Time Travel discussion

May and June Book Club Read:



Glimpses

Ray Shackleford lives in the ruins of the idealistic 1960s. Veteran of failed garage bands, he works as a repairman of stereo equipment, tending the dying embers of his marriage, and dreaming of bygone days and the music that almost was.
When he finds the music he dreams of has been mysteriously recorded by his tape deck, Ray is drawn into the past, to revisit the histories of Hendrix, Morrison, and the Beatles...along with the history of Ray Shackleford.
Vividly re-creating a lost era that might have been, "Glimpses "fuses the hopes and dreams in the music with a powerful vision of reality.


Discussion opens May 1st.

I am thinking of doing this one in Audio, but I am sometimes reluctant to do time travel by audio if it goes back and forth in time too much-anyone read and can offer an opinion as to whether it will work well in audio format?

Liked that this book was selected. Got it and am reading it as my first Kindle book.

The first chapter was well written, and I'm enjoying it so far.

It's funny that I just finished Rock 'n Roll Heaven by Shawn Inmon!

Thanks for reading it, Steven. That was the first fiction I ever published. :) It is loosely set in the same universe as my Middle Falls Time Travel books, although there isn't a lot of crossover. It's more of a case that Jimmy Velvet gets mentioned occasionally in the Middle Falls books.

Cheers,

Shawn

I am enjoying this book so far, and am playing music by the Beatles, Doors, and Brian Wilson while I read it on my iPad!

More later.

Steven wrote: "I am enjoying this book so far, and am playing music by the Beatles, Doors, and Brian Wilson while I read it on my iPad!

More later."

Can’t wait to hear what you thought.

The rock music of the sixties was fantastic! And it's great for someone (me) who lived through that period to revisit it in this novel! And to discover new aspects as well!

Shiner combines nostalgia for this era, time travel, an implied critique of the record business, and a dissatisfaction with getting older in a new age in his novel, which is well written, with a few tedious passages about the protagonist's present ennui.

Ray Shackleford feels unsatisfied in his marriage, is angry at his parents—particularly his lately deceased father, and is drinking more and more booze. Suddenly, he hears a supposedly never-recorded version of the Beatles's "The Long and Winding Road" without Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" over-orchestration and choral overdubs in his head! And he can make an audiotape of it! Shiner published this novel in 1993, and, whoa, a few years later Paul McCartney actually did start to issue renditions of the song without Spector's additions!

Will Ray find happiness in the present by revisiting the past? Who knows? But I aim to find out!

Meanwhile, I am listening to lots of music by The Doors and The Beach Boys (including Brian Wilson's Smile album, which he actually did finish 11 years after Ray "helped" him do so in the novel)!

I'm about two-thirds through the book, which is still holding my interest, with the focus now on Ray's personal problems in the present, which intensified after the death of his father and with his marriage falling apart.

Coming up now is Ray's attempt to get Jimi Hendrix's fourth album, First Rays of the New Rising Sun, out. And, of course, it WAS released four years after Shiner's book was published. In fact, I'm listening to three songs from the album right now ("Freedom," "Angel," and "Hey Baby, New Rising Sun")!

I love the music part of this book - it is fun to find the music and play it. It's turning out to be a sort of multi-dimensional entertainment.

Jennifer wrote: "I love the music part of this book - it is fun to find the music and play it. It's turning out to be a sort of multi-dimensional entertainment."

I couldn't agree more. These are the best parts of the novel. The other sections are fine, but depressing, I think.

How is the book? Besides the music parts, how was the story? The time travel aspects?

Nancy wrote: "How is the book? Besides the music parts, how was the story? The time travel aspects?"

The story was mildly interesting, but dragged somewhat. The lead character, Ray, is in life crisis, with a failing marriage, regrets about a previous girlfriend, a bad relationship with his mother, and trying to cope with the death of his uncaring father. His trip to Mexico to visit the scene of his father's death and his taking up with Lori frankly were boring, overall. His relationship with the crippled Graham was interesting, since rock 'n roll history was discussed a lot.

The time-travel aspects of the novel started slowly, with Ray being able to record a version of "The Long and Winding Road" without Phil Spector's over-orchestration, and then picked up as he actually went back in time to meet and help Jim Morrison, Brian Wilson, and Jimi Hendrix record songs, which included some time-travel replays, when things did not go according to Ray's plans.

