Jayson’s Reviews > The Time Traveler's Wife > Status Update
Jayson
is 20% done
Notes:
(1) Apparently, Ouija boards actually work in this universe! To her own surprise, Clare's childhood friends divine that Henry's her "husband."
- This suggests some omniscient being or spirit is guiding the rollers, an agent of fate unconcerned with disclosing the future.
- It also suggests time travel here isn't strictly science fiction, but more than likely supernatural/magic as well.
(Continued in comments)
— Dec 21, 2024 10:30PM
(1) Apparently, Ouija boards actually work in this universe! To her own surprise, Clare's childhood friends divine that Henry's her "husband."
- This suggests some omniscient being or spirit is guiding the rollers, an agent of fate unconcerned with disclosing the future.
- It also suggests time travel here isn't strictly science fiction, but more than likely supernatural/magic as well.
(Continued in comments)
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Jayson’s Previous Updates
Jayson
is 95% done
Notes:
(1) At this point I've finished the novel. There's a sample chapter from a yet-to-be-released sequel but I won't count that toward my final assessment.
- I'll read it later though. Usually I won't bother and just wait for the book to come out, but it's been more than a decade now and experience has taught me to have an "I'll believe it when I see it" approach with long-awaited sequels.
(Continued in comments)
— Jan 05, 2025 03:10AM
(1) At this point I've finished the novel. There's a sample chapter from a yet-to-be-released sequel but I won't count that toward my final assessment.
- I'll read it later though. Usually I won't bother and just wait for the book to come out, but it's been more than a decade now and experience has taught me to have an "I'll believe it when I see it" approach with long-awaited sequels.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is 86% done
Notes:
(1) "She is sitting on the rock, coolly immaculate in a white silk dress, white stockings and shoes, and short white gloves."
- Clare dresses head-to-toe in white to see Henry on her eighteenth birthday. How very virgin-symbolic. Vestal, even.
- Henry jokes that it's not their wedding day. Though, I think part of her believes as much. I mean, she makes him wear a tuxedo and everything.
(Continued in comments)
— Jan 04, 2025 08:30AM
(1) "She is sitting on the rock, coolly immaculate in a white silk dress, white stockings and shoes, and short white gloves."
- Clare dresses head-to-toe in white to see Henry on her eighteenth birthday. How very virgin-symbolic. Vestal, even.
- Henry jokes that it's not their wedding day. Though, I think part of her believes as much. I mean, she makes him wear a tuxedo and everything.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is 74% done
Notes:
(1) "I kiss her, very roughly. She is resistant. I release her, and she turns her back on me.
'That wasn't very nice,' she says in a small voice.
What is wrong with me? Clare, at fifteen, is not the same person...'"
- Yeah, what's wrong with you? that's sexually assaulting a minor!
- As emotional and touching as this book can be, toxic scenes like this throw cold water over everything.
(Continued in comments)
— Jan 03, 2025 09:30AM
(1) "I kiss her, very roughly. She is resistant. I release her, and she turns her back on me.
'That wasn't very nice,' she says in a small voice.
What is wrong with me? Clare, at fifteen, is not the same person...'"
- Yeah, what's wrong with you? that's sexually assaulting a minor!
- As emotional and touching as this book can be, toxic scenes like this throw cold water over everything.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is 62% done
Notes:
(1) "I got stuck in 1973 and I couldn't get out and I was in Muncie, Indiana, for days living in a barn and I got decked by the guy who owned the barn because he thought I was trying to mess with his sheep."
- Presumably, "mess with" means having sex with the sheep. Can't fault the barn owner. I mean, Henry time travels buck naked, I think most people would come to the same conclusion.
(Continued in comments)
— Dec 31, 2024 01:00AM
(1) "I got stuck in 1973 and I couldn't get out and I was in Muncie, Indiana, for days living in a barn and I got decked by the guy who owned the barn because he thought I was trying to mess with his sheep."
- Presumably, "mess with" means having sex with the sheep. Can't fault the barn owner. I mean, Henry time travels buck naked, I think most people would come to the same conclusion.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is 50% done
Notes:
(1) Henry introduces Clare to his dad and Mrs. Kim. It seems clear to me that dinner with Henry's people albeit more awkward and directly confrontational, feels more normal.
- No long, drawn-out, jokey pretense about cannibalism or heroin, like with Clare's people. Everything's out in the open. They can even joke about sex.
- All told, it's a much more successful and desirable outcome.
(Continued in comments)
— Dec 27, 2024 06:30AM
(1) Henry introduces Clare to his dad and Mrs. Kim. It seems clear to me that dinner with Henry's people albeit more awkward and directly confrontational, feels more normal.
- No long, drawn-out, jokey pretense about cannibalism or heroin, like with Clare's people. Everything's out in the open. They can even joke about sex.
- All told, it's a much more successful and desirable outcome.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is 41% done
Notes:
(1) Clare: "You're corrupting a minor."
Henry: "Oh, he would get there anyway, without me. Wouldn’t you?"
Bobby: "I've been trying, but it ain't easy, here."
- I know they're joking about exposing a kid to punk music, but Clare may as well be referring to herself.
(2) "'You do have a record player, right?' 'My parents have one,' Bobby says. Henry winces."
- I react the same to CD talk.
(Continued in comments)
— Dec 26, 2024 02:55AM
(1) Clare: "You're corrupting a minor."
Henry: "Oh, he would get there anyway, without me. Wouldn’t you?"
Bobby: "I've been trying, but it ain't easy, here."
- I know they're joking about exposing a kid to punk music, but Clare may as well be referring to herself.
(2) "'You do have a record player, right?' 'My parents have one,' Bobby says. Henry winces."
- I react the same to CD talk.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is 30% done
Notes:
(1) "It occurs to me that Clare might prefer to be with this later edition of me, since after all they do know each other better."
