The Time Traveler's Wife (Paperback) by Audrey Niffenegger - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists

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08/01/07

Liz S. rated it:

bookshelves: 2007

Read in July, 2007

I recently read The Time-Traveler's Wife and was pretty disappointed---the author somehow manages to turn such an awesome premise (the dude actually time travels!) into something pretty flat and prosaic and dull. The first hundred pages really hooked me, but after a while I started to get irritated by:

1. All the name checking of hipster-approved bands in an attempt to establish Henry's supposed "punk" cred. He liked the Violent Femmes in 1991. That's why he's so badass? Ser...more I recently read The Time-Traveler's Wife and was pretty disappointed---the author somehow manages to turn such an awesome premise (the dude actually time travels!) into something pretty flat and prosaic and dull. The first hundred pages really hooked me, but after a while I started to get irritated by:

1. All the name checking of hipster-approved bands in an attempt to establish Henry's supposed "punk" cred. He liked the Violent Femmes in 1991. That's why he's so badass? Seriously?

2. The food porny descriptions of the meals they eat. Some paragraphs read like the menu of a pretentious bistro.

3. The awful ethnic stereotypes that characterize the few non-white characters (Nell, the mammy-esque family cook (complete with dialect), or Charisse, the "childlike" Filipina).

4. The fact that everyone is successful and at least upper middle class, if not fabulously wealthy. Even Henry somehow manages to keep his job at the Newberry library for 20 years, despite his habits of disappearing for odd stretches of time, not keeping appointments, and, oh, running around naked in the stacks from time to time. It would have been more interesting to me if his disorder kept him from having any normal kind of professional life.

5. The lack of character development in the protagonists after they finally meet as adults.
All of a sudden, they meet and they're in love. The author gives lip service to Henry's womanizing and drug problems, but really, they don't seem to pose much more than a passing problem for Clare because she already knows they'll get married. And even as a married couple, their biggest source of conflict (whether they can or should have a child) is extrinsic, rather than intrinsic to their personalities/characters. Clare never really seems to be bothered by her lack of independence, or the fact that she's so tethered to Henry because he had a part in making her who she is, etc.

By the time I actually got to the end of the story, I was too emotionally distanced from the characters to really be moved by what happens to them---the burden of plot winds up outsripping any kind of nuanced characterization. Bad science fiction and bad romance. Bah humbug.
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01/24/08

Erin added it

i hate reading books that everyone keeps bothering me to read. first there are the gushing reviews from the media, complete with intelligent sound clips:

"it's so awesome! so titillating! the way the author captures that thing where the girl says that stuff and then they go to that cool place.. you know? even oprah says so!"

and then there are the crowds of friends who carry around their freshly bought "it" book (ok, i'm bitter, i can't afford to bu...more

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12/21/07

Andrea Schaaf added it

Read in December, 2005

I'm only adding this book because it annoys me that it popped up on the "most popular reads." People, this book is terrible. Do yourself a favor and pretend you'd never heard of it.

My short answer is that it's just no good, the long version is in the following list, which I call "The Problems I Have With The Time-Traveler's Wife."

1. The author is indecisive. Rather than accepting that this is a science-fiction novel, she tries to write a social commen...more I'm only adding this book because it annoys me that it popped up on the "most popular reads." People, this book is terrible. Do yourself a favor and pretend you'd never heard of it.

My short answer is that it's just no good, the long version is in the following list, which I call "The Problems I Have With The Time-Traveler's Wife."

1. The author is indecisive. Rather than accepting that this is a science-fiction novel, she tries to write a social commentary, romance, and art and music novel all rolled into one.

There is so much name-dropping that it's distracting—classical music, entomology, poetry, romance languages, library science, the American punk scene, constructivist painters, you get the idea—they're all continually cropping up at the most inane times. What should give us a better understanding of the characters actually paints them as shells of people, identified only by superficialities. There is one completely pointless mention of a Moholy-Nagy poster that really annoyed me. I had five years of design school and while I know who Laszlo Moholy-Nagy is and how to correctly pronounce his name, I couldn't pick one of his paintings out of a lineup of his contemporaries, so I didn't even buy that this dude who has spent half of his life in limbo was some kind of expert.

2. The title character's entire life and family are so difficult to relate to that I immediately hated her. She grew up in a house that has books written about it (irritating architecture reference) and everyone must "dress" for dinner at her parents' house, as if this were a Brontë novel.

3. I wish I could write this one all in bold... Her family employ five Black servants. In a Christmas scene, for which the servants are unchained from the stove and allowed into the dining room, the cook actually toasts to "Miz Abshire."

This book was written in 2004! How can the "Mammy" have any place here? She isn't even the only racially stereotyped character in this book. The traveler's childhood downstairs neighbor, a grandmotherly woman he refers to as Kimmy, speaks in a broken English which could have been stolen directly from a hateful gold rush-era cartoon.

4. The book skips back and forth between the point-of-view of the title character and the time-traveler himself, but there is absolutely no difference in their voices. I think I actually got confused a few times about who was speaking.

5. The phrase, “she was pale under her makeup” was used three times.

6. The chapters dealing with infertility were completely unoriginal, boring, and emotionally flat.

7. Not only are conversations unnecessarily long, but they are often followed by page after page of internal dialogue as the characters rehash and analyze every point of said conversation.

Sorry this was so long, but this might be the worst book I've ever read and I'm really confused by all the good reviews.(less)

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01/24/08

Claire rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I have a serious love/hate relationship with this book. The good stuff:
I really liked the jumps back and forth in time - surprisingly, the author was able to keep it all straight and I never really felt so terribly confused that I just wanted to give up.

I loved the Henry character. I really loved him. He was flawed, he tried so hard to be a good man, etc etc. I just really loved this character.

I liked the love story - I felt that the feelings between the two of t...more

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08/06/07

Silvercharmer rated it:

(review of isbn 015602943X)

bookshelves: best-books-ever, modernlit, scifi-fantasy

Read in February, 2007

recommends it for: EVERYONE

Warning: Spoilery review. Short version: Hurry up and read this.

