an easy enjoyable read. I wonder how they will convert it in to a movie. Many small parts make up the whole. ( )

Interesting premise about time and love but didn't like how the story unfolded. The constant jumping back and forth made the story too much work to read without any real payoff at the end. ( )

From my blog: http://weelittleactress.blogspot.com

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Recommended Tea: Tazo's Passion

Recently, my husband and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary. We went to the site of our wedding, visited all of the important places. It was strange - strange because those places had changed.

"That Sonic wasn't there before, was it?" "When did they start doing construction here?" "It's not as humid as it was last year."

It was as if we believed the happiness that we felt on that day had the power to keep anything from changing.

It is this belief that leads millions upon millions of people to get married. The belief that what you feel is so strong that it will keep anything from changing. Ever.

Unfortunately, time doesn't freeze. Time keeps going. As it ticks away, things change. You gain weight, you lose weight. The house is clean, the house is a wreck. The fridge is full, the fridge is empty. You're getting along perfectly, and then you have a disagreement.

You're young, in love, and together... but then, one day, one of you is gone.

This is a fear that has haunted me since the day that I knew my husband would someday be my husband. The fear of never finding "the one" is immediately replaced with the fear of what will happen when "the one" is gone. Or you are gone. I cannot imagine anything more terrifying.

The reality of death hit me at a very young age, when someone in my family passed away. After experiencing the reality of that horror, death has turned into my noisy neighbor, the paparazzi hiding behind the bushes and peeking into my windows, wrecking moments that are supposed to be personal and private. I know that he is there. He knows that I know that he is there.

On the one hand, the knowledge of this keeps me thankful. I became aware, earlier than most of my friends, that we would not have each other forever. This gave me an appreciation for the people around me.

On the other hand, this has placed a shadow over much of my life. I could be watching the sunset with my husband, only to burst into tears at the thought that he, or I, could die tomorrow. Every time my mother travels, she calls me and tells me where her will is, where she keeps her valuable jewelry, and how much she loves me. Every doctor visit, every late night phone call, every time my husband doesn't come home when I expect him to.

The Time Traveler's Wife has a similar theme. When you love someone, time gets a bit warped. In my heart, the present day and my wedding day, the present day and the day I will lose my husband, all seem to blur together.

On my goodreads.com account, I gave this book three stars. I enjoyed it, I felt like I knew the characters (sometimes maybe even a bit more than I would like), but my response to it is (without going into specific details and giving too much away) ...meh.

The themes, however, and the concept... those, I give ten stars. The themes alone - regardless of the story - make this book worth reading.

Niffenegger's argument seems to be that time travel is a metaphor for differences in a relationship. When two people decide to live a life together, how can there ever be harmony when one of them has a mind that works like an actor and the other has a mind that works like a professor? Can they actually be at the exact same place at the exact same time, or is their whole relationship an attempt to reach across their differences, or, in Clare and Henry's case, time?

There's also the big scary thing called expectation, or what we in the south sometimes call a "case of the sposed ta's." I'm supposed to get married. I'm supposed to have a baby. I'm supposed to be happy. I'm supposed to have this job or that job. Clare and Henry are husband and wife. This is the future, this is what is supposed to happen. This is what we, and they, are told from page one. But, in my own humble opinion, they don't seem too compatible. You start to wonder "Hmm... would these two be together if they didn't think they were supposed to be?" And there's a good chance that they wouldn't be. Because Clare and Henry know that they are "supposed to" be together, they get married. And in life, the pressure of the sposed ta's rarely keeps things from happening... well... the way they're sposed ta.

Time travel could also be a symbol for that mysterious I-don't-know-what that keeps people together. One moment that I keep traveling back to is the night I had one of my first panic attacks. My husband and I had just started dating, and the panic set in while we were spending time alone together. I remember he had an important test early the next morning, but he drove me to my bed, tucked me in, and sat up all night watching me to make sure that I was alright. This was when I knew that I wanted him there by my side for always and always.

