S&S/Simon Element
206 Pages
If you could live your youth over, would you do it? It seems like an easy question, but if you think deeper about it, it’s not quite so cut and dry. Fifty in Reverse by Bill Flanagan explores what could happen if you could relive your life over again. It’s not all peaches and cream. While there definitely would be some perks, the overall experience, in my opinion, would be less than ideal.
It’s 1970 and Peter Wyatt has woken up as a fifteen year old boy, back in his hometown rather than in 2020, when he first went to sleep. Perhaps as a way to wake up from this dream, he strips his clothes in the middle of his classroom in front of his shocked peers and teachers. We meet Peter as he’s speaking with a therapist about this stunt. He claims that he’s a sixty-five year old father and grandfather who just wants to wake up from this dream. He tells his therapist about what he knows about the future, including the Presidents after Richard Nixon.
With all his knowledge of years to come readily at his beck and call, Peter tries to fit into life in the 1970s while desperately trying to get back to what he knows and loves. On one hand, he is happy to see his parents again, alive and well, and in the prime of their lives. It’s been a long time for that. On the other hand, he has to live through the trials and tribulations of being a teenager again. Even with all the knowledge that he has, it’s a minefield of dubious decisions. Peter’s body has changed in the fifty years since he was last a teenager. Some of those urges that were becoming dormant came flooding back in a rage, which, of course, affects some of that decision making process.
As time goes on, it seems that Peter’s return to 2020 is more and more unlikely. He will have to accept reliving his life. What would he do differently, especially since he knows what the future holds? Will he be able to keep a grip on those other aspects of his life, or will they start to disappear as his new decisions alter how he lived the first time?
This book is a very intriguing look at the possibility of time travel, albeit only the consciousness traveling rather than the whole person. Time doesn’t like paradoxes and will heal these rifts before they tear the universe apart. Keep that in mind as you read this book. Flanagan does a fantastic job with this reverse Rip Van Winkle story. He balances what we want and expect with what the universe needs, and he does it subtly.
Fifty in Reverse by Bill Flanagan is a wonderful book. It is a poignant exploration at being given a second chance. Some of the things we take for granted, like our parents always being there healthy and strong, slap us right in the face with its fleeting moments. Haven’t we all at some point wished to see at least one of our loved ones one more time? If you had that chance, would you take it, even knowing there might be sacrifices?
This is a short book that packs a lot of punch in only two hundred pages. Real time travel is evident as you work faster to turn the pages. Will Peter get back to his old life or will he accept his fate and live life again? You will want to know as badly as he does. If you need a quick book for the weekend, Fifty in Reverse would be a good one to tackle. I assure you that you will not be disappointed.
Craig Bacon would like to visit some moments in his past just for those raw feelings. Like the first time he kissed the woman who would become his wife. Magical.