Questions About The Time Traveler's Wife

by Audrey Niffenegger (Goodreads Author)

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Answered Questions (43)

Is this appropriate for middle school kids? My younger brother wants to read it... There's nothing explicit?

Shelli My opinion: I don't think this book is appropriate before high school (age 14-16, depending on maturity), for the following reasons:

1) It's written fo…moreMy opinion: I don't think this book is appropriate before high school (age 14-16, depending on maturity), for the following reasons:

1) It's written for adults (it is definitely not YA), which means it's long, uses pretty sophisticated language, and, given the time travel theme, has a labyrinthine plot. I would think the average middle schooler might find it too challenging to really fully follow and enjoy.

2) This book is very emotionally hard-hitting. I pretty much sobbed through the last 75 pages at age 45; I can see a tween girl being absolutely emotionally overwhelmed.

3) Most of all of the misgivings posted here revolve around sex. Argh! What about all the other "adult" topics one finds in books and movies that are not considered as traumatizing to children, but should be? Examples include cruelty, violence, dismemberment, death, miscarriage, drugs, mental illness. Now, I am not saying which of these appear so as to avoid spoilers, but several of them do,

5) And as for the sex, which I listed last not by accident or coincidence, but because it really should be the least of your worries about this book:

Look: Teenagers, if they are not already having sex, are at the very least thinking, talking, and obsessing about sex. Wouldn't you prefer they have a few non-gratuitous literary examples of couples who love and care for each other deeply to counterbalance what they're watching on PornTube?

That being said, there was one sex scene that squicked even me out, which is saying a LOT. (** MINOR SPOILER **) I was pretty disturbed by the two teenaged Henrys getting it on. I guess technically it would be, what? "Enhanced masturbation"? But it felt like incest, and it also felt unrealistic. (** END MINOR SPOILER **)

I hope adding another perspective is useful to others asking this question. (less)

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Dan Unnecessary, out of character, and emblematic of the problem with Gomez's character. We are told that he saves Henry over and over when he is introduc…moreUnnecessary, out of character, and emblematic of the problem with Gomez's character. We are told that he saves Henry over and over when he is introduced. Then we never see any of that, and instead get this weird obsession with Clare. (less)

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Am I *the only one* who thought the main character was homophobic. What's more, did no one find their relationship a little "Woody Allen"-ish? She knew him from childhood. She grew up becoming enamored. He was inherently in a position of power. It is just so creepy, and I don't understand why that doesn't bother anyone else.

Beatrice Henry certainly shows deep internalized homophobia: when he is fifteen he has intercourse with himself during time travel and it's implied that it's n…moreHenry certainly shows deep internalized homophobia: when he is fifteen he has intercourse with himself during time travel and it's implied that it's not the first time (remember how he tells himself that he need to "stop doing this"). And the narrator - Henry - quickly points out that "he is not gay or anything". This need to hold a big NO HOMO sign really rubbed me off the wrong way. Let's not forget that when Henry meets Gomez he is brutally punching a guy that called him a fag because of the clothes he had stolen.

And yes, I agree that his relationship with Clare is creepy as hell: she is just a child - a Catholic child - that meets a man in the meadow that after a few days tells her that she's going to marry him. As other reviewers brilliantly pointed out, Clare's religious upbringing makes her more likely to accept this idea of predestination and this idea tragically dooms her life. Which could have been an interesting discussion to make, if only the writer had once challenged this Star-Crossed Lover trope.
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Why is it named as the 'The Time Traveler's Wife'? Why not 'The Time Traveler'?

N.Zsebi

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Clare and Henry (from Henry's perspective) when he is 28 (library). Are we to assume, even through Henry has been time traveling since he was age 5, that he hasn't traveled into a future where he and Clare are together, up to this point? It seems odd that Henry only 'meets' her at this age and in 28 years he hasn't traveled to a future point where he would realize he has met and been married to her.

Kirsten Lorenzen It's mentioned that Henry very rarely travels to the future, he is usually drawn to places that he is familiar with and has some type of connection wi…moreIt's mentioned that Henry very rarely travels to the future, he is usually drawn to places that he is familiar with and has some type of connection with. For example, Henry travels to the clearing in the meadow tons of times AFTER he has met Clare, but has never traveled to the clearing before he met Clare. He is drawn to the meadow only after he has developed a connection with it. This is likely the reason for never seeing Clare before he met her in any of his very rare future travels, because he has not yet developed a connection with her that might draw him to her at that point in the future.(less)

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