Bid Time Return (Somewhere in Time) by Richard Matheson

Hello, Stranger.

Let's talk about Richard Matheson's Bid Time Return.

The Short of It

Plot: A man travels back in time to meet the dead woman whose picture he fell in love with.

Page Count: 288

Award: 1976 World Fantasy Award

Worth a read: No
Primary Driver: (Plot, World, or Character?)
Bechdel Test: Pass
Technobabble: Minimal.
Review: This book is just an underwhelming romance novel with a time travel twist. A blend of dull, sappy, and creepy. Enjoyed the actual traveling part of time travel - though easy, it was well executed. Protagonist pushes pathetic and clingy to new levels. No characters act even remotely believable; no chemistry to show actual love. Without that, it's just obsession and stalking.

The Medium of It

Spoiler Free!

The name of this book was changed to Somewhere in Time after a movie based on it was released. I have not seen the movie, many people seem to have enjoyed it.

I did not enjoy this book.

Richard Collier finds out that he's dying of cancer. He's going to travel for the six weeks he has before death, see the sights, hear the sounds, and so on. He ends up at a hotel where he sees a photo of an actress. He immediately falls in love with her. Unfortunately, she's dead. So he decides to travel back in time to be with her.

This book uses a totally unneeded framing device. What we are reading is a first draft set of notes written by Richard and published posthumously by his brother. The style is thus intentionally "First Draft"-ish; staccato sentences, remarks and asides, meandering tangents. 

The last dip and the final speed bump. Up ahead, Ventura Freeway and the world. Adios Amigos printed on the sign above the gatehouse. Farewell, Hidden Hills.

We encounter an abundance of such descriptions - which just get tiresome. It is, of course, all appetizers to prepare us for the main course, the grand love story of Richard and Elise. This is how it begins:

Let me record the moment: eleven twenty-six a.m.

Returning across the patio, en route to my room, I saw a sign announcing a Hall of History in the basement.

Intriguing place. Photographs as in the Arcade. A sample bedroom from the 1890s or the early 1900s. Display cases of historic objects from the hotel-a dish, a menu, a napkin ring, an iron, a telephone, a hotel register.

And in one of the cases is a program for a play performed in the hotel theater (wherever that was) on November 20, 1896; The Little Minister by J. M. Barrie, starring an actress named Elise McKenna. Next to the program is a photograph of her face; the most gloriously lovely face I've ever seen in my life.

I've fallen in love with her.

You know, how people do. Don't worry, though. If you're afraid that there will be more depth added to this romance, fear not! He simply decides upon looking at her that she must have been a good person. It's fine, though. She has no depth either. 'Tis a match made in heaven. 

As far as plot is concerned, that's about it. He is obsessed with her, he figures out time travel to visit her, then he stalks the heck out of her. Pacing cannot really exist in a book like this - reasonable obstacles ("Who are you and why are you stalking me?!") are overcome easily; insane obstacles just show up - and are generally handled easily as well. 

There are some parts that I thought were legitimately good. There's a line early on which I thought was excellent characterization:

Hope it's clear in San Diego. Never been there; don't know what it's like. One could describe death that way.

However, there are far too few moments of good writing and far too many of unbelievable star-crossed-lovers to leave me able to recommend this book. There are both far better romances and far better time travel stories.

Should you wish to give it a read, however, consider using the link below! I'll get a few cents at no extra cost to you.

A Link to the Past!

Or, if you'd like to watch the movie:

A Link to the Movie!

The Long of It

Spoilers Ahead!

Here's a line from Richard that exemplifies just how unbearable he is:

I stood motionless, watching her every step as she moved down the Open Court; I shivered as she disappeared from sight into the sitting room. More than four hours. I could not conceive of being away from her so long.

This is his constant mode - obsessive, needing Elise to be present. And her reciprocity is equally unfounded. All of their actual interactions are uncomfortable:  

"Good morning," I said.

She looked at me in silence. Finally, she murmured, "Good morning."

"May I come in?" I asked.

She hesitated but I sensed that it was not the hesitation of a lady doubting the propriety of admitting a man to her room under questionable circumstances. Rather, it was the hesitation of a woman who was not sure she cared to become more involved than she already was.

Until out of nowhere she professes her love - and explains that despite everything we saw, she feels quite differently:

When we were together this afternoon, I felt such happiness flooding through me, my emotions fairly drowned in it. I have the feeling still as I sit in my room, writing to you-though the waves, thank Heaven, have quieted to a constant, flowing stream.

Despite my pendulumlike behavior on our walk, you must know that I enjoyed it. No, that is too mild a word. You must know that I was moved. So much so that to be away from you has filled me with a sadness which conflicts with my aforesaid flow of happiness. How confused my emotions are this afternoon. 

It's ridiculous. More importantly, it's a tedious read. That letter from Elise is 770 words, or about three full pages. Yet none of it feels genuine; we witness plenty professing to True Love without there being any feel behind it. They are together, in total, for approximately two days. 

This is the biggest problem with Bid Time Return, obviously. Without a believable romance there are no stakes and the reader is not at all invested. There are, however, other issues. I'm just going to pick an odd one: Matheson's bizarre descriptors and metaphors. One from early on:

The air like cold, white wine.

Which seems like a very unnecessary way of saying that there was a cold breeze. Doesn't add anything to make it a simile. And this one, also from Elise's letter:

I will try to be consistent, no longer oscillating like some planet that has lost its way. For, at long last, I have found my sun.

You know, how people do. Moving past everything that's strange about saying this is the fact that it does not make sense. Planets, including Earth, oscillate. We do not exist in a closed system; other planets exert gravitational influence. For a planet to oscillate, or to have a way (that it could lose) it would need to already have a fixed orbit. I don't think oscillations would exist for a rogue planet - there is no baseline for oscillating. I'm not sure about that part, though. Look, it's a sentence that doesn't make sense from a character who would never say it in a book full of such prose. 

Here's a brief overview of other things I've skipped:

• Richard reading a lot of books about Elise. We get to join him for going to a bookstore, then a library, then through records at the hotel.
• A lot more of Richard creeping Elise out and needing to be with her.
• Richard getting kidnapped because... why not?
• Elise's other letter, as bad at the first.
• Richard and Elise both giving monologues of love and commitment before, during, and after some truly unpleasant sex scenes.

This was a struggle to read.

Consider falling in love with someone who is still alive, Stranger.

And don't forget to read a book!