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A review by sandiet
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
3.0
Henry suffers from Chrono-Displacement Disorder which means his genetic clock resets and he is likely to find himself in any place, at any time in his past, future or present. In other words he time travels. Henry has been moving in and out of time since the age of six and he never knows when he is going to travel, where he will end up and in what condition.
Clare has known Henry since she was six and he was thirty-six, but when they meet again, Clare is twenty, Henry is twenty-eight but he’s never met her before. Confused? Yes I know, so was I trust me. It took reading the book twice AND watching the movie adaptation to completely “get” it. One particular line the second time around brought it clearly into focus for me, “I forget that now is before then.” That is part of a line that Clare says to Henry when she realizes that he doesn’t remember something from a previous time traveling incident. That line was what they call an “aha” moment, everything became clear.
Longing and waiting, is to me the essence of this novel. Clare was always waiting for Henry whether it was as a child or as an adult. Waiting for him to show up, waiting for him to return and longing and hoping that one time he could and would stay. Henry in turn was just waiting for the inevitable when he would disappear and reappear never knowing what predicament he’d be in when he did.
Despite this ebbing and flowing into each other’s lives, Clare and Henry’s love was remarkable because it transcended time and space over and over again. The story is told from both of their perspectives and I believe this style really enhances the novel. We watch Henry and Clare try to have normal lives, they get married, have jobs, they even try to have a child. Numerous miscarriages and Henry’s constant disappearances start to strain their relationship and it doesn’t help that all the doctors scoff at Henry’s “illness” believing him to be insane. It isn’t until one doctor actually witnesses Henry vanishing into thin air that he takes him on as a patient. Yet when this same doctor says to him they have the tools to find out “whatever you are” Henry realizes he’s nothing more than an experiment. Despite this realization Henry continues to seek help but unfortunately there is little that can be done; Henry continues to disappear and the absences become longer and more dangerous.
Although the storyline is fantastical and not normally what I read (and this is the good thing about book clubs because they take you away from your preferred genre), I found it to be very good…even though it took me awhile to understand it!
Clare has known Henry since she was six and he was thirty-six, but when they meet again, Clare is twenty, Henry is twenty-eight but he’s never met her before. Confused? Yes I know, so was I trust me. It took reading the book twice AND watching the movie adaptation to completely “get” it. One particular line the second time around brought it clearly into focus for me, “I forget that now is before then.” That is part of a line that Clare says to Henry when she realizes that he doesn’t remember something from a previous time traveling incident. That line was what they call an “aha” moment, everything became clear.
Longing and waiting, is to me the essence of this novel. Clare was always waiting for Henry whether it was as a child or as an adult. Waiting for him to show up, waiting for him to return and longing and hoping that one time he could and would stay. Henry in turn was just waiting for the inevitable when he would disappear and reappear never knowing what predicament he’d be in when he did.
Despite this ebbing and flowing into each other’s lives, Clare and Henry’s love was remarkable because it transcended time and space over and over again. The story is told from both of their perspectives and I believe this style really enhances the novel. We watch Henry and Clare try to have normal lives, they get married, have jobs, they even try to have a child. Numerous miscarriages and Henry’s constant disappearances start to strain their relationship and it doesn’t help that all the doctors scoff at Henry’s “illness” believing him to be insane. It isn’t until one doctor actually witnesses Henry vanishing into thin air that he takes him on as a patient. Yet when this same doctor says to him they have the tools to find out “whatever you are” Henry realizes he’s nothing more than an experiment. Despite this realization Henry continues to seek help but unfortunately there is little that can be done; Henry continues to disappear and the absences become longer and more dangerous.
Although the storyline is fantastical and not normally what I read (and this is the good thing about book clubs because they take you away from your preferred genre), I found it to be very good…even though it took me awhile to understand it!