Holy crap. Someone should have warned me about reading this book at work. I have been sitting here bawling my eyes out, tears streaming madly down my cheeks, flooding my eyes until the words swim into fields of glistening black lines. This book is so beautiful and anguishing to read I can't even be objective about it, because it was one of those stories that just burrowed a lot closer to home than you could ever f...more Warning: Spoilery review. Short version: Hurry up and read this.

Holy crap. Someone should have warned me about reading this book at work. I have been sitting here bawling my eyes out, tears streaming madly down my cheeks, flooding my eyes until the words swim into fields of glistening black lines. This book is so beautiful and anguishing to read I can't even be objective about it, because it was one of those stories that just burrowed a lot closer to home than you could ever feel comfortable with. Really, though, even objectively I have little to offer in the way of criticism. What was probably a nightmare of a book to write was woven together seamlessly, so beautifully constructed it seems more like a living, organic thing than an idea born inside someone's head.

I liked the foreshadowing, I liked the intricacy, I liked that we never really know what Alba chooses in the future, whether she embraces the time travel or tries to stop it. I loved the poignant pain that begins to trickle across the pages as the pieces begin falling into place. I am curious to see how Clare and Alba's relationship developed once Henry was gone, but I was happy it was not in the story. That there are plenty of things for my imagination to fill in makes me happy. I also really liked the approach the author took to the paradox of time travel. It seemed the most plausible, unarguable position I've ever heard (and I have taken a class on it), though I have not allowed myself to think about it too hard as I have no wish, at least within the context of this book, to unravel how much sense it makes.

What really hit me in the gut (seriously, I did not even cry this hard when I read "Where the Red Fern Grows" for the first time, and I got red-faced, puffy-eyed and ugly over that one), was the horrible feeling that I could see myself as Clare and know exactly how she felt about Henry, and could fill the unwritten pages of her future with grief that I would know and understand. I cannot imagine losing my husband. I cannot imagine ever having to face a day knowing that he was not there, and never would be again. No matter how much I would want to think that for his sake I would be strong, go on, live out my life with joy and accomplishment as he would have wanted, the truth is I would probably wind up just like Henry's father, a wasted, squandered creature who does not know how to exist alone without the sound of his laughter, the warmth of his arms around my body, the feel of his head resting against my chest, the drowsy murmur of "I love you" against my ear as we drift off to sleep, the domestic intimacy and companionship that accompanies the hiss of bacon frying in the skillet as he and I stand side by side fixing breakfast on Sunday mornings. I do not know who I would be without those things, but I would be someone unrecognizable from who I am now.

This book is also listed on IMDB, which really excites me, as I think it could be a beautiful movie. Everything it needs to be good is right here in the book, and because of the manner of Henry's death, it even lacks the melodramatic twist that most dramas rely on, such as a car accident, an act of God, or something else outside of the character's control. No, there is culpability here, and that is an incredibly powerful thing. While it was not the purpose of this book to examine how Claire dealt with her father and brother after Henry's death, or how they dealt with themselves, it would have been so interesting to see. There's too much to like about this book, and something so real and raw and powerful about the sadness and grief it portrays. Incredible.
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01/18/08

Danielle rated it:

bookshelves: fiction

Read in October, 2007

Why can't there be a negative star rating? I hated, hated this book. And yes, I did finish it. All way-too-many pages of it. But, in my defense it was (foolishly) the only book I brought with me when I was hospitalized for 24 hours after wisdom tooth surgery, and when your options are daytime soaps or this wretched book...well, at least I got to read the ending and conclude definitively that it wasn't worth it. Okay, now that I've gotten a bit of a rant out, let me be a little more organized abo...more Why can't there be a negative star rating? I hated, hated this book. And yes, I did finish it. All way-too-many pages of it. But, in my defense it was (foolishly) the only book I brought with me when I was hospitalized for 24 hours after wisdom tooth surgery, and when your options are daytime soaps or this wretched book...well, at least I got to read the ending and conclude definitively that it wasn't worth it. Okay, now that I've gotten a bit of a rant out, let me be a little more organized about my dislikes:
1. The sex. More accurately, the sex after sex after sex, in graphic detail (not pornographic detail, granted, but WAY more than I wanted to picture), at all sorts of different ages. Wow. Yeah, I just hated that. If it serves a purpose to the plot, fine, include it, but don't give me every single move. I just don't need to know that.
2. The plot was convoluted. I can say this fairly because I read it in practically one sitting, and while I was able to keep things straight, it would have served the book better to not attempt to take in so many sub-plots and minutia.
3. Okay, I will admit that for having a sci-fi premise, the concept of time travel as outlined here was at least moderately believable. What I didn't like was that it wasn't especially original (anyone seen Journeyman?) yet had the pretension that it was.
4. The whole crux of the novel was the great love story between Henry and Claire. Yet, as a reader I'm much more interested and moved by two NICE people ending up together, and staying together, than two people I just don't like that much. Let's face it, Henry is not a great guy. And there's that whole poor-rich-girl thing going on with Claire. I just wasn't feeling it.
Okay, all of that said, I really don't recommend this book to anyone. I realize there are a lot of people that like it (I know; I checked the reviews expecting to be completely vindicated, but alas, it seems I'm in the minority) but those people who like it apparently enjoy a different class of book than I do. There are so many great works out there, why waste your time with this?(less)

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07/14/07

Morgan rated it:

bookshelves: fanstastical

Read in July, 2007

Rating this was really hard, because I really liked it (really, really liked it) but I have such qualms with the ending, which could very possibly be a testament to Niffenegger's writing, I'm not sure. Anyway.

There were several things I wanted to talk about while I was reading it, more or less having to do with the notion of time-travel in the book. Obviously, there's always the immediate connection between Henry DeTamble and Billy Pilgrim, both of which are unstuck in time, Henry ...more Rating this was really hard, because I really liked it (really, really liked it) but I have such qualms with the ending, which could very possibly be a testament to Niffenegger's writing, I'm not sure. Anyway.

