I have to admit I really really love stories of time travel and alternate worlds(Must be all that Doctor Who from the time I was 3 years old). I had seen the movie Somewhere in Time--which tared Christopher Reed and Jane Seymore--many times in the past(Rachmoninov's variation on a theme of Paganini I recall playing in there the romantic melody part). So when I found the novel in my recommendations list on Amazon I said lets give it a try. Apparently on wikipedia it says the novel was originally called Bid Time Return. The author of the novel wrote the script for the movie as well.
First I was surprised the author was Richard Matheson who wrote 16 episode of the Twilight Zone and The Enemy Within for Star Trek. As I looked at the other lists of work in his repitoire I was surprised at how many familiar titles were there for instance I am Legend, Stir of Echos, The Incredible Shrinking Man to name a few. The book even had quotes from Dean Koontz an Stephen King praising his works and siting him as inspiration. I'm going to have to read some more of his novels.
Now the book itself is very different from the movie though similar. Firstly the story is of a man with terminal brain cancer who takes off leaving everything behind to go on a trip to anywhere. He finds himself at this old hotel where he finds himself fall in love with an actress in an old photo. He starts researching her and convinces himself that he is her destined love and wills himself to travel back to 1897 where he does indeed meet her and starts a relationship only to be tragically drug back to his own time where he dies of brain cancer. Where the movie deviates is that Richard is a successful play-write who just broke up with his girlfriend and has writers block. In the original novel hes just a dying man who has left behind his job as a screenwriter for a major network and he has never had a relationship. Ending up at the hotel was the result of a penny flip in the book all chance. Second in the movie the first part shows him meeting with an elderly woman when his play is being produced who gives him a watch saying come back to me, in the novel they do meet at a party but she only stares at him from a distance. Also the time period traveled back to is different. In the movie he only travels back to 1912 while in the book it's 1897. Also I believe that the effects of time travel on the main characther were much harsher in the book. In my opinion the book was much better then I remember the movie to be(it's been a long time since I've seen it since I was still at HSU when I last watched it). I don't want to delve to much into the differences because it would ruin the story for anyone who actually wanted to read the novel.
The novel itself is very interesting It's written as if the Richard Collier is recounting the occurances that happened from the time he made up his mind to leave LA and to travel. Interesting enough the style of writing changes through out. Well first off you get a letter from his brother saying that this is the only book his brother wrote before he died and how he has trimmed places because the publisher insisted and from time to time you see him make notes in the story. Now with Richards part at first the writing is not that interesting. I was like I hope the whole book isn't like this. But I have come to realize that the style may reflect his unease with life around him when he knows he is dying. His life is ending and what once was normal is now a cacaphoy of dissonant sounds causing him anxiety. Once he reaches the hotel things start to change. It's as if the very hotel and it's environment calms him at first and then we see obsession take hold of him. Until finally he travels time and his writing changes even further.
This is a tale of love that transcends time. I have to say compared to say something like The Time Travelers Wife--which has to be the nastiest piece of filth I've ever read--is much better. It's like the Richard and Elise are destined for each other and even though they can't be together for more then those few days they are devoted till the end of their days. Time Traveler Wife made me feel dirty and empty after reading. And I learned a good lesson, just because I heard it was good doesn't mean it is and if its that nasty don't keep reading to see what was good. It was a horrible book. Sure there is a sex sense in Somewhere in Time, however, its not of a graphic nature as in The Time Travelers wife(Which had way to many sex scenes). Also the characters in Somewhere in Time are likable whereas in the other they were very unlikable. One thing though that the two novels had a shared point on is that you can't change fate no matter how much you want to it's impossible. Even though the main characters in both novels wanted to avert a sad fate they were unable to do so.
So I will say I really enjoyed Somewhere In Time. It was a beautiful tragic love story of two souls separated by time. And as a side note The Time Traveler's Wife is nothing but an erotic novel filled with deplorable characters it's pure filth. I don't recommend that book at all.
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