The Man Who Folded Himself

Last updated
The Man Who Folded Himself
TheManWhoFoldedHimself(1stEd).jpg
Cover of first edition (hardcover)
Author David Gerrold
LanguageEnglish
Genre Science fiction
Publisher Random House [1]
Publication date
1973
Publication place United States
Media typePrint (hardcover & paperback)
Pages148
ISBN 0-394-47922-X
OCLC 415437
813/.5/4
LC Class PZ4.G3765 Man PS3557.E69

The Man Who Folded Himself is a 1973 science fiction novel by American writer David Gerrold. [1] It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1974 and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1974. The book explores the psychological, physical, and personal challenges that manifest when time travel is possible for a single individual at the touch of a button.

Contents

Plot summary

In 1975, Daniel Eakins, a young college student, is visited by his Uncle Jim. Uncle Jim offers to increase Daniel's monthly allowance for living expenses as long as Daniel promises to keep a diary. Shortly after, Uncle Jim dies, and Daniel inherits a "Time-belt" from him that allows the wearer to easily travel through time. Daniel quickly learns how to use the Time-belt and makes a few short jumps into his own future. He meets a future version of himself, who goes by "Don", who accompanies him to a race-track where the pair make a fortune betting on horse-racing.

The following day, Daniel realises that it is his turn to act as Don and guide his younger self through the previous day at the races; through this and other events the time-travelling Daniel learns more about the belt, about the nature of the "timestream," and about his personal identity.

Daniel repeatedly encounters alternate versions of himself, sometimes known as Don, and enjoys his own company, ultimately having sex with himself and beginning a relationship with himself. He learns that the changes he has made to his timeline have erased all traces of his childhood and early life.

Though Daniel has been able to become closer to himself than he has in any other relationship, at some point he comes to find that he no longer meets other versions of himself. Lonely and hoping to correct the situation, he jumps many millennia backwards in time, where his jumps have not altered the timeline, and there he meets a female version of himself called "Diane". Diane's future is a mirror of Daniel's—she was given the Time-belt by her Aunt Jane, and she had also begun a relationship with her other selves, called Donna. Daniel begins a relationship with Diane and Diane becomes pregnant.

Daniel and Diane each secretly desire a son and a daughter, respectively, and unbeknownst to each other each uses technology from the future to make their own changes to ensure that Diane gives birth to a child with the desired gender. Shortly after the birth of their child, Daniel and Diane separate.

Daniel raises his son in 1950s America. As Daniel ages, he misses the relationship he had with Diane, but the interference of an obsessive, deranged version of himself has erased the point in the past where the two can meet. Daniel spends much of his time at a house party set in 1999, enjoying the company of dozens of versions of himself at different ages. At one point late in the party an elderly version of Daniel dies after a jump, and Daniel is consumed with the thought of his own inevitable death.

Daniel eventually realizes that he has now become his Uncle Jim, and that his son will grow up to be the young version of himself who will inherit the Time-belt, and that his life has "come full circle." He makes preparations for after his death to ensure that the young Daniel experiences the same events that Daniel did and have his own experience with time travel.

The book ends with a young Daniel, who has read the now-complete diary, having to decide whether he will use the Time-belt.

Updated edition

Mentions were added in the 2003 edition of both the American Airlines Flight 191 crash in May 1979 and the destruction of the World Trade Center Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, [2] events which did not occur until 6 years and 28 years respectively after initial publication in 1973. [1]

Characters

Almost all of the different characters in the story are, in fact, alternate versions of Daniel from another point in time.

When Daniel first meets his future self from one day into the future, the future version identifies himself as "Don," ostensibly Daniel's twin brother. The next day, when it becomes Dan's turn to meet a version of himself from yesterday, he adopts the role of Don. (When a third Daniel appears, he is sometimes identified as Don II, or "ultra-Don".)

The female version of Danny has a similar relationship with alternate versions of herself; she is Diane when she meets a version of herself from the future, but when she plays the role of the future traveler she adopts the name Donna. Diane has an Aunt Jane, who is the elderly version of herself, and the female equivalent of Danny's "Uncle Jim".

After Daniel and Diane find out about Diane's pregnancy, each respectively desires a son and a daughter who is exactly like them. Unbeknownst to each other, they both obtain future technology to make their own changes, that ensure that Diane gives birth to the desired child. The contrary changes create a split between their timelines, in which they have either a son or daughter, and after their separation take the child of their own sex back to their own future, creating the closed time loops of the man and the woman.

The only named character who is not some version of Daniel is a lawyer who calls him on the phone to tell him of his Uncle Jim's death, and the lawyer is vaguely identified as "Biggs-or-Briggs-or-something".