There were several things I wanted to talk about while I was reading it, more or less having to do with the notion of time-travel in the book. Obviously, there's always the immediate connection between Henry DeTamble and Billy Pilgrim, both of which are unstuck in time, Henry because of a bizarre disorder and Billy because of an existential break-down possibly hightened by Post Traumatic Shock Syndrome (I believe that's what it's "technically" called, but don't quote me) (this is also a literary theory I find to be too easy of an excuse). But also I found parallels between TTW and Octavia Butler's "Kindred," the story of a black woman pulled back through time by one of her ancestors, a white slaveholder, to the period before the Civil War. The interesting thing I found about both of these are the link between Dana and Rufus (in "Kindred") that defies time and space, and an almost identical link between Henry and young Clare as an agenda to look at the concept of "soul mates." This then creates an ontological question concerning the nature of free-will and destiny, as Niffenegger herself states numerous times that Henry believes in free-will to a point, in that he's free to do whatever or so he believes, but because he is so immeshed in time what happens between him and Clare is more destiny: they are free to do what they will, but they'll always end up where they are meant to be type thing.

Another aspect that struck me was the idea of time being a biological construct, which was like "holy shit rock on!" Because time itself is little more than our perception of change and cause-and-effect, and the physical concept of space-time is nonlinear, that all time happens right now and it will always happen at any given moment, not so much circular as it is ever-present. But the notion that time itself can be a flux in our biological make-up was STUNNING. If I were a little more awake, maybe I could expound a little more about why that interested me so much.

(But to that effect, it did bother me a little that Niffenegger told her story more or less linearally, despite the constant jumping back and forth that Henry undergoes. I almost wish the whole thing was like that, with very little linear telling [which of course would be problematic with Clare's perception of events; hmmm . . .:]).

IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK AND YOU PLAN ON READING IT, PLEASE STOP READING THIS REVIEW HERE! I DON'T WANT TO RUIN THE ENDING FOR YOU!

This was one of the saddest books I've ever read, aside from "Where the Red Fern Grows," but what I didn't like was that there was no real time to devote to being sad and crying over Henry's fate/destiny/end because the story kept going, no moment to allow the reader a bit of catharsis. And this probably wouldn't have been so bad if Henry hadn't lost his feet and could do nothing else but wait for his final moment. I felt that Henry was such a dynamic character and that he would have been one of those types of people who burn out instead of fade away, if he were a real person, but in the narrative he's not given that chance. When he flashes back to that morning at the Meadow I wanted him to be running when he's shot, not simply appearing, getting shot, and returning to the New Year's party. And the story kept going after! Which, granted, it is actually more of Clare's story (she is, of course, the time-traveler's wife and gets the first and final words of the story), and this does illuminate Henry's ever-present being in time and space. And then maybe he's not so much fading away as he is always existing. I don't know. I have mixed feelings about it.(less)

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10/06/07

Emma rated it:

Read in October, 2007

If I had to define "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger in two words they would be: poignant and excessive—two words that also illustrate my mixed feelings about Niffenegger’s first novel.

“The Time Traveler’s Wife” is about many things. Obviously time travel is an important feature, but this novel is also about librarians, artists, punk rock, and alcoholics. It’s also about love.

Henry meets his wife, Clare, for the first time when he is 2...more If I had to define "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger in two words they would be: poignant and excessive—two words that also illustrate my mixed feelings about Niffenegger’s first novel.

“The Time Traveler’s Wife” is about many things. Obviously time travel is an important feature, but this novel is also about librarians, artists, punk rock, and alcoholics. It’s also about love.

Henry meets his wife, Clare, for the first time when he is 28 and Clare is 20. Clare met Henry for the first time when she was six and Henry was 36. Henry is, literally, a time traveler. Henry has a disease: a cellular disorder that leaves him unglued in time, traveling at random to various points in the past and future of his own life and, inexplicably, to Clare’s childhood. Henry cannot hold onto any of his possessions when he time travels—no clothes, no food, no money—a fact that often has a disastrous effect on Henry’s life.

Throughout it all, Clare is at Henry’s side faithfully waiting for him to return to her and their life together.

Niffenegger alternates viewpoints, narrating the story in both Henry’s and Clare’s voice. Despite giving the characters equal narration time, Clare remains painfully one-dimensional. She is defined by her love for Henry, her artistic career and, unfortunately, little else.

Thankfully, Henry is written much more fully. Working as a librarian at the Newberry in his present, Henry also has a complex life “out of time." He is also well-versed in the culture of drugs and drinking. Really, Henry is a mess in every sense of the word. Despite all of his problems, though, Henry remains redeemable. Throughout the novel he clings to a certain charm, a quality that makes it plausible to believe that Clare really did love him long before Henry first met her.

The novel jumps from past to present and back again as Niffenegger aptly looks at how Henry’s past intersects with his present and his future, and his evolving relationship with Clare. These examinations are a particular strength of the novel. Niffenegger manages to discuss events multiple times without being redundant. At the same time she creates a complex storyline without making it impossible to follow.

Unfortunately, she does also falter. Most of the novel’s shortcomings stem from some kind of excess. First and foremost, it’s too long. (The hardcover edition runs 600 pages.) Particularly in the second half of the novel, it feels like Niffenegger takes on too much. There are too many characters to remember, too many events only tangentially relevant to the core plot. All things considered, the novel could easily have been at least a hundred pages shorter.

For this reason, the premise of the plot has some fundamental flaws—points that make no sense in relation to the rest of the narrative. On the whole, these blips are annoying but not damning (especially given the fact that the novel is marketed as general fiction as opposed to science fiction).

“The Time Traveler’s Wife” also veers dangerously close to melodrama, raining biblically disastrous situations on both Henry and Clare. Given the ending of the novel, one would think that merely being a time traveler would be enough bad luck to last both of their lifetimes. Aside from being plain old mean, this focus on events makes it difficult to develop the characters. Many interesting people walk in and out of Henry’s life, but few of them are adequately utilized in the book.

