|
| |||||||||||
What are readers saying about The Time Traveler's Wife (Harvest Book)?
|
A Reader posted a review at 2009-09-07 02:57:49.
(Language: English)
  
This book is a fast read. I am 160 pages in and feeling a bit frustrated with the book. I find the character differentiation to be almost non-existent. This is particularly problematic given the age difference that is often present in the work. Simply misspelling/mispronouncing a word is inadequate to portray the differences in their age when Clare is young. Even as she grows into a teenager or young woman there is little differentiation between the two. One often has to be reminded whose point of view one is reading.I keep looking for the art in the book and feeling instead that I am being moved ahead (or back) in time only when at times what I really want is to move inside the character. I feel like I am skating on the surface and being over-directed to the sequence of their meetings. The space "in-between" is fertile territory that is completely overlooked. The idea of time travel is not new, nor is it's presence in art. What a wonderful possibility to be used metaphorically as well as plot-wise! The book so far, is frustrating in it's linear delivery that deprives the characters of an inner life that intersects with different realities. I see significant lost opportunity here. 
|
Yes (0) 
No (0) |
|
Amanda posted a review at 2009-05-27 03:06:12.
(Language: English)
I absolutely loved this book! Audrey wrote in such beautiful language, and she potrayed the story in a well-done and very creative manner. She developed the chemistry between older Henry and young Clare in a quite acceptable manner, and she really demonstrated the emotions the two experienced during those earlier (for Clare, anyway) meetings. It took me a few chapters to realize that the story was being told in accordance with Clare's timeline, and I had to adjust to the unconventional timeline of Henry, in general, but it was very easy to get used to. I enjoyed how the tale was told through Clare and Henry's perspectives in accordance with their age and level of maturity. This was a book I never wanted to put down. I continually craved to know what happened to Clare and Henry. The story really pulled you in as a reader; like the characters, you, too, were wrenched emotionally. I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending, but it was consistent with the story, and I can’t dream up any other ending, so, eh. I will say that when I closed the book upon finishing the last page, I smiled and thought, “what a wonderful story.”
|
|
Savvy posted a review at 2010-06-11 07:57:16.
(Language: English)
You know how Leonardo da Vinci could draft a rough, unfinished sketch, yet you could see every emotion in the subject's face, get a deep and full feeling of the mood of the entire piece? Few artists can achieve that, and it's rare in books as well. There's a certain sketchy moodiness-I would say this novel, some Lisa Tucker, Neil Gaiman's better works, and Sara Backer can create that melancholy lfetime's fullness out of a rough sketch. This book is more of a tearjerker than you might expect, so come equipped with Kleenex! The beginning was fun, intriguing, and surprisingly complex; the action let up a little in the middle as husband and wife began to try to have a child and the husband's "condition" began to seem tediously extrapolated, and I couldn't read the ending without crying at just about every page. But still, a talented debut! I am suprised a first-time writer could manage a plotline so complex (oh, and as a sidenote, this novel contains a veritable what's-what of places to visit in Chicago! GAWD it made me miss the delicious cuisine, world-class museums, and excellent bookstores!).
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2009-05-19 09:16:56.
(Language: English)
This is the best book I have ever read. I rarely cry at the end of a book, and when I do, it's usually silent tears. But holy crap. This book was so real (not in the sense that a person can have a genetic disorder that causes them to spontaneously time travel), but with emotions and life. It was absolutely amazing and beautiful. I sobbed! I sobbed for about an hour, so miserable, because of the ending and because I had finished the greatest book I have ever read. I didn't think I would like it. I normally don't go for romance or science fiction, but wow. This book really blew me away. To an extent, it changed my life. I value my boyfriend, and now, I can't wait until I graduate so I can start my life with him. This book is very personal to me now, and I'm eager to own a copy and re-read it. I've already told all of my friends that they have to read it. You, reader, must read it. Read it. It's beautiful. Excellent. But to be a little critical, this book IS hard to follow sometimes. The author, with each chapter, jumps to different points in time. Understand that she does this, though, because the book is about a man who spontaneously time-travels. I have heard from one friend who I suggested this book to that he "cringed at the writing style". It's a great book, but it largely depends on what your type is. Give it a shot, and don't put it down simply because you're a little confused - as you read on, it will make sense, and if you finish it, you'll probably want to read it again just to really put the story into perspective.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2007-11-05 08:35:59.