It sounded like you guys were enjoying the music aspect. Was that why you gave it four stars? Your synopsis above doesn’t sound like four stars.

Nancy wrote: "It sounded like you guys were enjoying the music aspect. Was that why you gave it four stars? Your synopsis above doesn’t sound like four stars."

Well, if Goodreads allowed half-stars, my rating would have been a 3.5.

I really liked the music history, which opened my eyes to some fascinating facts about the artists who appeared in the novel, as well as their music! And the time-travel aspects (especially those that involved Wilson and Hendrix) were very well done!

But Ray's story wasn't all that interesting (as I got more into the book) and I labored through a lot of those passages.

Have you read any of the book, Nancy? If so, what are your thoughts?

My library doesn’t have the book and I didn’t want to spend the $$. But when I do a library search for Glimpses, this book comes up The Best in Rock Fiction because there is an excerpt of Glimpses in it. It is a collection of short stories and excerpts related to rock music.

You ought to spend the $$ on this one, Nancy. It's worth it if you like the old rock and roll classics from Brian Wilson, Jim Morrison, Paul McCartney, and Jimi Hendrix. Ray's protagonist goes in search of their lost masterpieces.

MY OWN REVIEW OF GLIMPSES
GIMPSES is at least two separate novels (and perhaps as many as 6) rolled into one. One novel is a rock and roll wish fulfillment fantasy (or 4 fantasies) and the other is a realistic account of a mid-life crisis.
(view spoiler)[ If I were to write a wish fulfillment fantasy, I would write one that actually fulfills my wishes, but that is not what Lewis Shiner opted do. Not Completely. I also would not have tried wed these two disparate and incompatible genres.
But who cares what I would do?
Shiner has done as good a job an anyone could have in melding these two opposing stories together. He does a masterful job of maintaining a consistent tone throughout, a tone appropriate for both plot lines.
The heart of the book is Chapter 4 where the narrator steps back in time and into Brian Wilson's life. Here the story is riveting and breath-taking. The research Shiner has done really makes this come alive. I'm with the narrator at every step, walking in his shoes, wishing and hoping for success.
After reading Chapter 4, I wondered to myself why Shiner didn't do the same thing with the chapters on the Beatles and the Doors. I can only guess. But I do know a weak or unconvincing narrative of Ray entering Paul McCartney's or Jim Morrison's life would have undercut the Brian Wilson narrative.
One thing that makes Chapter 4 so successful is what a surprise it is. I mean holy cow, there you are suddenly in Brian Wilson's house. It's real. It's all around you. It's fabulous.
The book never matches the high of that narrative's climax. But what could? Maybe this should have been the last rock and roll fantasy in the book. "Yeah," you say, "but it wouldn't have worked to have Jimi Hendrix's story precedent. So maybe the Brian Wilson story could have been its own novel or novella. I can imagine a volume of four novellas, each one a rock and roll wish fulfillment fantasy. The Brian Wilson novella would have been the best, but that wouldn't matter if the four were separate works.
"The narrator has to have a story,too," I can hear an editor saying to Shiner. "There has to be a connection between the protagonist's life and the legends' lives." Three of the legends have father issues. They all have drug/alcohol issues, right? And love/sex fixations?
The midlife crisis story is well done. It's realistic and believable. I want things to work out for these characters. I'm right there, going through the story with them. The narrator cries enough for two James Dean movies, but hey, I'm not complaining. I like James Dean.
They say you can't understand other people's relationships, much less judge them. Ray tells us enough about his relationship with Elizabeth for us to understand it, but I still can't judge it. So it's hard to take any lesson from his situation to apply to my own life.
I wasn't completely rooting for Ray when he started looking for trouble (his words) with Lori. But I accepted it in the end. The only problem is it didn't have much to do with the rock and roll plot.
There is a carryover between the mid-life crisis and the rock and roll stories--the drugs and sex and alcohol and daddy issues--but outside of the Brian Wilson adventure, the two plot lines don't build on each other. Ray never does reach the resolution he's seeking with his father. His relationship with Lori is irrelevant to his time traveling and vice versa.
Steven has brought up some excellent issues in terms of how these lost rock and roll classics turned up AFTER Shiner published the novel. I wonder if his novel inspired Brian Wilson or Paul McCartney to action? Or inspired the people who put out Jimi Hendrix's lost songs? I am going to need to listen to some music and sort this out. So I will be posting again later about this. (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

