August is my birthday month, so I have already been pondering the onward march of time and the date of my own demise. A little dramatic? Maybe.
Last weekend, a friend and I went to a discussion at the Word Festival on writing about time travel. US author Ted Chiang and NZ authors Whiti Hereaka and Michael Bennett were on the panel. We expected some tips on the mechanics of dealing with paradoxes and alternate realities. What we got was a philosophical discussion on life.
Why we love it
Firstly, the authors discussed why people love time travel stories so much. They suggested that we all know we are going to die at some point. We are floating down a river that flows one way towards a certain point. We like to think we can affect this – using free will. Time travel stories appeal, since they are tales we can escape to where people can see and control the consequences of the choices they make.
When a character makes decisions in a time travel story, it is an attempt to influence their own life or society for the better. It poses the question, what are we doing wrong in today’s society? What sort of a future are we heading for? If in fact the changes the character makes don’t affect the ultimate outcome, it is about coming to terms with our own mortality or making peace with our destinies.
Interestingly, they discussed other ways to travel through time and instances where time seems to speed up or slow down, for example in a hospital waiting room. The psychological and spiritual ways to time travel also came up, where no one actually travels.
Prophecy as early time travel
In many cultures, there are tales of prophesy where the hero is told what will happen. They usually take steps to prevent it but it ends up being inevitable. This is an early form of time travel as the seer speaks about a future reality. The hero of the story must accept what he needs to do, for example the Greek oracles, Harry Potter.
Psychological time travel
This is time travel that happens in a character’s head ie a sufferer of PTSD may revisit a traumatic event in the past, for example in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five. The story then becomes more about resolving the event or making peace with what happened than changing anything.
My friend and I were so inspired by this talk so I thought I’d leave you with a list of science fiction books I’ve loved. Some people seem to have a mental block when it comes to science fiction but, if it is well written, it doesn’t focus on the science. A good sci fi book has poignant insight into relationships and the human condition, to which we can all relate.
Top 5 Sci fi books for people who don’t read sci fi
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
- Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
- Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
- Childhood’s End by Arthur C Clarke
Top 5 Books in the Time Travel Genre
- Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
- Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
- Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
- 11/22/63 by Stephen King
- Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
This is such an interesting post. It immediately made me think of “The House on the Strand” by Daphne du Maurier with its time travel element. I read it years ago but it’s one of those books that’s really stayed with me, must be due to read it again soon. Many thanks for the reminder!
I like these other ways of seeing time traveling. Thanks for sharing.
That sounds like a great book – I’ll have to add it to my list! I’m currently reading The Immortalists, where four siblings all learn the date of their death. It’s very interesting seeing the way different people live their lives, knowing this information.
Yes, I found it pretty mind-blowing. I had never thought of that before.
Interesting – on turning 70 this year i have thought a lot about time – time passed – and what time is left for me. I’m in the middle of moving to another state but want to check out some of these books as soon as I am settled again.
Please do, and let me know what you think!
I didn’t enjoy “Life after Life” as much as I thought I would.
The first Outlander book was phenomenal, though.
Love Outlander- have you read the whole series?
I think I’m stuck on book 4 (got distracted with life and put it down for now). I didn’t really care for part 2. Part 3 was good.