Review: Is Time Ever Enough?

There Will Be Time
Poul Anderson
176 pp.
Signet 1973
ISBN 0-451-15412-6

"What was the good of time travel, ever?

These are the words of Jack Havig, the main character of Poul Anderson's sci-fi classic There Will Time.  It's a sweeping adventure packed with thought provoking commentary on the value of time and the complexity of the human experience.

The story begins with Havig's recounting his life as told by his longtime confident and physician, Dr. Robert Anderson. As the story unfolds from Havig's first disappearing act as a baby ("He vanished. In midair..." his mother exclaims) to his travels to the future and witnessing his father's untimely death, Havig travels up and down time building a mass of experiences, skills, wealth, and even fallling in love. Then one experience changes his life forever: a chance meeting with fellow time travelers. Havig becomes engulfed in the society of the Maurai, a group of intergenerational and international travelers working to build a new civilization under the leadership of Caleb Wallis, a racist classist who justifies his thievery and subjugation of non-time travelers (whom he calls "commoners"). When a mission is set in motion that Havig does not agree with, his disappearance through time costs him greatly. Searching through time for Wallis and all involved, Havig plots his vengeance with the help of his friend and lover, Leonce.

There Will Be Time is a great story about the value of learning from our pasts and preparing for our futures. Although the pacing was uneven, the intrigue of time travel is consistently powerful, oftentimes reading like a scene from a popular sci-fi film like Star Wars. Light on adventure and heavy on ruminations that were sometimes unnecessary, the narrative is still a fun summer reader that will keep you reeling.

Join me June 11 for my ruminations on the next selection: Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews. Can't wait to hear what you think.

Ruminations: Is Time Ever Enough?

Imagine that we had time at our disposal. We could do whatever we want with it. Travel forwards or backwards. We could glimpse our respective futures and prepare for the best and/or worst. Sounds convenient, right?

But what if time was a curse, something we could never prepare for? I contemplated this while reading Poul Anderson's There Will be Time. Having so much access to history and the future is almost charming. Intriguing. We can simultaneously know the past and the future. The only question is, does this truly make us wiser? Can we really learn from a time past or an upper future if we can never change what happened or what will? While it would add to our knowledge base, what would it really add to us as people?

It makes me consider the plight of the vampire: destined to live forever with no real power to change the world. Living long enough to see the earth die and replenish itself, witnessing the rise and fall of revolutions, or watching human loved ones expire. The idea of living forever inherently seduces us with invinciblity. But how invincible could we truly be with a back track and up track of time that will never change in the way that we want it to, need it to. Do we learn from it? Are we bound by it?

Time is open opportunity for experiences of whatever kind. The only thing we can do is make the best of it. But with a world that isn't begging for our comfort, perspective, or our approval, can time ever really be enough for us or will we always want more?

You tell me.

Come back on Saturday, May 27 for the review. I look forward to hearing from you!