(Language: English)
Henry De Tamble, yakışıklı bir kütüphanecidir. "Chrono Displacement disorder" hastalığından muzdariptir. İradesi dışında, tetikleyici hiç bir sebep olmadan ortadan kaybolur ve zamanda yolculuk yapar; geçmişine ve geleceğine gider. Hayatının ayarsızlığı yüzünden ilişkileri de ayar tutmaz. Hastalığı bir yana, annesini küçük yaşta kaybetmiştir bir kazada. Babası, kazadan sonra kendini alkole vermiş oğlundan uzaklaşmıştır. Henry, ev özlemi ve güvenlik arayışı içinde olan fevri bir karakter. Claire, güzel bir heykeltıraş. Anlayışlı, sabırlı, nazik ve tatlı. Tanıştıklarında Claire 6, henry 36 yaşındadır. İkisi gerçek zamanlarında tekrar karşılaşıncaya kadar Henry, Claire'i küçük bir çocuk, delikanlı ve yaşlı bir adam olarak ziyaret eder. O'nun koruyucusu, sırdaşı, arkadaşı, sevgilisi ve sonunda kocası olur. Kitap, Henry ve Claire'in anlattığı bölümlerden oluşuyor. Her bölümün başında kaç yaşında oldukları belirtiliyor. Evlendikleri ana kadar geçen sürede eğlenceli, heyecanlı, şaşırtıcı, romantizmi abartanlar için öykünülecek bir hikaye anlatılır. İlk buluşma, aile ile tanışma, düğün töreni ile ilgili bölümler bittikten sonra, gerçekten aslında ikisinin neyle karşı karşıya olduğunun farkına varırız. Hikaye acılaşır, acımasızlaşır. Sonun ne olduğu apaçık bellidir. Ama bunun ne zaman olacağının belirsizliği derin bir umutsuzluk yaratır. Henry geçmiş ve gelecek arasında gelip giderken Claire için zaman durur sanki. Sorgulamadan okursanız son derece başarılı ve orjinal bir roman. Sorgulasanız da pişman olmazsınız. Claire neden aşık olmuştur Henry'e, güzel, tatlı, nazik olmasının dışında Claire kimdir, mesleki kaygıları yok mudur. Bunların cevabı yok kitapta. Kadın adama aşık işte o kadar. Bunun baştan kabul edilmesi gerekiyor. Henry, gelecekteki karısını çocukken görüyor, annesini kendisi daha çok küçükken gidip görüyor. Kazayı yaşıyor. Peki tüm bunlar bu adamı nasıl etkiliyor? Yani tüm bunlara şahit olmamızın nedeni ne? İşte orası belli değil. O kadar kusur kadı kızında da olur diyelim. Benim fikrim, kitap -2 sene önce çıkmasına rağmen- bu senenin en orjinal kitaplarından biri olduğudur.
|
|
|
Emily posted a review at 2011-10-14 10:19:34.
(Language: English)
Well, looks like I finally got around to reading this book. And I'm kind of wondering why I never bothered to before for this book truly is everything everyone described about it. It's romantic. It's a solid sciencie-fiction story. It's a full-on entertaining read. The story revolves around Henry and Clare, a husband and wife whose love story is unconventional due to Henry's time-traveling nature--a medical condition, of all things. It goes over their first meetings to the end of their romances. The writing is lovely and poetic--sometimes it gets rather flowerly, which may please some and repel others. But what really attached me to this story was the focus on the characters--this is a story about people. This is a modern classic. Loved it.
|
|
Dorie posted a review at 2009-07-10 07:50:04.
(Language: English)
The root of this novel is a simple love story between a man named Henry and a woman named Clare. A genetic abnormality has caused Henry to travel in time for brief spurts since the age of five, sometimes running into his own self, other times meeting Clare as a child. At first you may find Henry’s time-traveling fascinating and amusing, but Niffenegger forces you to think about the possible realities of his situation. When Henry time-travels, it is only his physical body that goes, meaning he shows up in an unknown time, without clothes, identification or money. Clare meets Henry when she is only six, and he is thirty-six. The story flows from there, basically following Clare’s own timeline. When Clare turns twenty-three, she meets Henry during his “real” timeline at thirty-one, before he has time-traveled to meet her. Niffenegger does a wonderful job on her first novel, and helps the reader avoid any confusion by listing at the front of each chapter the date and the ages of the characters involved. The main characters are wonderfully drawn, and the story is told from both their points of view. The time-travel is at first used amusingly, almost as a draw into the story, and later becomes a problem and obstacle in their later marriage. The story never becomes gimmicky, but instead more complex and serious, and the ending truly grabs hold of your heart.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2009-09-10 11:35:41.
