Katharine read and liked HairycusHippocantropusErectusSimiriwingus's review of The Time Traveler's Wife (Istri Sang Penjelajah Waktu):

"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...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

(less) "

Katharine read and liked Tung's review of The Time Traveler's Wife:

"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 t...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) "