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Loading... The Time Traveler's Wife (edition 2006)by Audrey Niffenegger
Work detailsThe Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
 LauraAshlee | May 21, 2013 |  My complete love for this book is rather remarkable, given that I think anything considered a "romance" is fit only for being used to balance chairs with wobbly legs. However, it's a perfect blend of sci-fi and romance - so much so that romance fans probably don't even realize they're reading a sci-fi novel, and sci-fi fans aren't gagging from the overdose of love and soulmates. What set this apart from every single other love story I've ever seen or read is that it's completely realistic. The main characters are REAL, and details about them like their love for punk music just add to it. Their relationship feels organic; it wasn't sappy, it wasn't something that just doesn't happen in real life (minus the time traveling, of course). It left me with this massive longing that I still remember all these years after reading it, whereas most romance and chick flicks and the like leave me feeling like I want to puke my innards out and then take a long, scalding hot shower. It's also one of the very few Super Popular Books of the Year That You Can't Escape that actually deserved its spot. (  ) BrookeAshley | May 21, 2013 | I love the snot out of this book on first reading. On second, it was creepy and manipulative. ( )1  ljhliesl | May 21, 2013 | Clever plot, a bit too sentimental chick-lit. (  ) lxydis | May 11, 2013 | I love this book with a passion! Love, art, time travel, fabulous twist - I only wish I'd written it! ( ) Angela.Kingston | May 1, 2013 |
 Um, I don't say this very often but I could NOT finish this book. I originally chose it as my 'April Book of the Month' because I was challenged to read a book that has been sitting on my 'to-read' list for WAY TOO LONG and also one that I had tried to read before but didn't get through. Feeling like I hadn't given this book a fair chance, it seemed like a no-brainer choice. However... it just isn't a book for me. I made it MUCH further than I have in the past (approx. 200 pages) but the fact that I am not 'craving' the read that I normally do, I know that I am done. This book will be entered into the vault, never to be seen again (at least by these eyes). I'm sad to add a book to the 'couldn't finish' list, but... life is too short to read something I am not enjoying!!  The triumph of the book is the triumph of normality, of setting up a decent family life even if you are constantly dissappearing from it, of being loyal to somebody with what Niffenegger finally explains as a genetic dysfunction - chrono-displacement, as she calls it.  "The Time Traveler's Wife" can be an exasperating read, but as a love story it has its appeal: Refreshingly, the novel portrays long-term commitment as something lively and exuberant rather than dutiful and staid, evoking both the comforts it brings us and the tribulations we learn to live with.  Niffenegger, despite her moving, razor-edged prose, doesn't claim to be a romantic. She writes with the unflinching yet detached clarity of a war correspondent standing at the sidelines of an unfolding battle. She possesses a historian's eye for contextual detail. This is no romantic idyll. About halfway through Audrey Niffenegger's debut novel, The Time Traveler's Wife, you realize you're going to be devastated. You love the characters, you're deeply involved in their lives, you can sense tragedy coming and you know it's going to hurt. But there's no way you can stop reading... Niffenegger structures the novel clearly enough that the timelines never get tangled, and her writing is so strong you'd keep going even if you did get confused.
References to this work on external resources.
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Popular coversRatingAverage: (4.16)
 Audible.comSeven editions of this book were published by Audible.com.
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Wikipedia in English (3)
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Clare first met Henry when she was six. He was thirty-six. Sometimes he’s a little older, sometimes a little younger. Henry has Chrono-Displacement Disorder. He’s a time traveler. Clare grows up loving him and they try to have as normal of lives as they can, but it’s a struggle when Henry is always disappearing. Niffenegger has written a true modern classic. Her characters are real and flawed. Even though there is an unrealistic element to the story, many of the trials they go through are nothing that deviates from most married couples. Clare is passionate and steady, a very relatable character. Henry is brilliant and emotional, but manages to pull of a rough exterior. That’s quite a feat for a librarian. The narrators did a wonderful job embodying both characters. Their performance added a great deal to an already wonderful experience. I especially found it helpful when there was German involved. The novel is more an account of their life together than anything else, but there was always a feeling as though it was driving toward something. There are moments that will bring forth tears, which says a lot about the writing and the narrator performances. Niffenegger’s prose turned this into a beautiful experience that I hope to have again one day. If you, like me, saw the movie first and are trying to decide if you should read the book, read it. There’s so much more to the characters in the book and it’s worth the time.
While Henry may have problems with time, I think the book will be around for many years. (