A SOUNDTRACK TO ACCOMPANY THIS NOVEL

A journey into the music this novel is about should begin and end with the song "Glimpses" by the Yardbirds. This piece fits the tone of the novel perfectly, that is, the novel fits it. You can play this as a soundtrack with any part of the book. Shiner mentions "Glimpses" on page 103 of the hardback version at the end of Chapter 3: "an obscure Yardbirds cut called 'Glimpses.' A hypnotic bass line, washes of guitar noise, finally the band singing harmony with no words . . . The first time I head it it scared the shit out of me, it was so otherworldly. Lost-sounding, somehow." This song merges the fantastic with the forlorn just as Shiner tries to do in the novel. It is while listening to this song that Ray Shackleford is transported to Brian Wilson's house in 1966.

Ned wrote: "A SOUNDTRACK TO ACCOMPANY THIS NOVEL

A journey into the music this novel is about should begin and end with the song "Glimpses" by the Yardbirds. This piece fits the tone of the novel perfectly, t..."

I see what you mean about the song! Haunting!

Steven: It may be just you and me discussing this book, but I'll post anyway.

I don't think the ill-fated GET BACK album counts as a lost rock and roll classic. "Get Back" was just a phase for the Beatles (and not a very good one); by the time of ABBEY ROAD (their best album) they had moved on. People keep referring to LET IT BE as "overproduced," but I disagree. It's "produced," not overproduced. Spector took the GET BACK songs and tried to make them Beatles masterpieces. I think that was a legitimate thing to do, but agreeably, not in the "Get Back" spirit. A lot of the tracks for GET BACK are on the BEATLES ANTHOLOGY album, disc 3, and I for one don't find them any better than the tracks on LET IT BE. There's a bootleg out now titled "Get Back" on youtube of another recording sessions with a lot of the GET BACK songs on it. It's under-rehearsed and under-produced (probably like their playing in the clubs in the early sixties), and the fan response to it online is overwhelmingly negative in terms of the quality of the music.
The problem with the "Get Back" phase is the Beatles were living in the past, which I think is a mistake. They broke through the ceiling with every album of theirs. GET BACK would have been the exception. It wasn't released because it just wasn't good enough. I think Paul wanted "The Long and Winding Road" to be another "Yesterday," which again is living in the past. I like the Spector version better. The Beatles chapter of GLIMPSES is interesting but just not as compelling as the later chapters.

I like the premise, but I'm having a little trouble sticking with it. Probably won't finish on time.

Sharon: What did you think of Chapter 4?

I just listened to "Celebration of the Lizard" on my DOORS box set. It's on the CD LIVE IN NEW YORK (1970), and you can listen to it on youtube. The Doors never recorded this in the studio, but I think this live version is about as good as it's gonna get. It starts out with Morrison shouting his poetry amid a lot of cacophony and then glides into a long rock 'n roll jam that ain't bad. Near the end he yells a familiar refrain: "I am the Lizard King. I can do anything."
Jim Morrison introduces the piece by saying, "All right, listen, man, we've got a special treat for you right now. This is a little tour de force that we've only done a couple times in front of strangers. And uh, it starts off kinda quiet so everybody kinda relax, take a few deep breaths, think about your eventual end and what's going to happen tonight, and we'll try to do something good to your head. Right, man? I don't know if you're aware of it, but this whole evening is being taped for eternity and beyond that, too. And so listen, man, if you want to be represented for eternity with some uncouth language, then I hope you will stand up on your seat and shout it out very clear or we're not gonna get it on tape. Don't worry, the operation won't take long, and you'll feel much better in the morning. Maybe I better tell you what this is about. It's about a bunch of young people that get fed up with where they were living and what's happening and they get a group of them together and they go out in the desert to live away from everyone. And each night they'd build a fire and they'd gather round and they'd sing songs and discuss what was happening and where they were at and all that.

In the box set notes, the band members comment on the songs, and about this one they say:
Ray: A real Doors epic. Jim's intro shows his rapport with the audience. He always spoke to them like friends. . . . The band is especially hot on this version. We played our asses off. And Jim is in top form.
Robby: An excellent version of "The Lizard." Jim got an awful lot of shit for proclaiming himself the "Lizard King." But he really loved lizards and snakes. He was serious about this. Many of his acid trips were very lizard-laden.

