The Time Traveler's Wife
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So was this one of your all time favourites books or what?
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Claire
(last edited Aug 25, 2016 10:55AM)
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rated it 5 stars
Mar 25, 2007 06:18PM

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Definitely on my all-time faves list!






it also bothered me that the characters always seemed to answer questions so truthfully (as when claire meets the famously prickly and reclusive father, asks right off the bat what it was like when his wife died, an event which has clearly destroyed his life, AND HE TELLS HER) -- this is not what dramatic writing is made of, folks. even in real life, people rarely tell the truth about emotions in a straight-forward way. part of what is intriguing about watching characters interact is seeing the way the truth is put into the subtext of conversation and action.

one thing i totally loved was how the book communicates the idea of nostalgia -- the time travel mechanism is the most ingenious way to make the reader feel that sense of longing. it perfectly captures the essence of nostalgia, revisiting your past.
i also fell for how real love is in the story -- it's not simple or easy, it's longing and joyful and difficult and makes you cry, but you don't know why. and love isn't just something you feel for others -- nostalgia is about loving yourself too. i love the part where he watches himself as a kid -- it makes you feel that you would need to protect yourself and teach yourself things if you could go back and visit your younger self.
sure it seems a little strange Henry visiting Claire as a child, but who doesn't love to see home movies of their spouse or hear stories of them as a child? when you're in love with someone, your nostalgia extends beyond yourself, and you want to share in the remembrance of your loved one's past. you'd also want to protect and prepare them for their future.
i think some people are turned off by the format and the premise of the book, but if you can treat it as a magical drama and not as sci-fi or "real life" drama, and not worry about keeping track of what time the characters are in and just go along for the ride, it works beautifully.


books have always been subjective. it looks like the majority like it because the others who didn't didn't post?
though i admit i am one of those who love the book. :)








you can't help but hope it can really happen, every last bit of it.
First, I very much disagree with that-- no matter how powerful and moving their love was, can you really think the story as a whole was anything but horrifyingly sad? I would never ever wish Clare's fate, nor Henry's, on someone. I do think you see, pretty starkly, how Clare has been stunted by her lifetime of waiting when you get to those final pages. Did anyone see that coming? Did anyone else feel that she basically wastes the last 30-40 years of her life in a pathetic hope for what might only be a few hours, or even a few minutes of old happiness?
And while I do think there are some good points above in the issues with the writing, I think a lot of the darkness is intentionally under the surface, intentionally to get under your skin. And the forthrightness of the characters is something of a tone she strikes as well. The whole thing seems as a dream, why not have people talk as they do in dreams, tell you what you want to know, skip around, get to the parts that you care about?
Obviously I loved it despite all the heartache and the simplifications. I don't necessarily think it's a classic for the ages (but it could be-- it's got a lot of the signatures of our times), but I do think it's beautiful.


I will say the back and forth between characters was amazing though. Overall a good book, but the very end left a sour taste in my mouth.


Maybe it was where my mind was when I read it (a bit after my father died), but the scenes I found most moving were the ones where Henry encountered his daughter after he had died (the museum scene, the scene where his daughter jumps back and is playing with her younger self in the backyard).
Or maybe I'm just a sucker for time travel novels.

Claire as a child growing up with the secret meetings to look forward to was the luckiest teen ever.
I thought it was right up there with the time travel fantasy Time and Again by Jack Finney.

I really hope that the movie doesn't butcher it!!!

I loved this book and I, in general, don't go in for romances. I cried my eyes out at the end. It really made me feel so lucky to have my husband and made me feel like all love is so fleeting that it needs to be cherished in ever present moment.






I won't say it was my favorite book but I will say that I did love it. I didn't find Henry creepy at all because the author made a point of recognizing just how creepy it *could* be.
The person I found creepy was Gomez, even as I liked him. Marrying Charise (?) while still carrying the torch for Claire and having sex with her on the kitchen table. Yikes! Claire was grieving so I can overlook her, but not him.
Agree with the earlier poster that said he felt cheated by the ending. I would have liked a little peek at what happened since he died.

I didn't like this book. I thought it was sappy and predictable. I do wonder if my disappointment with the book was influenced by my preconceptions, and I've thought about giving it another try. "Everyone" loved this book, so I went into it with very high expectations.



I hear you on these points, however, unlike the science fiction and fantasy stories that I simply CAN NOT seems to get interestd in... I was hooked with this one. I tried to let my 'suspension of disbelief' work in its fullest and truly enjoyed the mind-raking experience of this reading. I even re-read the beginning after the end?! HA!
Holly



Makes me wonder what happened to the daugther as she began to time travel. The differences in being dropped naked for a man vs. a woman into any random situation. I like the concept of not being able to take anything with you from time to time so as not to impact the past, present of future, but definitely wouldn't want to time travel if I had to do it naked.


little bit of a chip on my shoulder about that one. :)
so thanks...sarah, and a marilyn I think, too, who spelled it right.
I liked this book a lot, but I recommended it with that caveat that it was fairly superficial. Aside from being an older, knowledgeable, somewhat scandalous guy (what teenager wouldn't be in love) what mind-blowing connection do these two people have? The knowledge of a 26 is nectar to any young person, and vice versa for a young girls innocence to an older guy.
It's almost a cheat to avoid having a real beginning to the romance, because at each point they meet, one of them knows so much more than the other.
But, it was like a guilty-pleasure read, like singing along to old Wilson-Phillips tunes. I live in Chicago and recognized so much of the (often hollow and contrived) descriptions, which was fun. I actually loved reading it and got all engrossed...greedy reader syndrome.
Now I've got some friends trying to hook me up with this punk kid named Henry! WTF.
I am only about 100 pages into this book but it really needs to pick up. I see all the great reviews on this one and to me so far it is really slow. Did any one else think this?
Also, I really don't like the time a 30 something old man spends with a child. I know nothing is going on but it just seems a little odd to me.
Also, I really don't like the time a 30 something old man spends with a child. I know nothing is going on but it just seems a little odd to me.
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