The scope of the narrative is vast and strongly cinematic, which leads me to two conclusions: One is that this story might have been better had someone else written it. The other is that the upcoming film adaptation will be better than the novel. Given the fascinating story and characters here, hopefully that will be the case.(less)

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03/17/08

Lara rated it:

Read in April, 2008

I am conflicted about this book. Do not let my 4 stars fool you, they are an emotional rating.

I'll start with the things I really liked about it:

Loved all the foreshadowing. The knowing something was going to happen, and maybe even a little bit of what it was, but never knowing or understanding fully until both characters had experienced the moment. And then all the foreshadowing of the tragic end. Once I started putting the puzzle together I really couldn't put it do...more I am conflicted about this book. Do not let my 4 stars fool you, they are an emotional rating.

I'll start with the things I really liked about it:

Loved all the foreshadowing. The knowing something was going to happen, and maybe even a little bit of what it was, but never knowing or understanding fully until both characters had experienced the moment. And then all the foreshadowing of the tragic end. Once I started putting the puzzle together I really couldn't put it down. And I had several moments where I couldn't control the tears even long before the tragedy happens, because the foreshadowing was that emotionally charged.

I felt that the way the author set it up was ingenious. While you are reading along in a fairly chronological timeline, it is interspersed with moments of past and future as Henry travels through time. At first it felt very disjunct, but by the end I really loved the way it mirrored how Henry and Clare must feel as they lived their life in such a non-chronological manner. Especially Henry.

The love story was indeed epic. I bawled like a baby at the end, it was so tragic to me. And sweet at the same time. The way that the author addressed themes of love, fate, destiny, personal choice and, of course, time was mind blowing at times (as all time travel issues are to me) but very cool to see how it all intertwined. I liked how she dealt with the whole time travel issue in that Henry could never actually change anything in the future. Everything already happened, whether in the past or the future, because for Henry, his future is his past and his past is his future. I told you it was a bit mind blowing. But yeah, the love story was riveting.

Things I didn't like so much:

The absolutely uneccesary detail of the mundane. I felt the author spent too much time describing grocery lists (literally!) of things and music and whatever when she could have been examining the thoughts and feelings of the characters. It took me 3 weeks to read this book, and not because it was long. I didn't have any problem ignoring it for days at a time because of the tedious reading at times. Nothing in the writing made me want to keep reading until the last half of the book, which I did read much more quickly.

The language. F-word on nearly every page. Two sitings of the C-word. Totally unecessary. The love scenes were often a bit graphic, and there were so many of them. Because of this, I started feeling that the love was based in sex more than anything and I would have like the author to explore some of the more deep feelings that did show up when Henry and Clare weren't in bed. Again, unecessary really.

Sometimes I got confused and experienced deja vu. Knowing it was because one of the characters had already mentioned a certain event and I would often have to go through the book and find the previous mention so I could have full understanding.

Mostly though, it was a very cool book. And very emotional...at least for me. It really spoke to something in me about relationships and choices and destiny (not that I totally believe in destiny, but you know.)(less)

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05/16/08

Laura rated it:

Read in May, 2008

Just because something is popular does not mean it's good. Mass "taste" is often incredibly bad. Such is the case with this book, only it's not incredibly bad, just not worth the hours it takes to read it.

It seems like every fiction book I've read in the past couple of years is highly depressing, this one included. My life is full enough of it's own challenges and disappointments that I'd like to read to escape. Yes, if novels are full of heartache and struggle, they are re...more Just because something is popular does not mean it's good. Mass "taste" is often incredibly bad. Such is the case with this book, only it's not incredibly bad, just not worth the hours it takes to read it.

It seems like every fiction book I've read in the past couple of years is highly depressing, this one included. My life is full enough of it's own challenges and disappointments that I'd like to read to escape. Yes, if novels are full of heartache and struggle, they are realistic and more accurately reflecting real life. Well, this book is clearly not realistic anyway, and the amount of trauma that happened to Henry went beyond what an average person encounters. I appreciate what Niffenegger was trying to do, and it certainly has it's romanticism, but it was not enjoyable to read.

At the beginning, I had a hard time getting past the ridiculousness of the time traveling man that is the main premise of the book. I compared it to the annoying, short-lived tv show "Journeyman", the (also depressing) movie "Premonition", and the time-traveling bits in "Lost". To better swallow it, I thought of it as a children's book for adults. So I finally got past the goofiness of time-travelin' Henry. It was interesting how the author put together all the different past and futures. I thought she did a good job with how she chose to order them in the book. Where was the plot though? While this is not a traditional story in its presentation, if you put the different scenes in sequential order it should be. Instead of a story with much of a plot though, it was more like an anthropological ethnographic study of Clare and Henry. One third of the book was just them having sex and making coffee. It read to me as more of a descriptive chronicle than a tale with messages to relay.

I also thought that Niffenegger never fully developed certain pieces like what happened to Henry's dad after Henry visited him and he was barely holding it together. Later in the book, he comes across as a typical, mostly functioning father, but we don't see how that change occurred. It also isn't clear why Henry likes Gomez. It must be nice for Henry to have a friend who knows his secret, and Gomez does some stuff to help out Henry and Clare, but why the bond? The first time they all have dinner together, Gomez is highly rude to Henry, but then the next time they meet during one of the time travels, they're all buddy-buddy. It's not like Henry's just using him for help; he actually likes him on some emotional level. One would think Gomez being in love with Clare would get in the way of that.

To wrap this up, I also think the author tries too hard to make Clare and Henry cool: Clare with her dramatic artsiness and Henry with his incredible scope of book knowledge and languages, plus all the stuff about their music tastes. I don't think she does a very good job of showing how Henry goes from being the selfish, lost young jerk to the caring, mature husband. It's supposed to be Clare's influence, but the process is not really shown. There's another huge gap in info that bothers me, but it would be a spoiler. (Hard to believe you could have a spoiler without much plot, but there are a couple pieces that are major events in the book.)