How many times have I visited this moment? Thousands. Maybe millions. It is visiting this moment that makes the crappy part-time job, the messy apartment, and all of those little-things-that-seem-big-at-the-time moments vanish into the background while my husband stays beautifully focused in the foreground.

Are all of these what Niffenegger was hoping to communicate in the writing of this book? I have no idea. And that is why it deserves ten stars. The theme is there, and it is brilliant. What it means... that's for you to figure out.

And in the meantime, we keep holding on to each other, keep watching those sunsets, keep traveling back to the past and keep anticipating, looking forward to, and dreading all that is to come.

The clock keeps ticking, and we hold on like hell. ( )

I am not a fan of this book. I thought it was dumb that he would end up naked whenever he time traveled? Erm, ok! And the fact that there was really no reason for his ability to time travel. I hope the movie is better than the book! ( )

Several friends have been trying to get me to read The Time Traveler's Wife for awhile now, and for this reason or that, I kept putting it off. They kept telling me that in addition to it being a fantastic story, I'd love it as it takes place in Chicago and that I'd recognize so many of the places talked about in the story (and for those that don't know me that well, I have a love affair with the city of Chicago and will be moving there, someday!). Well, they were all right on all counts, and I'm just sorry that it took me so long to getting around to reading this wonderful book.

The Time Traveler's Wife is the story of Henry and Clare. Henry is a time traveler; he has a genetic disease that causes him, at random intervals, to fall out of his present and arrive in different locations and times, and never of his choice. Henry seems drawn to Clare continually during his time jumps, from the time that she is a child, continuing through until he meets her in his own present. This is one of the amazing aspects of the book to me, how Niffenegger was able to tell this story: Clare's story moves forward in a clear chronological pace, yet Henry falls in and out of her life at various ages, so that while one meeting with Clare will find Henry in his 40s, the next may find him in his 30s, and he must become continuously aware of his place with Clare, as what is happening in her present may still constitute his future or past self.

Niffenegger tells their story honestly. It isn't always good between Henry and Clare, and we are carried along on the ups and downs of their relationship. It can be a roller coaster of a ride sometimes, but ultimately, isn't that what all relationships are about? The ups and downs, good times and bad? However, when the times are good, Niffenegger buoys us along with their happiness, and you just know it's going to be OK.

I started out listening to an audiobook version of the story, but by the time that I was getting to the end, I couldn't wait until the drive into work the next day to continue the story so pulled out my copy of the book and found where I left off and continued reading. The ending, even though you have a vague foreshadowing of what's to come, is still amazingly powerful.

Some parts of the book seemed a little too long for my liking: scenes where entire games of pool are described, for instance, seemed a little more detail than was completely necessary to keep the story moving. These handful of scenes aside, the book moves along at a comfortable speed. You might think that the jumping back and forth between times might be a little confusing, and it does seem daunting at first, but once you get into the groove of the story, everything moves along nicely and the time jumps aren't even noticeable.

Another word on the audiobook production: it is narrated by William Hope and Laurel Lefkow and since the book is written from both Henry and Clare's points of view, this makes for a nice listening experience, as both characters literally have a voice of their own.

When all is said and done, The Time Traveler's Wife is an amazing book and comes highly recommended. ( )

This is a cracking book which could have been improved by a little judicious pruning. At three hundred pages, this would have been spot on, at five hundred and forty, it stretched a bit in the middle.
The concept; a man with a genetic problem that causes him to bounce back and forth in time, is original and ,fitting it into the novel, must have taken considerable mental exercise.
I would, however, question the blurb's proposition that this is a love story. Henry meets Clare as a six year old - he is thirty-six - and, through a series of meetings at different stages of her youth, persuades her that she loves him. Take away the time travelling concept, and this would more accurately take the appellation 'grooming'. Henry seems to control the entire relationship and, we learn of the fate of his girlfriend at the time at which he met Claire (Ingrid). She is ceremonially dumped and meets an unfortunate end. Henry maintains control to the very end: as he is dying, he tells Claire to live the rest of her life and not to waste it in mourning. He then tells her that he will visit her once more in her future. Naturally, she waits and, in her eighties in an old people's home, she is rewarded with a brief visit. Claire is pathetically grateful. ( )

