint collection of stories on the concept of time. Enjoyable read, but not especially engrossing.
n8duke's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. It inspired me to write a short story of my own!