All in all, interesting concept tying time travel to romance, but with real life being trying enough, I need something more light-hearted. (less)

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06/11/07

Katchoogranger rated it:

(review of isbn 0224073087)

bookshelves: fiction

recommends it for: lovers of scifi, fantasy, or intelligent romance

Before Audry Niffenegger wrote The Time Traveler's Wife, she was a art teacher at a Chicago university. Thankfully, Niffenegger believes that art should imitate life, so we get a rip-roaring tour of her life passions: punk music, the Chicago art scene, the Newbery Library, and Chicago itself. These are the core elements that add ambiance to the love story of Henry Detamble - librarian and reluctant time traveler - and his wife, artist Claire Ashbury.

Henry has crono-displacement diso...more Before Audry Niffenegger wrote The Time Traveler's Wife, she was a art teacher at a Chicago university. Thankfully, Niffenegger believes that art should imitate life, so we get a rip-roaring tour of her life passions: punk music, the Chicago art scene, the Newbery Library, and Chicago itself. These are the core elements that add ambiance to the love story of Henry Detamble - librarian and reluctant time traveler - and his wife, artist Claire Ashbury.

Henry has crono-displacement disorder and in times of stress, he "time jumps" to other periods of his life, leaving Claire alone in sequential time. I stayed up until almost four AM, engrossed in Time Traveler's Wife. I cheated by reading the last page first when I was halfway through it and put it aside for six months. TTW is the story of the (gorgeous) Henry DeTamble, sexy librarian and accidental time traveler, and his circular relationship with Claire, who is often left behind when Henry accidentally goes hurtling through time, usually against his will. The most unique part about it - and the most intelligent - is Niffenegger could have done the cliche plot - time machine, other centuries, etc - but chose not to, instead keeping the time travel in the modern day. No Jack Finney plots for her characters. Henry's unique path almost entirely focuses around dramatic incidents in his life - his mother's death,his father's depression, or his meeting Clare. The latter is the most unique part about this story - Henry first meets Clare when she is 6 and he is in his 20s, thanks to the time traveling. Ironically, when he accidentally visits her as a child, he is leaving the adult Claire, bereft and confused, in the "present." The book is told through monologues which I usually find pretty annoying but this was extraordinary.

The kick? In Niffennegger's world, time travel is a disease, an uncontrollable ailment which holds it's victim in it's grip, manifesting only under extreme mental stress. As a result, Henry fights to stay "present" at his own wedding, only to loose and have an older "Henry" (age 43) pop into the ceremony to say the vows. What would be a groom's normal nerves set off the chrono-displacement gene (CDG). Also, our Henry time travels in the buff, which makes it pretty important to do things like pick locks, steal clothes, etc. You know - all the stuff they should teach in Boy Scouts.

And? The sheer real world *intelligence* of Henry and Clare - the references to AS Byatt, Violent Femmes, Ulysses, french poetry, J.B. Priestly, Rilke, Dickinson, etc. Thanks to Henry's librarian status, we get tons of delicious references to gorgeous poems, lit figures, etc.

It's a rarity in fiction to have a librarian character who is a man, a time traveler, reader and lover, while still leaping off the page as the world's first well-read, punk librarian.

Henry and Clare never dip to anything less than human, brilliant, vital, and remarkably alive. Guess who cried like moron through the past 42 pages? Moi. I haven't cried at a book since the end of Fried Green Tomatoes or maybe Harry 3. I made it through Jane Eyre, Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Hours, Jude the Obscure, Crimson Petal and White, and tons of other gut-wrenching books without a tear. I'm a little embarrassed by how much I adored this novel. Whew. ..And The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, and the Violent Femmes make appearances. Bless Niffennegger's visionary, music-adoring little self.

Apparently Gus Van Sant is directing the movie. Personally, I think Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) would have been the perfect director. Rachel McAdams (The Notebook, Wedding Crashers) will be Claire, while Eric Bana (The Hulk) will be Henry.

Dippy with love for this book. I've never been a romance girl, or sci-fi/fantasy but this one just rolled it all in to one yummy package.

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03/01/08

Shan BJ rated it:

(review of isbn 015602943X)

Read in February, 2008

recommends it for: people who like to jump on band wagons, sheep and lemmings

Let me start this by saying I was very excited to read this book. I thought it was going to be good. It is not in any way good. It could have been good, the idea could have soared but in Niffenegger's hands it was destroyed by laundry lists of grocery bag contents, street directions, and punk bands until I even said, out loud, more than once, "okay, I get it." He bought groceries, he knows how to get around in Chicago, Clare likes to clean her studio, he is not just a punk rock pos...more

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03/19/08

April rated it:

(review of isbn 015602943X)

Read in March, 2008

I adore this book. I love it with all my heart. The first few pages were a delight, a surprise, and from then on it was a sweet love affair. I wanted both to have read the book all at once and also to have it all yet unread so I could savor it. I simply didn't want it to end.

The story is about two people, the time traveler and his wife. On the surface, they are like any two people who love each other in modern times, except for the fact that he travels through time. You'd think that ...more I adore this book. I love it with all my heart. The first few pages were a delight, a surprise, and from then on it was a sweet love affair. I wanted both to have read the book all at once and also to have it all yet unread so I could savor it. I simply didn't want it to end.

The story is about two people, the time traveler and his wife. On the surface, they are like any two people who love each other in modern times, except for the fact that he travels through time. You'd think that fact would make this science fiction, but this is more a romance -- actually, more a great love story than anything. A love that transcends time.

While the science fiction part of it IS interesting, it really is all about the couple, Henry and Clare. Henry's ability to time travel almost becomes a metaphor. For what? Whatever it is a reader wishes to imagine. But there'd be no story without it, as it's very intricately woven into the romance. It's unlikely they ever would have met and come together without it.

Henry and Clare both tell the story in their first person points of view, in the present tense, to indicate the here and now, though the scenes might be all at once the past, the present, and the future. They take turns, not only in telling the story, but in knowing what's to come. So the story unfolds like a flower, with each scene a petal of rosy revelation, where you see both sides -- first the outside, then the inside -- as it blooms and shows yet another petal within, ready to unfurl.