(Language: English)
Get a woman to write sci-fi and there's bound to be an incredible love story interwined. I see the beauty in Nifenegger's writing. She spends more time on character development that most of the authors i've read. The painstakingly details that she injected into Henry and Clare was well thought through. Both weren't perfect at all, with Clare's affair and Henry's burden of an ex girlfriend. It makes this whole book just that touch more believable. So here's the story of two lovers, one moving forward and one, jumping all over the place. This book pushes the boundaries of modern love, making an impossible relationship seem entirely plausible. However, the average reader might find this book rather confusing at times - time space travelling isn't exactly an everyday event. The story line jumps rapidly from the past to future, and not told in a linear fashion. This potentially could frustrate the user. That said, if you take time and immerse yourself in this book, it is a very enjoyable and poignant read.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2008-11-19 04:30:18.
(Language: English)
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is a love story. Henry and Clare, deeply in love, are trying to live out their lives as normally as possible despite Henry's genetic disorder. Chrono-Displacement Disorder is a condition that casts Henry involuntarily into the world of time travel, and while he is gone, Clare gets to wait. Naturally, this takes a toll on their marriage as Clare and Henry attempt to have children and try to find a way to keep him in the present. In this book, Henry disappears into thin air leaving behind only a pile of clothes. While away, he is inconveniently forced to roam the halls of his childhood elementary school, he continually revisits the scene of his mother's tragic death, and he finds himself in many awkward situations between the bookshelves at the Newberry library, his place of work. He also spends countless joyful hours visiting his wife Clare during her childhood. Audrey Niffenegger successfully takes an unrealistic topic- time travel- and weaves a heartbreaking story that (somehow) realistically portrays the confusion, trials, and the complicated pleasure that can emerge when a person lives in a world where small glimpses of the future are quickly snatched away, and revisiting the past reveals a bittersweet future.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2009-11-15 03:05:00.
(Language: English)
Obviously the writers first novel, disconnected and poorly written with oddly inappropriate descriptive language and pedophile like under tones. Page after page of weird and irrelevant babble with sparse and sporadic almost funny one liners. A complete and utter waste of $15.00. I would NOT recommend it. The ending was horrible in and of itself, though, sadly enough, it was more impressive than the rest of the book, which still isn't a compliment. I don't know... many upon many of people have read this book and absolutely adored it, I on the other hand am not convinced that we've read the same novel. I can only hope that another more experienced author takes the idea or concept, if you will, of 'The Time Travelers Wife' and produces something amazing. I believe that the inventive and mysterious storyline could turn out a fantastic piece of literary art, but unfortunately Audrey just didn't do it justice. I give this book a rating of one star.... and that is being generous.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2009-07-12 05:11:20.
(Language: English)
There are pros and cons for THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE, the balance of which makes me hesitate to rate it more than three starts. The pros: it is well-written, with lyrical prose and smooth progression despite the chaotic nature of its premise. The concept of a person being unhinged in time is handled well, and Niffenegger manages to avoid all the potential paradoxical pitfalls that might otherwise plague a story of time travel. The cons: like many modern fiction books, THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE shoots itself in the foot with the flippant inclusion of coarse language and graphic sexual content. It often attempts to use sex to illustrate expressions of love, only to fail when the scenes become excessively descriptive. Both of these things only serve to interrupt the otherwise beautiful flow of the writing style, bringing what could be a very touching book down to the level of what amounts to soft pornography. Overall, not a bad read, but also not worth all the hype and acclaim it seems to still be getting.
|
|
|
Pamela posted a review at 2010-01-30 01:04:51.
(Language: English)
I enjoyed this book; and as an aspiring librarian really enjoyed the main character's profession, except not much detail was provided. The implausibility of this time traveler holding down a regular job was covered in the book, although it's still hard to believe that someone frequently appearing naked in the stacks or disappearing at inopportune times would not put his job in jeopardy. Not even a warning or being written up? His boss was very lenient. Despite that, the book was fairly well written, although I thought it was way too long. 546 pages! Easily could have chopped out some pages or scenes that didn't contribute overall to the book's narrative. If someone was trying to conceive I would caution against reading the book right now. They too have troubles and have many miscarriages. Overall I found that it was quite interesting that typically Henry traveled to the past and rarely to the future. I would have like a slight amount more here in why, and when he did go to the future why was that different? After reading the book the characters lingered in my mind for days. yes, this book lingers. I recommend reading the book.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2009-09-01 08:13:46.
