Time Travel discussion

Our read for August 15 - September 15 is Up the Line by Robert Silverberg.

Robert Silverberg
For a little background, Silverberg is/was a ridiculously prolific writer. Between 1957 and 1959 alone, he published over 220 short works and eleven novels (under various names). This particular novel was published in 1969 and was nominated for the Nebula Award and the Hugo Award (losing both awards to Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness). Silverberg "retired" from writing in 1975. I suppose he slowed down a bit, but he's still cranking out stories and novels and even published a novella last year. His quasi-official website has a better biography than I care to write if you're at all interested.

Book Discussion Rules: Spoilers
There's really only one thing that we ask. If you're going to discuss a spoiler, please create a new topic in the "UP THE LINE" folder and label the topic in some way as a "spoiler". If you decide to name it something other than simply "spoiler", be sure that the name doesn't give anything away. We all thank you from the bottom of our un-spoiled hearts.

Just started readin it now, just a few pages so no spoilers to give away. All I'll say is whoa, talk about everthing un-pc! Embrace yourselves for that ;)

Edit: hold on, should I have been starting a new thread here? Apologies if I am not quite on that track.

This is the right place, Tej. I got my copy in the mail today. Hope I remember how to read words on paper. I don't even have a bookmark in the house anymore.

Just dont be tempted to dog ear your pages...nasty habit that!

A bit of interesting trivia:

For fans of The Back to the Future Trilogy, writer Bob Gale mentioned this book as one of his influences (especially when you look at the potential paradoxes in the second and third movies). The plots aren't similar but the movies handle the idea of time travel in a similar fashion.

Chew on that!

Wow, that's cool. Thanks for sharing that, Adam.

So far I'm not actually enjoying this book tbh...not sure why, I dont know if its the blatant unpcness or the excessive sexual content. It might be the combination of both. I'm fine with and often enjoy watching this on screen and I like to...wait, er...where am I going with this?! There are some funny moments though, and the time travel elements do indeed look like its veering towards a BTTF part 2 complexity as per Adam's cool trivia. And that is potentially fun. Anyway, I'll pesevere ;)

I finally got started on this book last night, and I understand what Tej is saying about it being so politically incorrect. Of course, this book was written in the late 60s, so they had no concept of what it meant to be PC (which came a couple decades later). As for the excessive sexual content, this too may be influenced by what was going on at the time the book was written (i.e. the sexual revolution). Since I'm only a few chapters in, I haven't really decided if I like the book or not. Hopefully I will get in some serious reading time this weekend.

When my husband saw that I had just gotten a Silverberg novel in the mail , his comment was that, since Silverberg wrote across multiple genres to maximize his money-making, he sometimes didn't remember whether he was writing a sex novel or a science fiction novel.

Also he mentioned that the author hasn't changed in appearance since he first started writing. Maybe he's found the secret to time travel...

I'm starting the novel with a little less trepidation with the knowledge that this was an influence for Back to the Future. There must be something more than sex between the sheets (of paper).

Well, I figure that it can't be any worse than our last book club selection.

Ok I have read a few more chapters. Sorry folks, forgive me but I cannot digest more of this book even with the new revelation from Amy, that the author might actually be a time traveller. I think I have a lower tolerance level than you guys.

I am just not enjoying it at all, in fact its quite tortuous. I will read your discussions of it with interest and hope you guys can squeeze more enjoyment out of this than I have. If you do, maybe I will return back to it.

John, you might be right about the book's writing reflecting the times and the 60s being somewhat of a sexual revolution. I am just not prepared or conditioned to read this kind of narrative.

One other thing. To enjoy a book, at least one of the protaganist needs to be engaging but I am finding them all revolting.

I gotta get reading on this. It sounds like another good book for debate.

Ha. At least we'll have something to discuss. Eep.

For our next read, I think we need to have stricter nomination perimeters. I'm thinking that the rules need to be that ...
a) The book has to be currently in print.
b) The book has to be something that the nominator has read and liked.
c) The book's reviews and/or wikipedia write up needs to NOT reference the main character falling in love with anyone that shares their DNA.

Those are good nomination rules. I would like to thank you again for considering my book for a nomination as your guys next read. Exciting News: It will be in paperback by the end of the month and I just recieved two more 4 star reviews :)
I hope that doesn't sound like bragging, because I'm not. Just saying it will at least meet 2/3 of your criteria.

Amy wrote: "Ha. At least we'll have something to discuss. Eep.

For our next read, I think we need to have stricter nomination perimeters. I'm thinking that the rules need to be that ...
a) The book has to be..."

LOL at option C. Rules are sound :)

Amy wrote: "Ha. At least we'll have something to discuss. Eep.

For our next read, I think we need to have stricter nomination perimeters. I'm thinking that the rules need to be that ...
a) The book has to be..."

Can we add a rule the book can't use time travel for hooking up with underage love interests when they are legal. I am looking at you Heinlein and Door Into Summer.