The plotting is amazing. Things that happened in one's past, halfway mentioned, become a foreshadowing of what's to come for another, and in the end, things just fall into place; bad or good, you know that whatever just happened was supposed to happen. You can't really worry about the paradoxes, though. You just have to let go of the feeling that something might never have happened were it not for one thing or another. However tangled up the cause and effect become, the whole thing seemed fated and comes full circle.

I suspect that this book inspired the TV series Journeyman, which I also love. However, they have made it light years easier for the time traveler in Journeyman. When Henry time travels, he brings nothing with him. He can't. Anything that isn't a part of his body is left behind, so he arrives naked and must steal clothes and shoes. When the man in Journeyman travels, he takes with him whatever he is wearing or holding, so he has his clothes and his cash. When Henry time travels, he is unable to change anything that, for him, has already happened. When the Journeyman time travels, it is expressly so he can go back and change the past, and when he returns to his present, things are not quite what they were when he left.

And even though the science fiction part of this book is actually fairly understated, Henry's version of time travel seems much more real to me, more plausible. His life with Clare makes it even more so because we see how it affects the two of them and their relationship with each other and with other people. Only the media seems left out of it, and I think that if Henry's ability was real, it would be very much in the media in one form or another.

I really wish I could articulate everything that I love about this book, but I think the best way to share what I'm feeling for the book right now is to recommend it to everyone I know.

Hints of Lolita again, but sweeter and more innocent.

Finished reading March 30, 2008.(less)

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01/09/08

Tung rated it:

Read in January, 2005

There’s a reason I hate Oprah’s Book Club, and the reason is that I think she does a disservice to the millions of American women who adore her by recommending terrible books. Oprah’s problem is that rather than directing her legions of fans to classic books (or ones destined to become classics) with complex plots and fine writing, she directs them instead to crap like The Notebook. The Notebook and The Time Traveler’s Wife belong to the same genre – you’ve heard the term “chick ...more There’s a reason I hate Oprah’s Book Club, and the reason is that I think she does a disservice to the millions of American women who adore her by recommending terrible books. Oprah’s problem is that rather than directing her legions of fans to classic books (or ones destined to become classics) with complex plots and fine writing, she directs them instead to crap like The Notebook. The Notebook and The Time Traveler’s Wife belong to the same genre – you’ve heard the term “chick flick”? These two books are chick books, books whose romantic plots and themes are written to appeal to women, a device in books and film that do a disservice to the women’s rights movement. Niffenegger’s book revolves around a man who has a genetic disorder that randomly makes him travel backwards and forwards in time. He pops into and out of the life of a woman who ends up being his wife. The book revolves around the theme that love transcends time, and describes how the couple deals with the man’s time-traveling problem. This book gets some points for an original concept, but unfortunately, it is atrociously written. First, it’s way too long, almost 550 pages. Much of the length of the book is due to the author’s inclusion of every minute detail she can think of, as if an overabundance of detail makes the scene somehow more realistic. Secondly, there are tons of rants in the book, which is really just the author using her characters to voice her own tastes (for example, a whole scene devoted to punk music and the punk scene as if the author were reliving her youth, which adds nothing to the characterizations). Thirdly, the book is filled with tiresome cliché love imageries. For example, the time traveler wishing to himself that he were home and finding himself in bed with his wife and stating something inane like “I’m with Clare, so I am home. I am home.” So awful, the author should be jailed. The only reason I don’t have this book ranked lower is that the end of the book deals with issues of death and separation and loss that genuinely touched me, but that’s more me being sentimental than the book’s ability to convey strong emotion. Read it if you like chick flicks.(less)

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10/01/07

Kristy Hartsgrove rated it:

Read in October, 2007

I wish that this book was a Choose Your Own Adventure, so that when Henry starts yapping off at the jib about seventies punk to that high school kid at the Christmas party, that you could choose, instead of having the kid listen in rapt gratefulness while Henry lists off all the bands this schmuck has to find out about, to have the kid kick him square in his unbelievably pretentious punkrocklibrarian balls.

People like this book???!

I know I threw my credibility out the win...more I wish that this book was a Choose Your Own Adventure, so that when Henry starts yapping off at the jib about seventies punk to that high school kid at the Christmas party, that you could choose, instead of having the kid listen in rapt gratefulness while Henry lists off all the bands this schmuck has to find out about, to have the kid kick him square in his unbelievably pretentious punkrocklibrarian balls.

People like this book???!

I know I threw my credibility out the window when I admitted that I read Jacqueline Susann novels, but I do have some taste, actually. And I can't prove it, you can just believe me or not believe me, but this book is completely tedious. And I like the idea of it, and I have nothing against the romance genre, but these characters are just completely grating.

This book is having the same effect on me as a Donna Tartt novel. I got all pissed off when I spent valuable hours of my life reading The Secret History as well. Also a turd, with annoying, contrived, pretentious characters.

Does anyone else think Clare is irritating, too? This Poor Little Rich girl thing is just making her completely unlikeable to me and the description of her life in Chicago and the Aragon and whatever... UGH (I am going to send Niffeneger my doctor bills from when I had to go to the emergency room to get my eyes to roll back down out of my head). It's just SO manipulative that even I, I of the Jacqueline Susann novels (and the W.S. Merwin, o.k.? I spread it around. I go to all the neighborhoods. I'm not snobby, is the thing), I just can't abide this.

I'm giving it one more chapter, and if it doesn't get better it's going into limbo.

**********

O.K., so it's a new day, and I've always been a cat who can admit it when she is partially incorrect about something. And my earlier comments about the first part of the novel are pretty true, I swear, but if you can get through the chick-lit beginning, the second half of the book is really interesting, and gripping, and moving, and now I can see why people like this book so much.

Even the writing gets better, it's grainier and she uses these really beautiful and frightening dream sequences to lay out what is happening to her characters emotionally and it is just so GOOD.

