The Two-Timers

by Bob Shaw

Ace books, 1979. Later printing. First published in 1968. "A stunning novel of parallel worlds. If anyone needed incontrovertible proof that the fiction of wonder has come of age, Bob Shaw has provided it in one extraordinary novel of power, warmth, ideas and imagination. The Two-Timers says something fresh and memorable about the monomania of love, about the way we wear our universe, about a few of the eternal verities that suddenly seem less secure. Aside from the sheer impetus of the story, which grasps and won't release till the unexpected conclusion, the writing is exquisite. It knocked me painfully good." -- Harlan Ellison

Genres: Science Fiction, Time Travel, Fiction

182 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Bob Shaw was born in Northern Ireland. After working in structural engineering, industrial public relations, and journalism he became a full time science fiction writer in 1975.

Shaw was noted for his originality and wit. He was two-time recipient (in 1979 and 1980) of the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer. His short story Light of Other Days was a Hugo Award nominee in 1967, as was his novel The Ragged Astronauts in 1987.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short, fun novel of crosstime chicanery and obsession from Shaw, who is now best remembered for his thoughtful slow glass stories and cosmic van Vogt-ian novels like Orbitsville. This 1979 edition (the novel was first published in 1968) has glowing blurbage from Harlan Ellison, and I couldn't help but notice the parallels and similarities between The Two-Timers and Ellison's Shatterday, which appeared in 1975. There are a few drawbacks, such as the main female character is rather shallow and unlikeable and I'm not sure why the protagonist would put so much effort into pursuing her. Also, the book is set in Montana, but after reading it I'd bet the author had never been closer to Butte than Brighton. Still, for a 1968 book it's quite cleverly constructed, well-written, and well worth a look.

[Manny · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate to say it, but there's something just plain repellant about Bob Shaw. In this confused parallel worlds novel, I recall an early scene where he wants to convince his other-universe counterpart that he's the same person. He dredges up a sordid memory of the summer his nubile cousin came to stay, when, as a teenager, he took a drill and bored a hole in the floor so that he could photograph her naked. Later on, he starts an affair with his double's wife (legal query: is this, technically, adultery?) It goes wrong, there's a fight, and he ends up locking her in the closet and tying the doors together with fishing twine.

Well, perhaps it was all full of redeeming social importance. I read this novel a long time ago, so forget what I said at the beginning and let's give him the benefit of the doubt.

[Linus · Rating 4 out of 5]

#2 BOB SHAW - 4.5/5

„The Two Timers" is the second book by Bob Shaw that I have read, after "Other Days, Other Eyes", which in my opinion is a true masterpiece, the perfect "what if...? book.

In "The Two Timers", Shaw plays with time travel and the concept of parallel worlds, which is quite different from "Other Days, Other Eyes", but just as fascinating. Jake Breton has lost his wife Kate, who was raped and murdered in a park after a violent argument. In the years that followed, he devoted all his time to finding a way to get her back. After nine years, he finally succeeds in killing his wife's murderer just before he carries out his deeds. The only problem is that he does this in another timeline where Kate continues to live, but with another Jake. This ends in a surreal but very human situation in this other timeline, where Jake calls himself John and where he still lives with this woman Kate. One evening John gets a phone call in which a man explains: "You've been living with my wife for years - now I'm coming to get her back". And later, John Breton finds himself on the veranda of his house...

It is a very engrossing read, and despite its brevity it misses nothing. My German edition calls it a sophisticated web of time travel and parallel worlds, and it is, but at the same time it contains so much emotion, feeling, despair. At its heart, "The Two Timers" is a love story about a man who has lost his wife and wants to find a way to bring her back to life. I think science fiction is at its best when it focuses on the lives of individuals who are thrown into almost hopeless situations and have to deal with them. So far, Bob Shaw is, in my opinion, a master at this!

More Shaw to come...

[Love of Hopeless Causes · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's amazing what a badly designed screwdriver, some glass, and some reinjected callous pus can do to a man, a universe, and a reader. If that doesn't peak your will to be weird, you may not possess the suspension of disbelief required to enjoy this Science Fiction triumph. However, if you believe a talking brain in a jar only improves a strange tale, this is for you. The tense plotting, impressive characterizations, dazzling windowpane prose, unpredictable twists, and conveyance of abstract concepts with minimal words, lead me to that rarest plane of novel out-of-body experience. So why isn't this book rated higher?

