MovieChat Forums > Time After Time (1979) Discussion > Anybody ever read Karl Alexander's novel...

Anybody ever read Karl Alexander's novel?

posted 13 years ago by jschillig
5 replies | jump to latest

Karl Alexander's novel came back into print around the time he published the sequel, Jaclyn The Ripper (which I haven't read yet).

From what I can gather, Nicholas Meyer was friends with Karl Alexander, read the then-unfinished novel and optioned it for a movie before it was even published. So although it did come out after the movie did, it wasn't technically a movie novelization.

It's quite interesting and goes quite a bit more into characters' backstories--most notably, Stephenson himself. It's revealed that he was a member of a "respectable", repressive family. Being not quite right from the get-go, he fell in love with (and slept with) his sister (yes, you read that right). But his sister revealed that he hadn't been her first--their father had. By consent. (Nice Victorian family, eh?) Stephenson tried to beat her to death, but his father intervened and beat the crap out of HIM. He only returned for his father's funeral; his brothers glommed onto the estate, his sister had left for God-knows-where a long time ago and his mother was raving mad (possibly from syphilis that the father had given her, but it's not stated). It was the sister's picture in the pocket watch, the sister's face he visualized whenever he was in the act with the prostitutes and when he slaughtered them.

There are also a few things that make a little more sense in the book: the 1893 police never positively identify Stephenson as the Ripper (as they seem to in the movie) and, of course, he's never brought back to answer for his crimes so it makes much more sense that the Ripper is never identified.

Also, there's the question of why Stephenson, after being pronounced dead in San Fran, turned up alive: he switched his records with an emphysema patient--and then turned off his oxygen machine.

All in all, it's a good read and I'd recommend it. You might find one or two things you'd wish could have made it into the movie.

[–] sisterdebmac 13 years ago

Yes! I love it very much. I adore the film and the book just really takes the characters deeper. I definitely recommend it for anyone who loves the movie.

It's really not a novelization at all. I just see it as Karl finishing the book he wanted to write and being also influenced by the screenplay for Nick's movie. And because it's not a novelization, it really feels like the book the movie was based on, even though it didn't exist at the time. It's that good.

I remember there being LOTS of stuff I wish had been in the movie. But I'm a pathetic Herbert/Amy shipper, so most of it is about them. Sigh.
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[–] smileyking1975 10 years ago

I found it at a used clothing place a few years ago. Guess it was pretty out of print. It's on www.hamiltonbook.com and probably Amazon.

Loved the love scene between Herbert and Amy in both the novel and the movie. I love erotic fiction. There's just something so cute about Malcolm McDowell.

[–] hachmom-1 8 years ago

I read the book at the time the film came out. I remember appreciating all the characters' back stories.

It is not our abilities that show who we truly are...it is our choices

[–] muzilon 8 years ago

Also, there's the question of why Stephenson, after being pronounced dead in San Fran, turned up alive: he switched his records with an emphysema patient--and then turned off his oxygen machine.

Ah, I was wondering about that. I thought it was quite an unexplained "loophole" in the movie.

[–] puirt-a-beul 8 years ago

Thanks for that info, jschillig! I'll try to hunt the novel down.

We don't get all the details, obviously, but we do get a sense of Stevenson's damaged past in the contradiction between the woman's photo in his fob watch (wasn't sure if it was a mother or sister, but it's obviously obsessive), and the overly-sentimental tune that plays from it whenever he's slaughtering women. It's a cleverly succinct piece of film language that says he's clearly not the most balanced bloke around! ;-)

I appreciated reading your post. Thank you.

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.