Critical reception from science fiction authors

Reviewing the novel in 1974 for Vector, Christopher Priest thought that Gerrold had unintentionally replicated the closed-loop timelines of Robert A. Heinlein's short stories "By His Bootstraps" (1941) and "' —All You Zombies— '" (1959, also featuring a protagonist who becomes his own parents), only less successfully. Priest commented that while it was "a polished, readable, clever book... [it lacks] even the most rudimentary forms of characterisation, subtlety, description or originality... is he going to get a Nebula? Probably." [3]

Douglas Lain commented in 2012 that "The most interesting and perhaps most overlooked move that David Gerrold makes in his fractal time travel book The Man Who Folded Himself is that he writes the whole story in the second person without alerting you, the reader, directly to this fact." [4] S. L. Huang wrote in 2019 that "The book folds in on itself like a fabulous origami of paradoxes that somehow make sense.... It is one of the best time-travel stories I have ever seen.... It is also very queer." [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

Q (<i>Star Trek</i>) Fictional character from Star Trek, played by John de Lancie

Q is a fictional character, as well as the name of a race, in Star Trek, appearing in the Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Lower Decks, and Picard series and in related media. The most familiar Q is portrayed by John de Lancie. He is an extra-dimensional being of unknown origin who possesses immeasurable power over time, space, the laws of physics, and reality itself, being capable of altering it to his whim. Despite his vast knowledge and experience spanning untold eons, he is not above practical jokes for his personal amusement, for a Machiavellian or manipulative purpose, or to prove a point. He is said to be almost completely omnipotent and he is continually evasive regarding his true motivations.

<i>The Rolling Stones</i> (novel) 1952 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein

The Rolling Stones is a 1952 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uncle Ben</span> Marvel Comics character

Benjamin Franklin "Ben" Parker, usually referred to as Uncle Ben, was a supporting character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually in association with the superhero Spider-Man. He was the husband of May Parker and the paternal uncle and father figure of Peter Parker. After appearing in Strange Tales #97, Uncle Ben made his first full appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15, and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko. He was modeled and named after American founding father Benjamin Franklin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Gerrold</span> American screenwriter and novelist (born 1944)

David Gerrold is an American science fiction screenwriter and novelist. He wrote the script for the original Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles", created the Sleestak race on the TV series Land of the Lost, and wrote the novelette "The Martian Child", which won both Hugo and Nebula Awards, and was adapted into a 2007 film starring John Cusack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kang the Conqueror</span> Fictional supervillain in Marvel Comics

Kang the Conqueror is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Fantastic Four #19 as Rama-Tut, an adversary of the Fantastic Four, before being reinvented as Kang in The Avengers #8, an adversary of the Avengers. A time-traveler, several alternate versions of Kang have appeared throughout Marvel Comics titles over the years, such as Rama-Tut, Immortus, Scarlet Centurion, Victor Timely, Iron Lad, and Mister Gryphon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immortus</span> Fictional character appearing in Marvel Comics

Immortus is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the future self of Pharaoh Rama-Tut, Scarlet Centurion, Kang the Conqueror, and Iron Lad / Kid Immortus, and a descendant of the scientist of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zatara</span> DC Comics character

Giovanni "John" Zatara, simply called Zatara, is a fictional magician and superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Action Comics #1 in 1938 during the Golden Age of Comic Books, making him one of DC Comics' oldest characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wally West</span> Fictional character

Wallace Rudolph "Wally" West is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics as the original Kid Flash and the third Flash. His power consists mainly of superhuman speed. The nephew of Iris West, he first appeared in Flash #110 (1959), which depicted his transformation into Kid Flash. Under the mantle of Kid Flash, Wally was depicted as a teenage sidekick to his uncle-by-marriage, Barry Allen, and a founding member of the Teen Titans. After Barry's death in Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985, Wally took on the role of the Flash in 1986, and was the main Flash in DC's lineup until Barry returned in The Flash: Rebirth in 2009. He would later return as the main Flash in 2021, as part of the Infinite Frontier relaunch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prince Caspian (character)</span> Fictional character in The Chronicles of Narnia

Prince Caspian is a fictional character in The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. He is featured in three books in the series: Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair. He also appears at the end of The Last Battle.

<i>The War Against the Chtorr</i> Series of science fiction novels by David Gerrold

The War Against the Chtorr is a series of science fiction novels by American writer David Gerrold. The Chtorr series was originally planned as a trilogy, but as the story became more intricate, Gerrold realized that three books would not be enough for him to tell the entire story. For a time, he was uncertain how many books there would be in the end but plans on seven. As of 2022, four books have been completed. As of 2017, a fifth and sixth were in the works, 24 years after the publication of the fourth book.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iron Lad</span> Comic book superhero

Iron Lad is a fictional superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is an adolescent version of Kang the Conqueror, armed with a bio-metal suit that responds to mental commands. He is named after his ancestor of the same name.