The opening character point of view isn't likable. Modern readers tend to drop a book unless it features Captain Save-a-kitten in the first ten pages.

The naming conventions are horrible. When an author relies on Joe, John, and Jack to indicate scene transitions, it requires a careful read--of what many assume to be a throwaway. If Bob Shaw possessed a metaphorical hammer, he wasn't using it to smash the patriarchy. Not that the female characters are one-dimensional, but because 1968. I'm thrilled to have discovered this first printing in the last box of not-reads cleared out of my parents attic over the holidays.

[Jiří Pavlovský · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nějak teď jedu v starších scifárnách. Možná proto, že mají zdvořilou délku kolem 200 stran a tudíž je máte přečtené tak za den. A občas dokáží překvapit. Bob Shaw u mně nedávno zabodoval s nápadem s pomalým sklem v románu Jiné dny, jiné oči (i když úvodní povídka je lepší než celý zbytek románu) a jelikož vyšla česky jeho další kniha, sáhl jsem po ní.
A dostal se do problému, jak ji hodnotit.

Ten problém spočívá v tom, že na svou dobu to musela být obrovská pecka. Jenže, jak se to občas se zajímavými nápady stává, postupně na nich budovali další a další autoři (na tomhle naposledy třeba už vysloveně mainstreamová Temná hmota), takže když dnes sáhnete po příběhu člověka, který ve snaze zachránit svou ženu stvoří nechtěně alternativní vesmír (a rozhodne se do něj vydat, aby svou ženu získal zpátky - i za cenu toho, že bude muset zlikvidovat své místní já), už vám to přijde spíš jako slabý odvar. Jako kniha, která přináší už mnohokrát čtený a viděný nápad a dál s ním už nijak zajímavě nepracuje. Což není vina knížky, je to čistě vina ubíhajících let.

A pak je tu druhý problém knihy a to jsou emoce. Tady ani nejde o to, že to psal angličan, čili člen národa, který smí cítit emoce pouze ke své královně, ale spíš o fakt, že věci jako láska v těchhle starých románech fungují na rychlopřepínání. On potká jí - láska na celý život. Pak najednou nenávist. Pak pochopí, že se milují a zase láska. Aniž by to bylo čímkoliv opodstatněné, aniž by se jeden z těch dvou přestal chovat jako idiot. Už v těch Jiných dnech mi přišla milostná linka jako dost děsivá, tady už není tak hrozná, ale za to zabírá větší prostor.

Co se týče stylu, tak je to napsané správně "anglicky". Mám fakt pocit, že tihle starší angličtí autoři mají svůj specifický styl, stojící na lehkém odstupu, suché čtivosti, a občasným záškubům ironie. Francis, MacLean, Bagley, Shaw... ale může to být jen tím, jaké autory si vybírám ke čtení. Hlavně díky tomu stylu jsou Dvojníci v čase stále příjemné čtení... ale člověk to musí vnímat jako retro a uvědomovat si, že tahle kniha je už stará padesát let.

[Alien · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the German translation "Die Zweizeit-Menschen" from Goldmann.

Ehekrise! Er lässt seine Frau allein durch den Park wandern, sie wird ermordet. Er verzehrt sich vor Schuldgefühlen. Er mutmasst, dass seine migräneähnlichen Anfälle, wo er Ereignisse aus der Vergangenheit wiedererlebt, eine Art Zeitreise andeuten. Kann das eine Möglichkeit sein, seine Frau zu retten?

Die "Wissenschaft" hinter der Story ist ziemlich unbefriedigend, aber immerhin originell. Gut sind die Charakterschilderungen und der Beziehungskram. Das ist ungewöhnlich für SF. Der Roman erinnert mich teilweise fast an J.G. Ballard. Die deutsche Übersetzung ist offenbar vollständig und tadellos.