Jim Morrison understood wish fulfillment. But I'm not sure Lewis Shiner does. His Brian Wilson chapter is wish fulfilling, but the Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix sections come up a little short in the wish fulfillment department. I'm not sure Shiner realizes the full potential of wish fulfillment as a form. Let me give you an example:

DR. PHIL AND RAY SHACKLEFORD STAGE AN INTERVENTION
TO RESCUE JIM MORRISON FROM HIMSELF

Dr. Phi;: Jim, you are obviously a person filled with anger over unresolved issues from your past. I think if you could just take about these issues, it would do you a lot of good.
Morrison: [unprintable]
Shackleford: We just need you to get sober long enough to record "Celebration of the Lizard" in the studio.
Dr. Phil: But this isn't just about the music, Jim. We want to help you, too.
Shackleford: We're only concerned about the music, I swear.
Morrison: Get out.
Dr. Phil: Your violent persona is masking some deep emotional wounds, Jim. Work with us on this. Get in touch with your true feelings. Have a good cry.

MOMENTS LATER AFTER BEING PHYSICALLY EJECTED, RAY AND DR. PHIL CONVERSE WHILE WALKING DOWN THE STREET

Dr. Phil: That man needs therapy. But I think we did him some good.
Shackleford: Are you nuts? He's worse than ever now.
Dr. Phil: You may be right. The only thing that could change that man is hitting bottom and suffering the consequences.
Shackleford (stopping on the sidewalk): Consequences? Like what?
Dr. Phil: Like running over someone while driving intoxicated.
Shackleford: Are you suggesting what I think you are? Phil, you're an evil genius!
Dr. Phil (frowning): I wasn't suggesting anything.
Shackleford: We just need to find a wino who'd be willing to walk in front of a moving car in exchange for a gallon of muscatel. Half in advance to build his nerve.

You see? Wish fulfillment can make anything possible.

LATER IN HEAVEN:

Shackleford: I want to thank you, Billie Joe, for what you did to make Jim Morrison a new man. He sobered up, joined AA, and has earned his chip for ten years of sobriety.
Dead Wino: I was glad I could help.Hey, where's the rest of my muscatel?
Shackleford (laughing): They wouldn't let me take it with me.
Dead Wino: This ain't heaven if you can't take things with you.
Shackleford: I was just kidding. I have the muscatel right here. (hands him the bottle). Hey, have you seen Jimi Hendrix around?
Dead Wino (taking a swig): Sure. What do you want with him?
Shackleford: I need to get him into a recording studio to finish an album.
Dead Wino: Recording studio? They don't have those in the afterlife.
Shackleford: Of course they do. I imagined it in detail. It's all part of my wish fulfillment process.

You see? Wish fulfillment can make anything possible. Lew Shiner has been holding out on us. I want to hear those recordings, Shiner. Hand them over.

After reading the comments I decided to get this on my kindle and started it last night. I don't always do to well with first person, but I am really enjoying this book about 25 % in. I lived in Hollywood in 1970 so its bringing back memories. I know the time is almost up, but I'm glad I decided to squeeze it into my busy schedule. I like the way he finds connections between Ray and the characters whose music he's trying to link up to. I'm hearing the Doors all day and its great :)

Lilith wrote: "After reading the comments I decided to get this on my kindle and started it last night. I don't always do to well with first person, but I am really enjoying this book about 25 % in. I lived in Ho..."

Discussions are always open so it doesn’t matter when you start or finish.

Ned wrote: "Steven: It may be just you and me discussing this book, but I'll post anyway.

I don't think the ill-fated GET BACK album counts as a lost rock and roll classic. "Get Back" was just a phase for the..."

I agree that the "Long and Winding Road" section was a bit weak, but I do prefer the simpler versions of the song. A matter of opinion, of course. Interesting that Brian Wilson said that the song was his favorite Beatles number.

Have to agree on "Long and Winding Road," simpler is better, but I enjoy it all. Especially with World Beatles Day this week. I read this book several years ago and appreciate it all the more now, thanking Lewis Shiner for helping us Get Back once again.

Never saw the Beatles in live concert, but had the incredible good fortune of scoring up close and center seats for two Jimi Hendrix concerts under the stars in Hawaii many years ago. About a month before he was off to Woodstock. Unforgettable, but I could use some more Time Travel now.


Lewis Shiner