- While, she clearly has no problem with older men, the smaller the age difference the better. I mean, the bare minimum's already eight years.
- Turns out, Henry's right. Side-by-side, Clare does prefer older Henry. Young Henry's like domesticating a stray.
(Continued in comments)
— Dec 23, 2024 08:05AM
(1) "It occurs to me that Clare might prefer to be with this later edition of me, since after all they do know each other better."
- While, she clearly has no problem with older men, the smaller the age difference the better. I mean, the bare minimum's already eight years.
- Turns out, Henry's right. Side-by-side, Clare does prefer older Henry. Young Henry's like domesticating a stray.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is 10% done
Notes:
(1) There's an awful lot of nudity talk in the prologue, as if to constantly underscore, and drill into your head, at the outset what time travel here entails.
- In this case, it's waking up naked and vulnerable.
- On the plus side, probably not "Naked and Afraid" (like that TV show), since I suppose you'd get used to the feeling pretty quick. I mean, there'd be no fear of the unknown.
(Continued in comments)
— Dec 16, 2024 08:30AM
(1) There's an awful lot of nudity talk in the prologue, as if to constantly underscore, and drill into your head, at the outset what time travel here entails.
- In this case, it's waking up naked and vulnerable.
- On the plus side, probably not "Naked and Afraid" (like that TV show), since I suppose you'd get used to the feeling pretty quick. I mean, there'd be no fear of the unknown.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is starting
Notes:
(1) Contrary to popular belief, I will on occasion read books other people might be interested in and/or have actually heard of.
(2) I'm reading this now because one of my goals for 2024 is to read at least one 500+ page book.
- Lucky enough, after being on hold forever, this eBook just became available at my library.
- I don't expect to have a problem finishing before the return date, but the clock's ticking!
— Dec 07, 2024 04:00AM
(1) Contrary to popular belief, I will on occasion read books other people might be interested in and/or have actually heard of.
(2) I'm reading this now because one of my goals for 2024 is to read at least one 500+ page book.
- Lucky enough, after being on hold forever, this eBook just became available at my library.
- I don't expect to have a problem finishing before the return date, but the clock's ticking!
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Wow I did not pick that fact up about Henry when I read it in high school 🤣 probably for the best
I had the same observations when I read this too. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts when you finish it.
daemyra, the realm's delight wrote: "Wow I did not pick that fact up about Henry when I read it in high school 🤣 probably for the best"About him enjoying his own company a bit too much? Yes, probably for the best your high school self missed that tidbit 😅
Camilla wrote: "I had the same observations when I read this too. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts when you finish it."Thanks, Camilla! Just read your review. Can't say I disagree with any it 🤔
Jennifer wrote: "I met the author."Oh, very cool. I can't say I've met any authors in person or attended any signing events myself.
- Presuming people who read recreationally are more inclined toward fine arts and learning in general.
(3) "I'm in my bedroom with my self. He's here from next March. We are doing what we often do when we have a little privacy, when it's cold out, when both of us are past puberty and haven't quite gotten around to actual girls yet. I think most people would do this, if they had the sort of opportunities I have. I mean, I'm not gay or anything."
- Uh, no, I'm not sure most people would if they had the sort of "opportunities" you have.
- Okay, there's a lot to unpack here. That line at the end about not being gay spells it out crystal clear that Henry's engaged in homosexual acts with himself. What that exactly entails is left entirely to the imagination.
- It does bring up a philosophical question about whether it counts as sexual relations if it only involves you, not a twin nor some ghost or spirit. I mean, what makes a person a separate individual? a separate body? Presumably, they share the same soul or animating spirit.
- Probably how Henry perceives it is that this is literally sexual self-gratification and therefore no different than when he's on his own and unaccompanied by himself.
- Personally, I disagree. The fact that Henry says "He's here from next March" instead of "I'm here from next March" indicates that slightly-younger Henry considers slightly-older Henry a separate person from himself.
- Anyway, this book continues to be surprisingly edgy with sexual morality. The author makes a point to mention that both Henry's are past puberty.
(4) "'He's so... beautiful,' Clare says. There's something about the way she says it that makes me feel strange ... It dawns on me that I am jealous [of Paul McCartney]. Jesus. I can't believe I'm feeling jealous of a multimillionaire rock star geezer old enough to be Clare's dad."
- Says the guy who, at this point in time, is old enough to be Clare's dad.
(5) Henry and Clare play chess, as she probes for more information about the future while he struggles with how much to tell her.
- Chess here is a metaphor or physical expression of their mental duel.
(6) "I scrutinize Clare. Is twelve too young? I'm sure twelve is really too young."
- Yes, Henry! Twelve is definitely too young!
(7) Things start getting really weird and strays into iffy sexual territory once Clare turns 12.
- Up until Clare's 17, Henry is continually struggling with himself about what lines shouldn't be crossed as she goes through puberty and her inevitable sexual awareness.
- I had no idea going into this book that it would be quite so much like Lolita.
(8) "'Kiss,' I demand, and he kisses me."
- By my count, we get three separate kisses between 16 year-old Clare and 30-something Henry.
- I'd hoped this was just on the cheek or forehead, but it mentions how Henry avoids touching the blood on her nose, which implies that third kiss, at least, is full-on the mouth.
- The author does make clear that these kisses are always at Clare's request or insistence, as if to assuage the idea that Henry's in any way predatory.
(9) It's interesting how we're essentially going chronologically through Claire's timeline, whereas Henry's age is irregular and constantly jumping around.
- It underscores his inherent instability.
- Possibly highlighting how this is Clare's story not Henry's. After all, the book is called The Time Traveler's Wife and not The Time Traveler nor The Time Traveler and His Wife.