[jaroiva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jednohubka na dvě, tři hodinky čtení a na několik dalších dní k přemýšlení.
Jestli tady nečerpal Blake Crouch inspiraci pro svou Temnou hmotu, tak už nevím, kde.
Není to tak akční jako Temná hmota, ale je tu koncentrovanější ta hlavní myšlenka, takže Shawovi stačí skoro jen půlka stránek oproti Croachovi.
V rámci prostudování problému ze všech stran doporučuji přečíst obě knihy. Tuhle budete mít rychle.
Jedinou výtku mám, že tady ten konec byl nějaký hodně rychle odbytý.

[Malcolm Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never know what to expect when reading a Bob Shaw novel, except that it'll most likely surprise me, provoke thoughts and greatly entertain me.
This book did just that. It's an exploration of that great "If only..." and what it means to lose what you love and love what you lose. It was thrilling, insightful and his thoughts on automatic writing were very funny.
That being said, I did find the characters a little hard to like with some turning out to be totally unnecessary to the plot, but do add a certain level of tension to the story. Also the random jumps to other characters were a little jarring. They were supposed to help show the scale of what was going on, but as that detail had yet to be revealed, they felt more like intermissions.
There was a satisfactory conclusion which I didn't see coming. I just feel sorry for the police officer.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A re-read of an old favourite, now in ebook format. It holds up surprisingly well. It’s the story of a man who finds a way of moving to a parallel timeline.

In his own timeline, his wife was raped and murdered in a park after he allows her to walk home alone after an argument. Some years later, obsessed with guilt, he finds a way to go back in time and shoot the rapist before he assaults his wife. But then he’s drawn back to his own timeline. It takes him more years still to learn how to cross over and stay in the timeline in which she is still alive. Shaw cleverly studies what might happen when the man tries to take over the life still inhabited by his alternate self.

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bob Shaw is an under appreciated author. He wrote a series of very clever, idea-oriented novels starting in the late sixties through the seventies. Novels like this one, Other Days Other Eyes and The Palace of Eternity combine interesting science-fictional thinking with well-crafted prose and engaging characters. The title of this book clearly indicates that this will be a time travel story, so no spoilers. What Shaw does with this theme is both ordinary and unpredictable. If this had been written in the 1940s, the novel would have made a great science fiction film noir.

[Yuri Lytovchenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never thought of it as SciFi, it's rather social fiction - about a person trapped by his own mania and having to choose between bad and worse, and finally spiraling down to the state where there's no choice for him at all.

It would be an interesting twist if the time-traveled Breton would intentionally sacrifice himself for the happiness of parallel Breton & Kate... but it doesn't look so in any way

[Dominika Žáková · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sci-fi klasika. Na svoju dobu to isto bola bomba, no v dnešnom kontexte je to pre mňa ľahko zabudnuteľná kniha. “Recenziu” píšem len tri týždne po dočítaní a vlastne neviem čo viac dodať, než že emócie protagonistov, najmä ženy, sa mi zdali neveľmi realistické a že grafické spracovanie knihy je super.

[MARCOS VOLATOR · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is an underrated book. Apparently just another one with the classic time traveler theme. However, it is loaded with poetry, it is dense and full of tensions. It touches on ever-present issues. Love and loss and overcoming. The tragic hero balancing on his humanity, potentially capable of the worst and the best. A book whose main theme is redemption.

[Viktor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good old style tale

Nowadays, a book like this would be 400+ pages, ending with a set-up for 4 or more sequels. This one gets in, tells the tale, then gets out.

Very enjoyable.

[Scott Golden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good parallel worlds story about a man that will do anything to reunite with his deceased wife.

[Szymon Dudziński · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is mind boggling. It has enough science fiction to feed the nerdy part of my soul, but it's also got a very thrilling story. Awesome read

[Tamerlaaane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining time travel novel, the first book I have read from Bob Shaw. It is a very easy read with some delightful concepts. A solid 4+ star rating.