(Language: English)
Gosh, just occasionally I find a novel that really chimes with the romantic in me and this is it for the time being (I think that the last love story I read and really enjoyed was Ali and Nino, the great novel of Azerbaijan). I mean, looking through the books I've read and enjoyed recently, there were indeed a few where there are strong romantic elements - Primary Inversion, Rebecca, Kushiel's Avatar, Paladin of Souls - but none that were really romances in the way this is (apart from the awful collection Irresistible Forces). The time-travel bits are almost as important as the romance, but not quite. I very much enjoyed Poul Anderson's There Will Be Time, David Gerrold's The Man Who Folded Himself, and most of all F.M. Busby's story "If This is Winnetka, You Must Be Judy", which all have similar themes, though it must be twenty years since I read them. Interesting that all three of those stories are by men, and all three focus on the effect the time travel has on relationships. (Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-5, of course, is in the same mould but concentrates much less on the personal life side of things.) The Time Traveler's Wife almost reads like a woman writer's riposte to Anderson, Busby and Gerrold, except that I doubt if Niffenegger has read any of them. For Niffenegger the time-travel seems to be a metaphor for the things we know and don't know and can't know about the people that we love. Of course I'm curious about what my wife was like as a child, or even before I knew her well; and of course I'd love to know now what our children will grow up to be like. Yet although Henry and Clare in the novel have some access to each other's pasts and futures in that way, the mystery remains. I couldn't put this down, and I'm really surprised that it has made so little impression in sf circles.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2008-07-01 08:34:46.
(Language: English)
Beautifully written. Like a jigsaw puzzle, things falls into place as you read, it comes about a full circle.What is there not to love about this book? From the vintage cover, the plot, the writing style, the characters....sigh.The Time Traveler\'s Wife tells a story about Henry, whose genetic disorder causes him to involuntarily time travel with no control over the where, the when and the why. He meets his future wife, Clare when she was 6, and he was 36.In real time, they are actually 8 years apart. Henry would be at two different places at any one time. Or more than two different places, come to think of it. Anyway. His "here and now" self would be living his own life, but his future, or his past self could be traveling either forwards or backwards in time. But just within his lifespan anyway.While he does this involuntary "disappearing act", Clare waits patiently and sometimes in suspense in case anything happens to Henry until he turns up again. Sometimes it could be good, like he might get to see his mother who died while he was young, or he could get into some seriously deep shit. But I\'ll let you read about it.What\'s unique about this story, aside from the obviously unconventional and truly original plot is that, the main characters bears the admirable trait of people who copes with whatever life hands them. Henry of course does not favour being involuntarily transported to a different place at hardly a moment\'s notice, but he dealt with it. And so does Clare. It gets frustrating, but their love for each other holds them together.And having friends whom they can trust to help them out in tight spots helps as well.Clare grows up with the off and on presence of Henry in her life until the time comes when she joins his "here and now" and not the "from future/past" Henry.I have tremendous respect for Audrey Niffenegger for taking a chance with this awesome plot, and delivering her story with such skill that she holds me enraptured. Readers would be able to identify with the characters. They are totally believable and real everyday people with virtues, tempers, desires, expectations, etc.This has got to be the best book I\'ve read in a long time.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2008-03-10 08:23:19.
(Language: English)
In general, I like time traveler stories and this one is no exception.Henry has a genetic defect that allows him to time travel. It’s not nearly as glamorous as one might think, in fact, it’s usually dangerous and frightening! Henry cannot control his time travel, although he seems to only be drawn to locations that have an emotional significance to him. He arrives at his destination confused and without clothing. He normally needs to be able to run fast and steal in order to survive his trips through time.Along Henry’s travels, he meets Clare. The most interesting thing about their relationship is that he meets her when she is six or seven and he is forty-three. He is coming from the future - a future in which they are married. Henry doesn’t meet Clare until he is 28. Although Clare has known Henry all her life, Henry has never seen her before.This book really made me think about time travel. Sometimes the Henry of the future does or says something that will directly affect someone in the past. For example, in order to get his doctor to give him the time of day, the Henry of the future looked up the birth certificate of the doctor’s child, memorized the information and gave it to the Henry of the past in order to prove to the doctor that he could really time travel. What would have happened if Henry didn’t do that? What would be the outcome?The author makes it clear that the past cannot be changed. Henry has lived through many things and has tried to change the past, but everything is concrete. You could imagine this would leave a person feeling helpless and a slave to their own future. Henry has stated that he thinks people have free-choice in their present, but when exactly IS the present?Trying to change the past doesn’t work out. One day when Clare was a teenager and Henry was coming back from the future for a visit, she drew a sketch of Henry. While she was drawing, they were talking about how the past cannot be changed. When she finishes the sketch, she starts to put the date down in the lower right hand corner, however Henry stops her. He tells her that in the present, the sketch has no date on it. In order to test Henry’s theory, Clare puts the date on the sketch anyway to see what will happen.When Henry gets back from that trip, he finds the sketch to see the date, however there still isn’t a date on it. When he asks Clare about it, she says she was paranoid that something might not go right or they might not ever meet, so trimmed the sketch to chop off the date.So although they were trying to change the past to see its effect on the future, they couldn’t. In the past she had always put the date on the sketch and chopped it off. Henry had just assumed when he saw the sketch that it had never been dated.I’m going to have to go through and read this book again to make all the connections between the past events and future events. The book is so circular and the author never seems to skip a beat. The story was funny and sad and romantic and filled with action.I highly recommend it.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-25 02:15:46.
