一个纳粹军医从死亡中坐起身来，灵魂回到身上，身体完全康复，眼睁睁看着自己回到老年、中年，落叶长回树上，水倒流进水管子，世界变得毫无章法……直到回到集中营，成为一个纳粹。他吃惊地发现，虐人致伤变为抚平伤口，射杀平民变为拯救生命、焚烧尸体变为归还灵魂、肢解活体变为使人重生……

最后，托德发现自己越来越小，直到集中营变成一片无边的草坡，他坐在母亲身边，仰望无限的星空……

石破天惊的旷世手法，成为人类文学史上“现代主义与后现代主义枢纽作品”的伟大丰碑，让人在喘不过气来的悲凉惊悚中随着一代文学宗师为人类的悲欢哭泣……

In Time's Arrow the doctor Tod T. Friendly dies and then feels markedly better, breaks up with his lovers as a prelude to seducing them, and mangles his patients before he sends them home. And all the while Tod's life races backward toward the one appalling moment in modern history when such reversals make sense.
"The narrative moves with irresistible momentum.... [Amis is] a daring, exacting writer willing to defy the odds in pursuit of his art".-- "Newsday"