[Antonio Ippolito · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brillante romanzo sui viaggi nel tempo letto in contemporanea a 11/22/63 di King, è l’equivalente di un ottimo B-movie, incentrato su una sola idea e con le atmosfere di un film “noir”: anche piuttosto torbide, come torbida è la passione del protagonista per la sua (ex? O mai stata?) moglie, e la sua avversione al “vero” marito di lei. Per salvare la moglie da un tragico destino, aggravato dai propri sensi di colpa, il protagonista inventerà un modo per viaggiare nel tempo; ma questo tipo di viaggio comporterà conseguenze impreviste, e su scala ben più vasta di quella dei rapporti sentimentali. Protagonista ora eroico ed ora maniacale, a volte anche piuttosto sgradevole, il che rende il romanzo interessante. La soluzione trovata da Shaw ai paradossi temporali mi sembra molto intelligente: è la stessa che adotterà qualche anno più tardi Joanna Russ in “Female man”. Godibilissimo nella sua patina d’epoca: del ’68, con una generica ambientazione americana curiosamente nel Montana, rapporti familiari dove “tu sei l’uomo di casa e devi decidere anche per me, tua moglie” e al tempo stesso giovani che praticano l’ “amore di gruppo” nei parchi (non saranno state orge, immagino, ma diverse coppie ognuna per conto suo in uno stesso prato?).
Shaw mette forse un po’ troppa carne al fuoco: va bene che l’esperimento del protagonista mette a rischio l’universo cosmo, questa è pensata bene; vanno ancora bene, anche se un po’ dispersivi, i tanti brevi episodi autoconclusivi per dare l’idea dell’estensione del dramma cosmico; ma quell’esplosione di telepatia a metà romanzo, che c’entra? La scrittura automatica dei coniugi Palfrey? La fisica cronomotoria?
Per la prima volta un Urania ha più pagine di alcune delle edizioni originali, segno che probabilmente è integrale. Va detto che se anche il romanzo non ha tagli significativi nella trama, alcune “asciugature” sono vistose, a giudicare da situazioni e dettagli che compaiono bruscamente, senza spiegazione, o vengono solo alluse come già note: la cantina di John con i ricordi del passato, il funzionamento del Cronomoto, il viaggiatore che riappare inizialmente come cervello sospeso per aria..
Buona la traduzione di Beata della Frattina; segnalo solo che un “tappeto color mostarda” (pensando alle squisitezze di Cremona, fatico a immaginarne il colore..) è probabilmente “mustard”, senape. E il titolo è molto fantascientifico e suggestivo, ma non sarebbe stato male tradurre “The two-timers” con qualcosa tipo “Doppie vite”, che oltre a essere più letteralmente simile conserva quell’accenno ad attività immorali.. in fondo si tratta di due uomini, in realtà due versioni dello stesso uomo, che si alternano tra le braccia di una stessa donna! Simpatica la resa “scimmioni imbrattati d’olio” per i meccanici di un’officina, colloquialmente detti “grease monkeys” (gli apprendisti).
E sopra tutto: comprensione per il tenace, intelligente e sfortunato tenente Convery: dalla mia prima lettura 40 e passa anni fa ricordavo solo la sua ossessione infantile per “far parlare le mani”.. purtroppo si è scontrato con un nucleo familiare unito solo dall’omertà!

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bob Shaw was a delightfully meticulous writer of small dramas writ against cosmic implications. Spare, insightful, elegantly done, The Two-Timers is a story of two people who drift apart despite their best intentions who experience a horrific event with life-shattering consequences. But then the survivor finds a way to travel in time and begins an attempt to regain the life he lost, not realizing that by doing so he puts the universe in danger. As melodramatic as this may sound, it is handled with superb restraint and skill.

Recommended.

[Joachim Boaz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...

"Various Bob Shaw fans told me to read Nightwalk (1967) or find a copy of Other Days, Other Eyes (1972)—especially as I adored one of the short stories that appeared in the later fix-up novel —“Light of Other Days” (1966). Instead, I cast wary eyes toward my shelves and read The Two-Timers. I wish I read [...]"

[yo JP · Rating 3 out of 5]

Béčko jak trám se spoustou až úsměvných děr. Bob Shaw podruhé je tak nějak potvrzením toho, co jsem tušil už u jeho první a značně nápaditější knihy 'Jiné dny, jiné oči' - rutinér, který nemá moc co nabídnout, ledaže opravdu zbožňujete žánr natolik, že vám nevadí číst i jeho průměrnější články. Ale je to krátké a odsýpá to opravdu rychle. Jednoduché čtení, pokud nechcete namáhat hlavu a na dvě až tři hodinky něčím zabít čas.