Bwah ha. What the heck? Did these authors also write books about people with the powers of invisibility peeping at people in the shower? I do remember a short story by Jack Finney (author of Time and Again) about a guy who buys real x-ray glasses at a magic shop and falls in love with the nerdy girl he works with after using them on her.

When I think about what I'd do if I could time travel, it's so very unlike hooking up with a spring chicken in the summer of their life (is that the door into summer Heinlein is talking about?). I'd certainly exploit time travel for making myself rich enough to never have to work again, but I think everything else would just be historical sight-seeing, meeting ancestors and descendents, seeing those who have died again, and righting wrongs.

You could always play it safe and nominate a childrens time travelling book ;) Or any goodread author in our group, all of whom I am sure do not write with sexual/incest/sadistic obsessions...

We probably need to be a little wary of very dated novels. It wont be fair to boycott all of them of course as I am sure most are innocent of the charges we are pressing on the last 2 nominated books.

I know I have abandoned Up The Line but I still interested in reading your discussions over it, folks :)

I have 40 pages left in the book I am reading right now and going to switch over to Up The Line and try to get caught up.

Can I suggest in the future that we "pace" the discussion out over the month. Say do 1/4 of the book each of the week so that people are discussion similar sections.

We are welcome to read ahead, but keep the discussion kind of on track.

Just a thought.

Andy wrote: "I have 40 pages left in the book I am reading right now and going to switch over to Up The Line and try to get caught up.

Can I suggest in the future that we "pace" the discussion out over the mon..."

I could make 4 threads for each 1/4 of the book so that people could comment on that section as they got to it. I think that would help for the later readers.

It has been awfully quiet in the Time Travel group the past couple of days. I wonder if everyone used their personal time travel device and jumped to a different timeline. Drat! I knew I should have asked for a time machine for Christmas.

I have a time travel device, my friend Zack Carter let me borrow his for a few days.

I'm enjoying this book more than I thought. There are lots of interesting concepts. So if you can get beyond the political incorrectness and the free love and drugs ...

I'm currently reading another book (Ringworld) set in the future that was written during the "free love" era. I'm finding that the future that both of these authors are envisioning is similar in many ways. Basically, they envision a future world that loosens what people consider to be taboo or indecent. I see where they're going with the idea. In present-day society, most cultures wear much more revealing clothing than a few centuries ago, we're less conservative in our restrictions on substances like alcohol, and we don't find moderate public displays of affection to be taboo. Over the past few centuries and even decades, we've become a more liberal society when it comes to the way we dress, what we consume, and what private actions we are willing to reveal to the public. A writer from this era of new social liberation would surely see the future as a place with even less limitations. Of course the world of the future would become increasingly liberal such that people would think no more of their actions than we do of seeing bare arms or kisses in public.

Viewing this book with this lens makes it much more palatable. I'm not turning the pages like mad, but I am definitely enjoying the book so far at about 1/4 of the way through.

I havent posted on this forum for a few days because I was on holiday in Cornwall and Devonshire, England. I actually feel like I am travelling back in time sometimes when I walk these quaint villages!

Lucky you. I have yet to walk in a town old enough to feel like I'm time traveling. The US is still such a young country and all my international travels have been in the countries' more modern areas.

I'm a late starter for the reading of Up the Line. Sorry. Had a lot of other stuff to sort out lately.
Lucky I'm a fast reader.

I'm clearly late to this thread because I just managed to find a copy of Up The Line (thank you, Interlibrary Loan Link) so I'm guessing there won't be much discussion either but I had to throw in my two cents.

Wow. Sexist much? I know it was the 60's and there were Great Changes Afoot but it's interesting that RS (and others) saw those changes strictly on a Women Will Be More Available Sexually and not that they might, I don't know, be more equal, intellectually as well. Which was also afoot. But sex with your ancestors? Freaky.

The time travel mechanism itself was interesting and if I had more interest in Constantinople, I might have given it more of a pass.

carriedaway wrote: "I'm clearly late to this thread because I just managed to find a copy of Up The Line (thank you, Interlibrary Loan Link) so I'm guessing there won't be much discussion either but I had to throw in ..."

Better late than never, right? I agree that the incest angle was a little freaky. I also thought the historical background got a little deep at times. But I enjoyed it for the most part. What did you think about the way that it ended?

I have a question for anyone please... in the last poll someone nominated a book about going back to the diansaur time. it sounded great, but I don't remember the title. Does anyone know it & the author? thank YOU!!!

Amy wrote: "Ha. At least we'll have something to discuss. Eep.

For our next read, I think we need to have stricter nomination perimeters. I'm thinking that the rules need to be that ...
a) The book has to be..."

Sounds Wonderful for a great change, but does it have to go into the future or back?

Linda D. wrote: "I have a question for anyone please... in the last poll someone nominated a book about going back to the diansaur time. it sounded great, but I don't remember the title. Does anyone know it & the a..."

I think is this one> The Dechronization of Sam Magruder