<i>Meet the Robinsons</i> 2007 animated Disney film

Meet the Robinsons is a 2007 American animated science-fiction comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is loosely based on the 1990 children's book A Day with Wilbur Robinson by William Joyce. The film was directed by Stephen J. Anderson and produced by Dorothy McKim, from a screenplay that Anderson co-wrote with Don Hall, Nathan Greno, Joe Mateo, Jon Bernstein, Michelle Spitz, and Aurian Redson. The film stars the voices of Daniel Hansen and Jordan Fry, Wesley Singerman, Angela Bassett, Tom Selleck, Harland Williams, Laurie Metcalf, Nicole Sullivan, Adam West, Ethan Sandler, Tom Kenny, and Anderson. It follows an orphaned 12-year-old inventor, Lewis, who is desperate to be adopted. He meets Wilbur Robinson, a young time-traveler who takes him to the year 2037 to visit his eccentric family. They must prevent a mysterious bowler-hatted man from changing Lewis's fate, and, by proxy, the future.

<i>The Time Travelers Wife</i> 2003 novel by Audrey Niffenegger

The Time Traveler's Wife is the debut novel by American author Audrey Niffenegger, published in 2003. It is a love story about Henry, a man with a genetic disorder that causes him to time travel unpredictably, and about Clare, his wife, an artist who has to cope with his frequent absences. Niffenegger, who was frustrated with love when she began the novel, wrote the story as a metaphor for her failed relationships. The tale's central relationship came to Niffenegger suddenly and subsequently supplied the novel's title. The novel has been classified as both science fiction and romance.

<i>Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man</i> Comic book series by Marvel Comics

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is a comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics. The title is derived from a trademark self-referential comment often made by Spider-Man. The first series began in October 2005 and was primarily written by Peter David. Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man was canceled after issue #24, part 2 of J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada's controversial "One More Day" storyline. Kurt Busiek has revealed that in 1995 he originally suggested "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" as the title of the series which was eventually published as Untold Tales of Spider-Man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uncle Sam (comics)</span> Comic book character based on the mascot

Uncle Sam is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Based on the national personification of the United States, Uncle Sam, the character first appeared in National Comics #1 and was created by Will Eisner.

<i>Anachrophobia</i> 2002 novel by Jonathan Morris

Anachrophobia is a BBC Books original novel written by Jonathan Morris and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Eighth Doctor, Fitz and Anji.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvester Pemberton</span> Comics character

Sylvester Pemberton, alternately known as The Star-Spangled Kid and Skyman, is a superhero in the DC Comics universe. Sylvester first appeared in Star Spangled Comics #1 and was created by Jerry Siegel and Hal Sherman.

<i>Martian Time-Slip</i> 1964 science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick

Martian Time-Slip is a 1964 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. The novel uses the common science fiction concept of a human colony on Mars. However, it also includes the themes of mental illness, the physics of time and the dangers of centralized authority.

<i>There Will Be Time</i> 1972 science fiction novel by Poul Anderson

There Will Be Time is a science fiction novel by American writer Poul Anderson. It was published in 1972 in a hardback edition by Doubleday and in 1973 in a paperback edition by New American Library.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ace West</span> Comics character

Wallace "Ace" West is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He was originally introduced as a biracial interpretation of Wally West as part of DC's The New 52 relaunch. The comic DC Rebirth #1 later established that he is a new character of the same name, being a Reverse-Flash's son and Wally's cousin, both named after their great-grandfather. To avoid confusion, the character was renamed in later comics as Wallace West, and later simply as Ace West.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Gerrold, David (1 February 1973). The Man Who Folded Himself (orig. hardcover ed.). Random House. ISBN   0-394479-22-X, ISBN   978-039447922-4.
  2. Gerrold, David (10 June 2003) [1973]. The Man Who Folded Himself (rev. softcover ed.). BenBella Books. ISBN   1-932100-04-0, ISBN   978-193210004-4.
  3. Priest, Christopher (Spring 1974). "The Man Who Folded Himself" (PDF). Vector . No. 67–68. pp. 29–32. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  4. Lain, Douglas (19 March 2012). "Time Travel in the Second Person: The Man Who Folded Himself". Tor.com. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  5. Huang, S .L. (1 July 2019). "Questioning defaults in David Gerrold's The Man Who Folded Himself". Tor.com. Retrieved 19 September 2020.