[Martin De Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Arrivare a pagina 51 e accorgersi che per un errore di impaginazione si passa direttamente a pagina 108. Peccato, la storia del protagonista che viaggia nel tempo sfruttando le sostanze che il suo cervello rilascia durante le sue emicranie ad aura mi stava iniziando ad appassionare... cercherò di recuperarlo in un'altra edizione (quella incriminata è la prima stampa, collana Urania regolare, numero 580).

[Nájezdník z Pustiny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Za ty jednohubky bych si měl dát jednu do huby. Ne, že by tato byla špatná, vlastně bych s kritikou nezacházel tak daleko, jako někteří. Bob není žádný amatér, žádných chyb se nedočkáme, svět je vystavěn přesvědčivě, zajímavé… jen prostě zamrzí pomyšlení na to, že se nesnažil víc, než nám rychle narvat další knihu do huby. Vždycky jsem smutný z toho, když by stačil rok práce navíc a spisovatel by mohl z něčeho obyčejného vytvořit neobyčejné. Ale ztráta času? Nikoliv!

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quixotic tale of obsession, unlikable characters and unrealistic expectations. A contrite husband crosses into a parallel universe and finds things are surprisingly different (no sh*t Sherlock!). Shaw’s wry wit imbues this short novel with a freshness that belies its 1968 publication. A delightful palate cleanser.

[Llona ❤️ "Così tanti libri, così poco tempo." · Rating 4 out of 5]

CIT:
intrappolato nel suo guscio di noia come un cavalluccio marino ancora vivo in un portachiavi di plastica

[Rog Petersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blake Crouch read this, scienced it up and wrote Dark Matter. Husbands jumping dimensions and killing each other. This is shorter.
This Pan edition has a dreary, tangent fueled cover.

[Edoardo Nicoletti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Banalotto ma piacevolmente leggibile fino alla fine.

[Rosewater Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Его бессвязные фразы были штрихами, из которых слагался Лик Конца Вселенной".
Практически всё содержимое можно выплеснуть посредством одного этого предложения. Бретон Старший оказался самым ярким персонажем. Скудное описание раскрывает, однако, воображение к реминисценциям на манер плодившихся в начале 90ых "фильмов ужаса". Не считая, конечно, лейтенанта Конвери, ярко напомнившего о добротно разыгранном детективе из "Тонкой голубой линии" (имени чьего не упомню).
Язык и ход событий напоминал о ширпотребном письме Стивен Кинга (по 2000 знаков в день, кажется - Кинг, конечно, позже объявился, но при исследовании культурных явлений должно прибегать не столько к хронологии\наследственности, сколь шаблонности образов). Честно говоря, неприятнейше удивлён был тем, что уроженец чудесной Северной Ирландии - а пишет, и читаем, как заядлый америкашка. Переводчику, в общем, не пришлось усердствовать. Единственной стоящей фразой можно считать "хрономотивный потенциал, который другие люди н��звали бы раскаянием". Под конец чуточку раскрывается то, что следовало бы поместить в самом начале - совершенство двух вселенных, перемещение из одного в другой в результате которого (совершенства) приводит к лишению необходимой массы одной (вселенной) и переизбытку другой.
В остальном.. кажется, не следует даже пытаться оценивать незнакомую "западную" фантастику, единовременно ознакамливаясь с манерой раннего "советского социалистического" (чтобы не употреблять неуместное "отечественного") письма - это как смотреть телевизор и читать книгу. Для сомневающихся и просто неуловивших: чтение - это Бабель.

[Mirrordance · Rating 3 out of 5]

La data di lettura è del tutto approssimativa. Tutti gli anni novanta sono stati il periodo in cui ho letto il numero maggiore di libri di fantascienza. Bob Shaw è sempre stato un autore che ho gradito molto. Non ricordo il libro nei particolari ma la sensazione piacevole del post-lettura è invariata. Prima o poi lo rileggerò,

[X · Rating 2 out of 5]

Affascinante come sempre il tema dei mondi paralleli, anche se nel caso di questo romanzo trovo sia utilizzato più che altro come pretesto per non incappare nel fastidioso paradosso temporale dovuto al viaggio nel tempo intrapreso dal protagonista. La trama purtroppo é lineare e prevedibile. Lettura piacevole ma niente di più.