I would almost want to reread it just to find the place where it changes, because there is a spot in the book right after they get married, I don't remember exactly where, when I all of a sudden knew that I was reading a different book.

I still have a couple of quibbles. The thing is, and don't read this part if you haven't read the book yet and you don't want it ruined, how did he not know that his feet were going to get removed? He knew all kinds of stuff, why not that? Or did he, did I just miss that he knew? And I didn't understand how the death of Clare's mom fit into the story structure. Ingrid and Celia? Anyone? It just seemed like there was another book sitting on top of the good part of this book. Like someone shuffled the pages of two drafts together or something.

O.K., so not that I don't have some issues with it, but for the most part I retract my earlier statement about the book being bad. It's actually really good. Just keep reading even when you are sure that it's not going to be what you need it to be, because then it changes, and it is. (less)

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09/27/07

Shannon rated it:

(review of isbn 0676976336)

bookshelves: 2007, book-club, favourite, romance, time-travel

Read in January, 2007

Very few books have ever made me cry. Off the top of my head, only two really stand out: Charlotte's Web and Thunderwith. I am now adding The Time Traveler's Wife to the list, and to the list of books I can't get out of my head for days after.

This is a highly ambitious debut novel. That doesn't mean it doesn't work. I had my doubts, I truly did. And I can never read a book without also noticing typos, editing errors etc., but although they're distracting they can't ruin a good book....more

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02/01/08

Liza rated it:

Read in February, 2008

I want the option of 1/2 stars. I give this one 4 1/2.

I’m always afraid of two things when I’ve been as captivated by a book as I have been this one. The first is that no one else will feel the same way I do about it. What if it’s actually horrible, and for some reason I love it? I’m no literary genius, after all. But I suppose we are all entitled to our own opinions, and there are certainly plenty of “great” reads out there that I am sure I did not love, or would not lo...more I want the option of 1/2 stars. I give this one 4 1/2.

I’m always afraid of two things when I’ve been as captivated by a book as I have been this one. The first is that no one else will feel the same way I do about it. What if it’s actually horrible, and for some reason I love it? I’m no literary genius, after all. But I suppose we are all entitled to our own opinions, and there are certainly plenty of “great” reads out there that I am sure I did not love, or would not love if I ever read them.
The second happens about ¾ of the way in, and can be a little suffocating, if you think you know what’s going to happen: the fear of finishing. What if it’s as sad as I am expecting? What if all my questions aren’t answered? What if I just don’t want the story to end. What if I’m not as satisfied as I think I should be once it has actually ended, and there’s no hope of more?
Nevertheless, I always finish. And I am resolved to the fact that just because I love something doesn’t mean you will love it too, and that’s ok.

This book brought out these fears in an immensely incredible way for me. Sometimes I connect with a book because I feel like I am actually watching the story play out, but only as an outsider, sort of as if I am good friends with the characters. But sometimes, rarely, I connect with a book because I feel like I am the character. That was the case with this book. And that’s why I couldn’t stop reading.

David is finally finished, so I can say more.

I loved the first half of this book. Since we meet Clare when she is so young, I felt like I sort of grew up with her, getting to know this time-traveling Henry at the same time as her. But even in the first half, I struggled with a few things: Where did The List come from? And how did two Henry's appear at the same time and place so often? Maybe we aren't supposed to know those things, but they bothered me a bit. But I was easily caught up in the lives of the characters and sort of swept away by their story. Captivated, really.

The 2nd half was a little more frustrating, and not quite as lovable, though still very enjoyable and able to keep my attention for looong periods of time. But my fear of finishing with my questions still unanswered was a legitimate fear here, and I think maybe that plays into my not liking the 2nd half as much.

I, contrary to David, did not like the ending. Maybe I just wanted more, I'm not sure. I just know I felt a little let down at the end. Clare and Henry went through a whole lot of crap, all for it to end way too early in their lives. And Alba never really gets to know Henry. I know that not all stories are supposed to end happy, and I am not a fan of writing a happy ending just for the sake of a happy ending. But I think Clare and Henry got a little cheated here. Her knowledge of Henry coming, at some point, is not enough for me. She spends the rest of her life just waiting on him to show up, never knowing when he will. After having The List as a child, and then having him almost constantly as an adult, until his death, it just seems unfair that after his death, she gets up every day and waits to see if it's a day he will arrive. I finished feeling rather sorry for Clare and Alba, and frustrated for Henry, but having enjoyed their story immensely up until that point.

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10/30/08

Palsay rated it:

bookshelves: drama, translated-fiction

Read in November, 2008

recommended to Palsay by: Syl

Hm, bagaimana rasanya?

Bagaimana rasanya jika baru semenit yang lalu kau bersama-sama suamimu di dapur, memasak makan siang, dan suami mu sedang memotong-motong bawang, dan tiba-tiba..zapp! dia menghilang, secepat itu, meninggalkan dirimu sendirian bersama irisan bawang dan pisau tergeletak di atas meja dapur?

Kau mencoba bersikap seolah-olah itu hal yang wajar, dan berusaha melewatkan hari itu sendirian, menunggu dan berharap ia akan pulang untuk makan malam.

B...more

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07/04/08

Erie rated it:

(review of isbn 9792228551)

bookshelves: book-to-movies, fiksi

Read in August, 2008

OK, to be honest, I'm having a hard time reviewing this book. I had a mixed feeling that sometimes I like this book and sometimes I dislike this book. There were moments when I just want to throw this book and moments when I suddenly realized that I'm having a hard time putting it down. It's difficult to write the review cause somehow I want to tell you everything.

Henry has chrono-displacement disorder, and he will be sucked backs and forth in time (mostly when he was stressed). He ...more OK, to be honest, I'm having a hard time reviewing this book. I had a mixed feeling that sometimes I like this book and sometimes I dislike this book. There were moments when I just want to throw this book and moments when I suddenly realized that I'm having a hard time putting it down. It's difficult to write the review cause somehow I want to tell you everything.

