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There are currently 3 member reviews
for The Day Tripper
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Linda S. (West Linn, OR)
Time Travel With A Twist
I'm drawn to time travel books, favorites being Stephen King's 11/22/63 and Jack Finney's two-book series Time and Again; and From Time to Time. James Goodhand's new book The Day Tripper is time travel with a twist. Each day Alex Dean confronts a new place and year, but the days are not in chronological order. One day he might be 36 years old and the next he's 22. He is experiencing his life out of order, often bewildered as to what events have gotten him to a specific place and time. For the reader It would be easy to get frustrated and confused. At the beginning you have no idea what is going on nor why, but neither does Alex! It doesn't take long, however, for the story to begin to take shape and you are hooked. The format is so unique and the book is so well-written that you are swept up in the quest to find out what is happening, how it's happening and why it's happening.
My feelings about Alex Dean were all over the place. Much of his life is fueled by alcohol, laziness, and irresponsibility. However, he also has a loving kindness about him that is so endearing it moves you to tears. As you learn his background story you can't help but root for him.
About half way through the book I decided I needed a visual aid and I made a timeline, with very brief descriptions of what took place on each date. I don't typically interrupt my reading with note taking, but the time line was actually quite helpful. Prepare to put everything on hold as you delve into this beautifully written, one-of-a-kind time travel escapade.
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Martha G. (Columbia, MO)
the Day Tripper
The creative brain that mastered the timeline of events in The Day Tripper must be a marvel! Alex Dean finds himself perpetually adrift while trying to navigate his life. I have enjoyed time-travel novels, but this one proved a bit much for me. I found it to be confusing because of the abrupt transitioning. I know, that's the premise of time-travel, but I never quite found the rhythm. In addition, the poor choices Alex made left me wishing that I could stop him! The intricacy of the plot kept me curious about what would happen to Alex. However, it is not a book I would recommend to a casual reader.
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Dorothy M. (Maynard, MA)
Is Einstein Correct and time is an illusion?
This is a complicated book. James Goodhand posits that time travel exists, that it is possible with a particular brain injury for someone to live their life out of sequence with no control and little understanding of how time moves. If you move back and forth through time and you are lucky and make better decisions, can you change the future and repair the past? We meet Alex Dean as a young man set to go to Cambridge and in love with a beautiful woman who loves him in return. When we see him next as he travels erratically back and forth through his life, he is an alcoholic busker with no friends. The story that Goodhand tells is how he got there, why Alex makes such bad decisions and whether there is any way in which there might be an alternate ending. I think people who enjoyed The Midnight Library by Matt Haig will find this an interesting premise. I enjoyed this book but I found it somewhat difficult to get into. You need the patience to keep reading.
