Andrea's review
The Time Traveler's Wife
by Audrey Niffenegger
Loved the review. You're brilliant! I thought the book was just ok.
Great review. You really sum up the whole book!
Wow. Thanks for the nice comments, Sonia and Jenny.
Yes, yes. Well said. Especially your first problem, I absolutely agree. I don't like being made to feel stupid just because I don't know a bunch of arcane references to architecture, punk rock, etc.
My biggest qualm with this book was not the confusing narration, nor the plot holes, although both irked, it was that the "love" story actually struck me as shallow and contrived. Plus, I simply hated reading detailed accounts of sex with several people at several different ages. I kicked myself after finishing this book for not having given up at my first inclination to do so.
AMEN.
I agree wholeheartedly with your review. Thanks for taking the time to write it out!
Thanks for the nice comments, everyone.
You brilliantly articulated almost every thought I had as I read the book!
An additional annoyance: The ending was so completely anti-climactic and exceptionally brief, that I think the book could have been 200 pages shorter, but better, if she had spent a little more time fleshing out the death scene. It was almost as if Henry were dead in spirit long before the bullet ripped him apart. He gave up b/c he knew what was going to happen and he just laid down and took it sans heroics. I wanted him to at least TRY to fight a little.
But, as a non-CDP human, what do I know about the toll time traveling transport takes on the body and spirit? Maybe he was glad to be able to roll over and die and not have to jumpthrough time anymore?
I agree with all your comments, but I still really enjoyed the book... because I'm a time travel nut. The name dropping was very distracting. Violent Femmes! who cares? dropping a name isn't the same as communicating an idea. I'm with you about the (failure to) switch voices. I hope her initial success doesn't destroy her ability to write more, because she has promise.
How could you have been confused about who was speaking when "CLARE" or "HENRY" is posted in large font at the beginning of each new passage?
Oh, I knew who was speaking, but the voices were the same. I think the author needs to develop the ability to change her writing based on what perspective she is coming from.
I totally agree with this review. The racism was mind-boggling, and I also had to keep checking who was narrating as the voices were not distinct from one another.
I also noticed that she was sure to mention things like "young Hispanic boys" or that they were in a Hispanic neighborhood or the races of characters that were "minorities" and didn't have a major role. I don't know if I'd label that as racism but it definitely annoyed me.
Woohoo---great review.
I'm glad to know there are so many of you who agree with my opinion of this book. Thanks for your nice comments.
Thank you for writing a thoughtful review. I do disagree with some of your points, however:
1. I did not recognize some of the names that were dropped in the book, but having the bands, authors, etc. mentioned helped ground the characters into reality for me. Henry time-travels, which cannot be real, of course, but knowing that he read Rilke and listened to the Violent Femmes created a more realistic character for me. Plus, it made me want to read Rilke and listen to American Music.
2. I didn't grow up in a house like Clare's either, but I also didn't grow up in worlds like that of Heathcliff, Marjane Satrapi, or Francie Nolan, and I still enjoy reading Wuthering Heights, Persepolis, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
3. I do agree that Nell was a Mammy character - that was certainly unnecessary. But I don't think it was ever implied that the other servants were black - which probably means they were white if they are not labeled otherwise (this is an issue too big to tackle here).
I do not believe that the portrayal of Kimy was racist - I read it to be that she is an immigrant. While her English was not "perfect," she spoke better English than my Southeast Asian refugee parents. There is a difference between creating racist characters and creating characters of color who could be real, well-developed, everyday people -- albeit this is a thin line.
*** I disagree with the rest of your points also, but I would attribute that to the fact that we have different tastes in books. This is actually one of my favorite reads, but I really appreciate that you took the time to write a critical and thought-provoking review, instead of just rejecting the book outright. You've definitely given me some things to think about re: The Time Traveler's Wife.
It's a good thing we don't all share the same opinion, or things would be really boring. I really appreciate the way you voiced your disagreement with my review.
