Time is a funny old bed fellow. It’s our most precious gift to another, it’s scary when it is taken away from us, we often hope for more of it in one day, and yet there are periods when it stretches out unendingly. Here are a few books that about different forms of time loss:
The Impossible lives of Greta Wells ~ Andrew Sean Greer
Grief is often the emotion that time preys on, and Greta has suffered a great loss. To try and ease her pain, she agrees to a treatment that transports her to other times and other lives.
This book can give you a whole new perspective on life.
The Girl on a Train ~ Paula Hawkins
Periods of time loss, a doubting memory, an uncertain past and even more indefinable future. This is the book that will make you fear any moments that you might suddenly think ‘how did I get here?’
What Alice Forgot ~ Liane Moriarty
She’s lost years and the future she thought she was heading for. She thought she was a likeable sort of person, but somehow she is in the middle of a divorce, a feud with the neighbours, and has a prickly personality that repels everyone. Can she get back to the person she remembers she was?
Are any of us who we once thought we were?
Our Endless numbered days ~ Claire Fuller
Survivalists aren’t time travellers but they can lose all sense of time. Cutting his eight year old daughter off from the very real and very un-apocalyptic world, James is convinced he is “winning” the survivalist quest. He will stand out amongst his survivalist friends, and his wife will take him seriously. They go about their days in a remote hut in the woods by gathering food, and making provision against the harsh wilderness. As Peggy grows up, she starts to discover the reality of her situation and their life as survivalists begin to unravel.
The Time Traveler’s Wife ~ Audrey Niffeneger
The beautiful, poetic story of Clare and Henry – she an art student, him, a time traveller. Clare learns to experience time in a different much less linear way, but they still attempt to lead a “normal” life.
Is your time linear? Are you bumping into people fro different times?
Something Wicked This Way Comes ~ Ray Bradbury
From the first paragraph, this story surprised me and enticed me, drawing me deeper into the dark and mysterious world of Green Town. I was expecting classical good prose as I had already read Fahrenheit 451, but Bradbury surpassed my expectations by using prose that completely immersed me in the world of Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show. With descriptive imagery I was quickly able to form a picture of Green Town, and its inhabitants, in particular Will and Jim, best friends on the brink of puberty and all the trouble and wonders that brings. Although the carnival is fantastical, strange and eccentric, it is wholly credible as a magical wonder.
The reader very quickly learns that Will and Jim are the light and dark of Green Town. Jim Nightshade drawn to all things mysterious and dark, while Will prefers to ‘look away’ and preserve his innocence. The reader is also introduced to other inhabitants, with all their quirks and foibles. It is their disappointments, forgotten dreams, hopes and wishes that make them vulnerable to Mr Dark and the Shadow Show. So it is with this, that we are taken to the Library and its janitor Charles Halloway, Will’s father, spending his time wallowing in daydreams of the sunny days of youth unappreciated, and now wishing he could run as fast as his young son again.
This book has a lot of wisdom woven through the pages, about living in the present, seeing beauty in the life you have, appreciating every day, and mostly, about having laughter and joy in your life. These are wonderful gifts from a classic gothic fantasy and masterpiece of literature that will stay with the reader forever.
Appletree Books 