(Language: English)
thoughtful event exposition, a complicated but extremely well thought out chronology of events owing to the existence of henry and his time displacement 'disease', deep and involving character development, the contrast of time traveller and wifes point of view, a plausible and interesting plot that unfolds slowly with an emphasis on attention to detail and an emotive and involving style of writing all combine to make this a dark horse of a novel. by the end of the novel, i had taken the fact that henry was a time traveller for granted and it was written into the normal statum of the real world and the laws of physics expertly, the defamiliarising becoming as familiar as day, and it became clear that this was a romance more than an SF novel. despite this, niffenegger refuses to ever slip into the generic, cliched, conventional, soppy shit that romance is stereotypically conceived to be. i don't have much experience with romance novels so perhaps this is not the case in literature; either way, henry and clare fight, have arguments and go through the rigmarole of a relationship, ending up loving each other and craving a unity that fate has seemingly selected them to have during their lives. the rather believable mechanics of time travel and its consequences give the novel a thematic structure that revolves around fate and its intricacies, its triumphs and tragedies. before it was even released, brad pitt and angelina jolie were compelled to buy the rights to a movie adaptation; somehow, i don't think any adaptation could ever live up to the original. this is a debut novel, as well. beautifully written and memorable, i recommend this excessively.
|
|
Wendy posted a review at 2007-11-03 02:28:28.
(Language: English)
This book combines time travel, usually the stuff of science fiction, with a love story. Henry DeTamble has a genetic disorder that causes him to involuntarily travel in time, usually to the past but occasionally to the future. The first time he does it he is five years old and he meets his twenty-four year old self at the Field Museum of Natural History in the middle of the night. Henry grows up, continuing to time travel but managing to graduate university and get a job as a librarian at the Newberry Library. When he is twenty-eight he meets Clare Abshire, a twenty year old art student who comes to the Newberry to do some research. Clare reacts strongly when she meets Henry because Clare has known him since she was six years old. Henry travelled back in time when he was 36 to meet Clare as a 6 year old in a clearing near her home and he continues to visit Clare up to the time she is 18. However, for the 28 year old Henry, Clare is a total stranger. He can tell by her reaction that she is someone important to him so they arrange to meet for dinner. This gives you some idea of the complexity of this book. The characters shift between the present time and their life together to their meetings in the past and sometimes occurrences in the future. It is important to read the passage headings which give the date and the characters’ ages so you are clear as to when the action takes place. I thought the story was unique and interesting. The main characters are well developed and the problems that result from Henry’s genetic disorder are believable if the disorder is believable. As a long time science fiction reader I don’t have any problem with believing in time travel and the concept of it resulting from a genetic disorder is a new and interesting twist. However, I think that if it was a genetic anomaly there would be more than one person exhibiting it and that does not seem to be the case (or at least it’s not the case until Henry can father a child). That’s one of my quibbles with this book. The other reservation I have about it is the way that Clare’s life seems to be predetermined. I felt like Clare had no real choices about her life and that is sad. Even at the end of the book Clare is waiting for something to happen because Henry told her it would. Nevertheless, I am glad I read the book and I will recommend it to others.
|
|
Danielle posted a review at 2010-02-16 10:43:02.
