In part IV of this promised seven-part series, Tara is now living in a commune of sorts with dozens of fellow travellers, in a large house in Bremen. The smaller group’s approach to seeking other travellers has succeeded and then some, with people bringing their own stories and adding to both the mystery and the understanding of this strange wrinkle in time.
This novel covers a further five years for Tara in 18 November, bringing her total to 10 years, so she is now nearly 40. While I remain interested in learning more about the how and why of this strange time sink (it’s not really time travel, but the opposite – being stuck in a repeating day), I was less engaged by the multitude of new characters and found some of their conversations highly implausible, especially when they are exploring the language, mechanics, and philosophy of their dilemma (or anastrophe, as they call it – neither positive nor negative, just different). I would like to get back to Tara’s own journey, and so this long period of stasis is not as interesting. Thankfully, by the end of the book, there is a new mystery and Tara sets off again, toward book V.
One detail quibble: there seems to be an error in translation. On page 49 (near the end of day #1945), Tara is describing the actions of others, and for a few sentences refers to herself in the third person. The novel is Tara’s journal, and except when quoting others talking about her, she always refers to herself as I/me/my/mine. This small exception was jarring, and both pulled me out of the story and also had me watching for similar slips for the rest of the novel. Combined with the lack of interest in the other characters, I found this instalment to be my least favourite so far (the extended exploration of ancient Rome for no apparent reason in part II is a close second).
I am enjoying considering the challenges and possibilities of such a time shift. Like with “Groundhog Day”, there are the personal reflections – what would I do with such an endless supply of time? Is there a day I would want to repeat? How would I figure out the rules and would I seek out others? – and the questions about the rules – why me? What are the limits of what I can change? If there are others, did they get pulled out on the same 18 November, or are people added at different points? Is there any psychic impact on those who are not pulled out, who are repeating the same day without being aware of it? Wouldn’t there be some lingering effect of experiencing the same thing thousands of times, especially traumatic experiences?
I’m looking forward to part V in a few months, in the hopes of a renewed focus on a journey and on Tara, and of improved editing and translation.
Fate: hanging on to it as part of the series, in case I want to refer back to something.
2 – about time
8 – female author
13 – somewhere I’ve never been
21 – a translation
36 – part of a series
rclr 
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