Time Travel discussion

I think that I chose a variety of genres from our 'not yet read' thread. Only open until the 24th so vote now.

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

This Time Tomorrow shouldn’t be in the poll since we are currently reading it.

You're right. I wasn't careful enough. I hope nobody votes for it.

And nobody did. So, the winner, with all of two votes, is apparently a sort of literary historical romance. But both time periods have to do with WWII... not the present. Should be interesting, a little different!

In Another Time by Jillian Cantor

"Told in alternating viewpoints—Max in the years leading up to WWII, and Hanna in the ten years after...."

The time-travel portal reminds me of the one in Steven King's 11.22.63.

What do you all think of this special bookstore that Max operates?

I look forward to this, and do have it out from the library, but unfortunately can't get to it quite yet. A special bookstore intrigues!

I read this in 2022 which was many books ago. I look forward to re-reading it since I know I really liked it.

Super!

I love the way the novel begins with Hanna confused about what year she's in.

Honestly, I'm having trouble getting into it. I was hoping for a couple of years of innocence & joy before the war, but it's a pretty grim story from the beginning.

Cheryl wrote: "Honestly, I'm having trouble getting into it. I was hoping for a couple of years of innocence & joy before the war, but it's a pretty grim story from the beginning."

Well, the chapters alternate in the beginning between early 1930s and post-war years, with the relationship budding a bit. I was OK with that. But most of the book is pretty grim.

Right. Post-war is obv. grim but I was hoping pre-war had more joy.
I've gotten to halfway. I'm pretty sure that I know where it's going. They're not going to actually spend much time 'in the closet' are they? So, not really much of a TT story.

I imagine that (view spoiler)[Max uses the portal to protect Hanna from the war (hide spoiler)], am I right?

Cheryl wrote: "Right. Post-war is obv. grim but I was hoping pre-war had more joy.
I've gotten to halfway. I'm pretty sure that I know where it's going. They're not going to actually spend much time 'in the clos..."

(view spoiler)[ Nope. (hide spoiler)]

Well ok then. Maybe I will continue.

But I do have a couple of discussion questions.

Why does Hanna let Max fall in love with her, and why do they go to bed together (in those days before reliable birth control) when she knows she'll never marry him because he's not a Jew?

And why is Julia so completely, almost maliciously, against Hanna having anything to do with music? She even lied to the little boys, telling them that Hanna was happy to get the typing job.

(There are more discussion questions in the back of the book. I'll add some of them later.)

Ok I'm done. And angry. The way the TT was used was, imo, exploitive, to make the book even more grim. I shouldn't have read this; I knew it wasn't for me.

(Somebody else can post the discussion questions; surely they're in your edition, too.)

I am on disk two of the audiobook and I am really enjoying it. The relationship between Hannah and Max feels genuine and sweet although it hasn't had much time to develop.

Julia is a very "German" character in that she is rigid, practical and not very affectionate. To her music is frivolous, a waste of time. She believes Hannah will grow up if she gives up music.

I love the way the author describes the way the war changed the landscape and the familiar streets became foreign places when the buildings were gone. Although I haven't experienced this to the same degree, my hometown looks very different than it did when I lived there and it is always jarring to see new structures and old ones gone.

My only complaint so far is the male narrator who reads Max's perspective reads Hannah in an odd mechanical way as if he doesn't understand how women talk or think.

I enjoyed this book, thought the characters were interesting and the story was wrapped up in a way that felt right, even though it wasn't the happiest ending.

One question I did have was (view spoiler)[why didn't Hannah have a tattoo if she was in the camp (hide spoiler)]?

Overall I don't think I will remember much about this book in a year, but it was a pleasant read.

Samantha wrote: "I enjoyed this book, thought the characters were interesting and the story was wrapped up in a way that felt right, even though it wasn't the happiest ending.

One question I did have was [spoiler..."

(view spoiler)[ Not every prisoner had a tattoo. It depended on the year, camp, what type of prisoner he/she was, etc. (hide spoiler)]

I also enjoyed the book, overall, but liked her novel, The Lost Letter, much more. [book:The Lost Letter|33098837]