(Language: English)
Time travel is nothing new – it’s a concept that has been central to many movies, TV shows, and books for many years. In 'The Time Traveler’s Wife,' author Audrey Niffenegger (a professor at Columbia College Chicago – my alma mater!) takes a well-explored premise and weaves into it a beautifully rich and romantic love story. I will admit, I loved this book even more because it’s set in Chicago (where I’m from) and Clare grew up in South Haven, Michigan, where I have been spending many a summer since I was born. So I felt quite a connection with this story right off the bat. I was intrigued at the idea that Henry time travels involuntarily – in the novel this is eventually referred to as Chrono-Displacement. He can’t control when he is going to time travel, nor where or when he will end up. I thought this was a really effective tool in creating conflict within the story. With so many love stories, it’s: Boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, someone screws up, boy loses girl, one forgives the other, boy gets girl back, they live happily ever after. With this book, it was so un-formulaic (and in a totally unconventional way). It was like a puzzle. There are all these different events that occur, and you have to keep reading in order for them to fall into place, for them to eventually fit together chronologically. It can be kind of confusing at times, and I did find myself flipping back and forth in the book once in awhile to make sure I fully understood what was happening. I love how Niffenegger basically “gives away” the ending about 200+ pages before the book is over and is still able to create a sense of suspense, of wanting to know what happens next. I wanted to read this book every spare moment I had. I was anxious to put the puzzle together, and to view the story as a whole. The only problem I had with this book is that I was a bit disappointed with the ending… I thought, while heartfelt and lovely, that it was a bit anti-climatic. I felt there was this great momentum going through this intricately woven story, and the payoff just wasn’t worth it. However, I think I also feel this way out of frustration from not knowing what happens to some of the characters, and I can understand why the author chose to end the book the way she did. Thinking it over, it seems the most logical choice. Overall, I thought this was a fantastic book. Highly recommended.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2009-05-10 01:33:08.
(Language: English)
The first time I read this book, I thought it was really awesome. I loved the gimmick of it, and thought it was a really interesting spin on a time travel, and an interesting way to spin a love story. I liked it so much that I decided to read it again with my husband. This time we read it aloud, and hubby was really into it at first. His interest was piqued and the book had him curious as to how to would answer certain questions. But as we moved on, he developed pet peeves with the story-telling, and once he revealed those to me, it was impossible to not be bothered by them. His primary pet peeve was that the characters have no personal voice. They do not pass for individuals. Since the book is supposedly told through the eyes of two people, there should be two distinct narrators. But there aren't. If you didn't read the bit at the top of each section that tells you who's speaking, it would be a toss up. The second pet peeve was the author's pretention. She's a name-dropper, but instead of names, it's books and brands and whole sentences in foreign languages for no reason, with no explanation, etc. She puts in whole pretentious passages, mentioning some archaic technique for this or that, but dropping it into the text as though it's completely natural and unlikely to raise any eye-brows. She doesn't explain, and she doesn't make it relevant to the story. She doesn't build it into any particular character, but rather does the same for all characters, and so in the end, you feel like you're really reading about one pretentious character who is in fact the author herself, and all the magic goes out of the story for you. Those pet peeves aside, I do think the concept is tremendous, and the author does a tremendous job with the timeframe of the book, and managing all of the story elements within its complex time frame. In the end, I just think she should constructed the detailed outline, and let someone more talented write the prose.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2009-07-06 11:37:33.
(Language: English)
Time travel can be a tricky convention to establish in the literary world. Does one follow the BACK TO THE FUTURE rules where the future can be altered simply by a kiss or just the right guitar rift or does the story employ a more SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE view of time travel where past, present, and future are written in spite of the traveler's best efforts. Niffenegger's rich duel narrative follows a more Vonneguttian route where Henry DeTamble like Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time. Henry desires to lead a "normal life" but cannot, due to his genetic chrono-impairment. As a coping strategy, Henry engages in a series of self-destructive behaviors until he meets Clare, his eventual wife and eternal soul mate, at the age of six. Henry then leads two lives (and sometimes more)- that of Henry living out his chronological existence and Henry bouncing around through time and space from moment to moment living and reliving significant and seemingly insignificant pieces of his life. As the story unfolds in a more or less chronological sequence the time travel becomes an elegant metaphor of live, death, love, and possibilities. All that said, what makes Niffenegger's story so lovely is that it would be just as engrossing without the supernatural element. Henry and Clare's relationship blooms and is certainly tested by his unique blessing/curse, but they also experience the more normal ups and downs of a relationship. The story is engaging, romantic, sexy, and funny punctuated by moments of poignant honesty about love and time.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2009-08-16 11:00:55.
