Audrey Niffenegger’s innovative debut, The Time Traveler’s Wife, is the story of Clare, a beautiful art student, and Henry, an adventuresome librarian, who have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-three and Henry thirty-one. Impossible but true, because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder: … Disorder: periodically his genetic clock resets and he finds himself misplaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity in his life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous, his experiences unpredictable, alternately harrowing and amusing.
The Time Traveler’s Wife depicts the effects of time travel on Henry and Clare’s marriage and their passionate love for each other as the story unfolds from both points of view. Clare and Henry attempt to live normal lives, pursuing familiar goals–steady jobs, good friends, children of their own. All of this is threatened by something they can neither prevent nor control, making their story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.
more
I could not put it down. Fantastic story.
I have read some other time travel books. I would say this was ok. Different. I was compelled to finish it did not love it. I did not keep it. That is a clue for me. Books that I love I keep and read again at some point.
Good read but awful ending.
Much better than the movie.
Could not put this one down
The premise of this book was interesting. What kind of relationship could a girl have with a man who kept, literally, popping in and out of her life at unpredictably different times for each of them. The trouble was that the middle of it felt like different chapters were written by different people, as though farmed out to a creative writing class. Finally, the tragic elements were just too fantastic to accept.
If you can keep up… it’s a great story.
top 5 fav books. never leaves you. love it
Interesting delimma!
I liked it ok
24/07 – I thought this book was wonderful, 4.5 stars really. I loved the time travelling aspect – going back and meeting himself or having an older version call him for help in the middle of the night – most time travelling literature makes this impossible due to the paradox of meeting yourself being likely to cause the universe to disintegrate (or so Doc says), so it was nice to have a new take on the subject. It made me sad the amount of times he got beaten up but I realised that the story would be completely different (maybe not even a story at all) if he arrived clothed. No more beatings, he wouldn’t need his future or past self, or anyone else nearly as much because he would still be able to steal any food he needed, but he would be doing it clothed and so wouldn’t be nearly as conspicuous. There are two reasons why the book doesn’t quite get five stars from me – first I didn’t like the swearing or some of the words Niffenegger used to describe the sex scenes (after reading some Amazon reviews I have realised I’m not the only one who thinks this). Second, I wish Niffenegger could have come up with a miracle to save Henry, I think that would have been not only a happier ending but a better ending as well. I loved the idea that Alba (not a fan of the name, I always think of Albatrosses when I read it) would become not only a musical prodigy, but a time travelling prodigy too – being able to go when she wants to and finding it “interesting, if not a bit inconvenient” instead of painful and ultimately deadly. I can’t wait to read the three subsequent novels she has written.
Just could not get into this book and believe me, I tried.
One of my all time favorites.
Wonderful story.
Excellent read.
This is not what I usually read, but I found it hard to put down. LOVE is all that matters.
I read this book in 2008 while recovering from a broken femur. One of the best time travel stories I’ve ever read.
The technique of time moving back and forward in time is not especially easy to follow.
I prefer stories told chronologically.
I have recommended this book to many. Some loved it; others hated it. To me, it is a sad, whimsical romance across time.
Excellent unusual book. Loved it.