Henry has chrono-displacement disorder, and he will be sucked backs and forth in time (mostly when he was stressed). He can't control it, didn't ask for it, and is not exactly happy with it. But he learns how to handle it. He shows up naked and has to figure out how to survive for however long he is there. Sounds sci-fi to you? I have never been a fan of sci-fi, but I can tell this is not "pure" sci-fi. In my opinion the time travel is just an element background for the story. Perhaps some people might be more carried away by the romance and relationship between Henry and Clare.

The story unfurls through time with first person perspectives from both Henry and Clare. The first 100 pages really engaging and intrigued me. I remember that I found it a little difficult at first, I mean, I couldn't keep track of anything cause the time line shifting back and forth rapidly. But on the contrary that was the main point that hooked me. I eagerly awaited the moment where it would become obvious that Clare and Henry were meant to be together. The battle between free will vs fate plays an important role in the story. That's was the biggest issue for me that keep me wondering all the time, even after I finished the book. But then things turned for me at some point midway through the book. I don't why, but I felt the book suddenly turns out to be so tedious for me that I decided to put it off for a week. Too much unnecessary details for me I guess :D but then there's something itching in my mind that somehow triggered my curiosity to find out what will happen to Henry. So I decided to finished it.

OK.... SPOILERS ALERT!!!

DO NOT READ BEYOND THIS POINT IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK OR YOU HAVE PLAN TO READ THIS BOOK

After finished this book I have so many question dangling in my head. Do I like it? Do I hate it? should I gave two stars? or four stars instead of two stars? I mean, this book sometimes funny, shocking, boring, heartbreaking and disturbing at the same time. I don't know whether I'm confuse or just stupid.
The Good
The non-linear narrative was interesting. The idea about love story blended with the time travel adventure are great. It make me wondering this question "what if..." constantly. I know that certain scene made some people sobbing and bathed in tears. Well, I admit that I had my moment too :D Not the ending part though. But the moment when Henry and Claire meet the seven years old Alba (I loved her!) from the future. How Alba ran toward Henry and crying in his shoulder and Henry whispered in her ear not to tell Clare that he will be dead soon (Henry died when Alba was five years old). So I understand how happy Alba and Henry to see each other. It's heartbreaking, I feel like an ugly giant sap at that scene. Ok, there I said it. Enough about that :D
The Bad
I don't know how I felt about Clare character, it seemed to me that she is never given a real chance to have her own life. Some of her decisions were made because she knew about the future, for example; would Clare learn to like coffee if Henry didn't tell her that she already like it in the future? and I think Henry and Clare relationship is pretty much built on sex. Did I mention that there's so much sex in this book? I remember I uttered the "F" words out loud in the middle of the night when I stumble upon the scene in which Clare had sex with "Henry" while the "present" Henry is a asleep next to her. I don't know... but for me, that's just freaking annoying. I also found the relationship between the young Clare and the older Henry disturbing. For me it was kinda child molestation by an adult male, it seemed wrong even though nothing wrong happened between them; at least until Clare turns eighteen years old. I said "whoaaaa" at Clare's 18 birthday:D

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02/14/08

Argent rated it:

Intriguing premise, but ultimately more fatalistic than romantic.

Henry (like Billy Pilgrim in Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, to which this novel bears some striking resemblance) is a Chronologically Displaced Person: starting when he's six years old he periodically vanishes with a flash and reappears at some other point in time, disoriented and stark naked. He stays there for up to 72 hours and then returns to his present. (Henry's condition is eventually diagnosed and studie...more Intriguing premise, but ultimately more fatalistic than romantic.

Henry (like Billy Pilgrim in Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, to which this novel bears some striking resemblance) is a Chronologically Displaced Person: starting when he's six years old he periodically vanishes with a flash and reappears at some other point in time, disoriented and stark naked. He stays there for up to 72 hours and then returns to his present. (Henry's condition is eventually diagnosed and studied, and a genetic marker related to it is identified, but the doctors are never able to do anything for him.) He flashes in and out of his own life, meeting himself at different ages.

When he's 28 he meets Clare, a 20 year-old woman who says she's known him for 14 years, and that he has appeared in her life repeatedly since she was six. They get involved, and eventually get married, with Henry flashing in and out of her life for the meetings Clare has already experienced. The events alternate between Henry and Clare's POVs (helpfully delineated by indicating the date and their chronological ages).

This is an interesting conceit, and Niffenegger manages to present the jarring, achronological sequence of events with reasonable clarity. It always feels a little off-balance, which is probably intentional: the present-tense events never quite come into clear focus, even in Clare's scenes.

Some of Niffenegger's plot choices are curious. I'm not sure what the point is of having Henry's temporal jumps diagnosed as a medical condition (it's an intriguing idea, but it's kind of extraneous to the story). She also tosses off rather casually some of the weirder ethical implications of Henry's leaps. He frequently has to resort to theft to get clothes, shoes, and food -- and it's implied that he's in the habit of mugging people to steal their clothes. He meets himself as a boy and teaches himself how to pick pockets. And let's not forget the fact that he essentially starts courting his eventual wife when she's still prepubescent (although he keeps his hands off of her until she's 18). Neither he nor Clare seem to be troubled by any of that, but Niffenegger makes enough of a point of it to make troubling the fact that she doesn't follow through on those concerns.

Niffenegger's prose is nice, but she doesn't do a great job of differentiating Clare and Henry's voices. Her efforts to capture Clare's voice as a kid (which she does early on, and then abandons) are also not that convincing. One might also ask why Clare loves Henry, but the implication is that she doesn't ultimately have any choice.

This is a romance, but like the Vonnegut novel it resembles, it's fatalistic as hell. Henry's existence is deterministic -- he sees his own life and the lives of the people around him at various times, and he is unable to affect the outcome even when he tries. Everything that happens is fixed, including Henry's fate. Its finale is brutally depressing, and the only slim light Niffenegger allows is pretty grim comfort.

An interesting novel in many respects, but approach with caution if you're not in the mood for the relentlessly downbeat.(less)

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