(Language: English)
There is much to enjoy in this story and there is often equal offsetting distractions that can turn a reader off. Firstly, the unique way of story-telling is worth the price of the book. The imagination of the author is rich and varied. As implausible as the story would be in real life, an element of believeability exists. The major shortcoming for me is in the manner the story is told: more like a play than a novel. Each of the two protagonists have a by-line for anywhere from a paragraph to a page or two. These by-lines are dated and or the age of one or both of the characters are given at that time (which, as the time is travelled is often either before or after an event or simultaneously with one character being one age or even two at the same time. You will have to read it to make sense of that. BUT, and a big but, this means that the author is constantly taking one of the two major characters and 'talking' their lines. Fine and good, but most of the time it is in the author's words !! He loses the actual personality, gender, age etc of the characters. The both use the same vocabulary, figures of speech, intonations etc. This can be VERY offputting. On the plausibility side, there are many referenes to the code of silence for a time-traveller. Why else would he travel naked? It is to ensure he brings nothing with him and takes nothing back with him. But it also means he cannot tell anyone about the future. But after establishing this inviolable principle, the author then allows it to be broken without allowing the obvious repercussions to play out. Due to this fault, the novel falls down. Yes, it is a good romantic story, but flakey and that is what makes it entertaining and worth the read. For my 'druthers' I would have liked to see a stronger ending with all the hope that could be envisioned with the potential of seeing in the future those who died in the present and more particularly the hope, romance and joy that could have been imparted in just a few paragraphs for the 3rd character introduced past the half Waymark of the story.
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2008-01-15 09:19:59.
(Language: English)
I've heard many good things about this book, which made it even more disappointing. The main male character, Henry, felt like the author's masturbatory fantasy of what her ideal man would be rather than a realistic character. As I was reading the book, I was reminded over and over that the author is a female who apparently can't write male characters. I can't think of a single good thing about the book. I'm sure there are good things, but there are so many faults that they outweigh anything positive in my mind. The book dragged on and on - it could easily be compressed into half its current length. The supporting characters were painfully stereotypic - Clare's family's servants were taken straight out of Gone With The Wind, and so was Mrs. Kim. Clare turned psychotic in the middle of the book, with her seven miscarriages. Am I supposed to sympathize with her, or find that romantic? All I felt was annoyance and surprise that her husband didn't have as much as a single conversation with her about the reason she was so desperate to have a biologic child with him - yet more proof that all the characters shared a single mind - the author's. Leaving the best for last, here is a quote from page 97 - "Hmm. Never would of guessed." This woman is a professor who teaches writing, among other things, people. Words fail me.
|
|
Peachy posted a review at 2010-05-21 08:56:12.
(Language: English)
Before I even got started reading The Time Traveler’s Wife I was struck by this overwhelming feeling that I wasn’t going to like it. There were three major culprits for this impending sense of doom. First off, the edition I got from the library had a typo on the back cover. Really? The back cover should be something viewed by multiple people before it gets to printing. How does this even happen? Of course this had me in instant fear of having to put up with careless editing throughout its 4oo+ pages. Secondly, after reading the synopsis, typo and all, it appeared that this was a sci-fi, romance novel - two genres that I tend to avoid like a sneezing grocery clerk. Lastly, one of the many shortened reviews listed at the front of the book (yes, I read these) says, “So here’s the next The Lovely Bones…” which in my opinion is a highly overrated and ridiculous story that I could barely force myself to finish…can’t wait to dig in to another one just like it! But I promised my friend I would read it, so I tucked in my bottom lip and bravely proceeded. Because it’s been recapped ad nauseam, I won’t waste a lot of time repeating what’s been detailed on a million other blogs. In short, this is the story of a man suffering from a rare genetic disorder which alters the chronology of the events in his life. We are privy to the trials and tribulations he is met with while trying to have a meaningful relationship with his one true love, whilst travelling sporadically through space and time. Niffenegger shrewdly allows us to see the corresponding view points of both Henry and his wife Clare by having them narrate their own perceptions, which are clearly titled with their respective ages. With out this attention by the author, the story would have been near impossible to follow. I’m pleased to report that the editing wasn’t horrible, save a few minor details, I didn’t find it to be anything like The Lovely Bones - *phew* - and the science-fiction aspects of the story were well devised and appropriately explained for my novice comprehension. The romance side of things was a little sappy, and the sex, although soft in its detail, was in my opinion overly gratuitous, but whatever floats your boat, as they say, since I know many people enjoyed this part of it. Niffenegger’s prose was highly readable, and I found myself tearing through the book. The first hundred pages had me gripped, as I tried to sort out what was happening, and how the time travel weaved its way through the present-day scenarios playing out. However, as interested as I was in trying to follow the story line, I didn’t ever form a real connection with Henry and Clare personally, only with their plight. There were many characteristics of the novels cast that felt desperately contrived. From excessive name dropping, to leftist