Andrea's review
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Andrea's review
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-...more
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-...more
Loved the review. You're brilliant! I thought the book was just ok.
Great review. You really sum up the whole book!
Wow. Thanks for the nice comments, Sonia and Jenny.
Yes, yes. Well said. Especially your first problem, I absolutely agree. I don't like being made to feel stupid just because I don't know a bunch of arcane references to architecture, punk rock, etc.
My biggest qualm with this book was not the confusing narration, nor the plot holes, although both irked, it was that the "love" story actually struck me as shallow and contrived. Plus, I simply hated reading detailed accounts of sex with several people at several different ages. I kicked myself after finishing this book for not having given up at my first inclination to do so.
AMEN.
I agree wholeheartedly with your review. Thanks for taking the time to write it out!
Thanks for the nice comments, everyone.
You brilliantly articulated almost every thought I had as I read the book!
An additional annoyance: The ending was so completely anti-climactic and exceptionally brief, that I think the book could have been 200 pages shorter, but better, if she had spent a little more time fleshing out the death scene. It was almost as if Henry were dead in spirit long before the bullet ripped him apart. He gave up b/c he knew what was going to happen and he just laid down and took it sans heroics. I wanted him to at least TRY to fight a little.
But, as a non-CDP human, what do I know about the toll time traveling transport takes on the body and spirit? Maybe he was glad to be able to roll over and die and not have to jumpthrough time anymore?
I agree with all your comments, but I still really enjoyed the book... because I'm a time travel nut. The name dropping was very distracting. Violent Femmes! who cares? dropping a name isn't the same as communicating an idea. I'm with you about the (failure to) switch voices. I hope her initial success doesn't destroy her ability to write more, because she has promise.
How could you have been confused about who was speaking when "CLARE" or "HENRY" is posted in large font at the beginning of each new passage?
Oh, I knew who was speaking, but the voices were the same. I think the author needs to develop the ability to change her writing based on what perspective she is coming from.
I totally agree with this review. The racism was mind-boggling, and I also had to keep checking who was narrating as the voices were not distinct from one another.
I also noticed that she was sure to mention things like "young Hispanic boys" or that they were in a Hispanic neighborhood or the races of characters that were "minorities" and didn't have a major role. I don't know if I'd label that as racism but it definitely annoyed me.
Woohoo---great review.
I'm glad to know there are so many of you who agree with my opinion of this book. Thanks for your nice comments.
Thank you for writing a thoughtful review. I do disagree with some of your points, however: 1. I did not recognize some of the names that were dropped in the book, but having the bands, authors, etc. mentioned helped ground the characters into reality for me. Henry time-travels, which cannot be real, of course, but knowing that he read Rilke and listened to the Violent Femmes created a more realistic character for me. Plus, it made me want to read Rilke and listen to American Music.
2. I didn't grow up in a house like Clare's either, but I also didn't grow up in worlds like that of Heathcliff, Marjane Satrapi, or Francie Nolan, and I still enjoy reading Wuthering Heights, Persepolis, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
3. I do agree that Nell was a Mammy character - that was certainly unnecessary. But I don't think it was ever implied that the other servants were black - which probably means they were white if they are not labeled otherwise (this is an issue too big to tackle here).
I do not believe that the portrayal of Kimy was racist - I read it to be that she is an immigrant. While her English was not "perfect," she spoke better English than my Southeast Asian refugee parents. There is a difference between creating racist characters and creating characters of color who could be real, well-developed, everyday people -- albeit this is a thin line.
*** I disagree with the rest of your points also, but I would attribute that to the fact that we have different tastes in books. This is actually one of my favorite reads, but I really appreciate that you took the time to write a critical and thought-provoking review, instead of just rejecting the book outright. You've definitely given me some things to think about re: The Time Traveler's Wife.
It's a good thing we don't all share the same opinion, or things would be really boring. I really appreciate the way you voiced your disagreement with my review.