political statements on globalization, to the meticulous details of paper making… it all just felt like Niffenegger was trying too hard to tell us who she wanted these people to be. A complete opposite of the last novel I read, Up in the Air, this book did a lot more telling, and a lot less showing. If anything Clare and Henry annoyed me. I prefer female characters to be willful and strong, independent and in control of their lives. Clare is the antithesis of all of these things. She spends her entire life as a puppet on Henry’s strings, and as a victim to fate and its decision. Who or what was to blame for this, I’m not sure, but watching it go down irked me regardless. One specific part of the novel that tugged on my nerves was when Clare and Henry are in the present discussing his previous relationship to Ingrid. Henry professes to Clare that “… Ingrid was very – patient. Overly patient. Willing to put up with odd behavior, in the hope that someday I would shape up and marry her martyred ass. And when somebody is that patient, you have to feel grateful, and then you want to hurt them.” Funny, this sounds like he could be speaking of Clare and what I observed as her ‘martyred ass,’ minus the fact of wanting to hurt her, as it is clear that he devotes himself to her as best he can. I suppose this is the point that Niffenegger is trying to make, that this scenario works for them because they are meant to be. But based on this description he offers I just had an overwhelming urge to question Clare’s blindness to Henry’s hypocrisy. Character idiosyncrasies aside, a captivating element of the story was the role that faith played as one of its important themes. Both the main characters and the reader are asked to question their beliefs as to the truth of religion, free will and/or fate. Henry observes Clares evolution from the child who believes in God whole heartedly, to the young woman who espouses a view of free will, to an older, more pragmatic woman who tastes her mortality and questions whether or not everything might be random. For me, the ending was a beautiful way for Niffenegger to answer this running question, and this continual examination and its eventual closure was probably my favourite aspect of the book. At the end of the day, I did enjoy this novel, but it wasn’t the characters so much as their circumstances that led me to this conclusion. Niffenegger took what is a very complex and fascinating subject and turned it into something that an average Jane like me could wrap my head around. I don’t think I’ll be signing up for another romance anytime soon, but I may be inclined to dip into the sci-fi genre on an exploratory mission, thanks to this book. Check out more of my reviews at BookSnakeReviews
|
|
|
A Reader posted a review at 2008-02-21 01:52:48.
(Language: English)
Henry is a time-traveller. He needs no machine but some clothes would be nice. Henry is thirty-six when he meets his wife Clare, she is six. When Clare is twenty-two she meets her husband who is thirty and has no idea she exists - they haven't met yet. The lives of Henry and Clare are interwoven because they were, they shall be and so on. There are other people in their lives who have significance but it is always mainly their story.Henry has no control over when or where he travels to. He is violently pulled mostly into the past and always naked. This can have dangerous results when you can't explain where your clothes are. He is afraid of being in the present when his body is always being pulled away forcing him to relive the accident that killed his beautiful mother but also building a relationship with Clare as he appears at various points in her life until she is compelled to seek out the stranger in the real world, when the time is right.This is the sort of book that you never want to finish. Although I raced towards the end, I had to put it down for a couple for days. I could get on with my life and tease myself with the final chapters waiting for me, if I was good.Audrey Niffenegger is a visual artist and she is a very visual and textual novelist. Every word is powerfully produced, passages will move you to tears and the overall work is an exquisite parcel of goodness. I like the way time travel is a burden and memory a curse and the characters of Henry and Clare are normal human beings in an abnormal situation. Both know things that they cannot tell the other and as the narrative unravels it becomes clear and devastating.An important point it makes is that the past has already happened, always will happen and cannot be changed. The freedom this knowledge gives us is something we can all take away from this profound and moving work.Sue Davies
|
|
Kelsey posted a review at 2008-02-16 05:40:44.
(Language: English)
You know, I'm not quite sure what exactly I loved about this book. Clare, the romantic lead, seems the stock gorgeous, talented and wonderful woman with a difficult life, while Henry is the handsome, yet tortured librarian. So far, this doesn't quite seem the inspired or original romance. But somehow, by adding time-travel into the mix, the whole thing just WORKS marvellously. The reader didn't have to sit through pages after pages of the two slowly developing their relationship (which would most likely be incredibly dull, considering their personalities), but rather they know they are meant to be... because it happens. "We didn't choose each other," Clare said once, but despite this fact, we are entraced by the flips to the past and to the future of their lives, of the doctors who will try and stop the genetic issue of time-travel, and of a certain neighbor who has his eyes on Clare. The plot is just so fresh and fascinating, plus the small clues laid throughout of the tragedy impeding, that it's extremely difficult not to love this novel. I'd be surprised if you didn't get a little teary at the end! A fascinating plot, likeable characters and a true tragedy... what's not to like? The relationship between Clare and Henry is quite beautiful, although I do wish there was slightly more to their characters. Sometimes the books drags on, as it is over five hundred pages. But the majority is enticing and thoughtful. If the ending doesn't have you crying, you're simply mad! A fascinating blend between romance, science fiction, drama and action that guaranteed to keep anyone happy.
|
Share your views!
Similar books