What can I say that hasn't been said? Probably nothing, but here goes. A beautiful amazing book. I had a hard time not getting too caught up in the mechanics of time travel, as long as I could suspend my disbelief to go along with the story, I was fine. Amazing though, I highly recommend to anyone to read. ( )

First let me say that I have a tremendous fondness for Chicago novels. I'd go even farther and say that I'm a sucker if an author writes a book and I can recognize the locations all the way through. And when you mention Bookman's Alley AND the Newberry Library in the same book, how can I not like it? Sure, it's an odd mix of disturbing, sappy and unbelievable even for the fantastical, but it's also a really enjoyable read and quite a good love story. Because it's written in little vignettes, it almost feels like a collection of short stories, but I think the disconcerting moving around perfectly mirrors the disconcerting nature of a time traveler's life. ( )

very unique and imaginative. I loved it. ( )

I tried to listen to this talking book and turned it off after 20 minutes. One of only two talking books I have ever turned off. Perhaps I will revisit this book after reading all the positive review. This time I will try reading the book rather that listening to it. ( )

I finished The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger the other day, and I’m surprised at how much it’s stayed in my head since then. It’s not the kind of book that I’d usually pick up, but the girlfriend rated it and said it’s one of her favourite ever books, so I figured I’d give it a go.

And from the opening chapter it just gripped me. There’s not so much a plot, more of a tale of love between two people. Admittedly, the eponymous time travelling does give the book something different, and its execution is simply fantastic, but it’s still a love story at heart.

The switch in narration between the two lovers works well, especially with the chronology so thrown out by all of the time travelling taking place. Within half a paragraph you know exactly where you are, and what each character does and doesn’t know.

I really don’t know how to describe it further. It’s poignant in places, bittersweet in others; the sex scenes are well written, but equally well put across are other intimate moments that don’t necessarily involve getting down to it.

I fully agree with the girlfriend: this is a great book, and I can highly recommend it. ( )

I adored this book, even while surfacing occasionally to go – wait a minute, he's a creep!

I had heard about this book, but had never really considered reading it until I came upon two friends discussing it: one ranks it as her favorite book while the other was returning the book after trying, and failing, to get through it after three attempts over the course of a year. I ended up borrowing it, and I am so glad that I did. I thought it was a fascinating love story. Henry and Clare meet when he is 28, but she has known and loved him since she was 6 and he was 36. Because Henry is cursed with being a time traveler, his future is her past. When she is a child he is burdened with the responsibility of knowing too much about her and their relationship; when they meet in the present she now carries that burden. How do you plan a future with a man who keeps disappearing? How do you live when your life consists of being dragged against your will through time to be left naked and vulnerable and alone? How can your love stay connected when time is both enemy and friend? I thought this was an inventive, poignant story. I certainly had some quibbles with the story (I have never heard a woman use the c--- word; it was jarring when Clare used it in such a matter of fact manner) and wasn't particularly interested in Clare's art or the world of punk rock, but their love story more than made up for those areas that dragged for me. I would definitely recommend it. ( )

this story was so unusual i really enjoyed it ( )

Brilliant. Love story. Clare and Henry meet when Clare is 6 and Henty is 36 ... and then unravels in curved time. ( )

As predicted by friends who have read the book, it was difficult to follow at first, but then I got into the format. Of course you do begin to question some of the encounters and I still want to know whether the lottery ticket got cashed in. I enjoyed reading the book and would recommend it. ( )

henry has a genetic disorder. he keeps being transportet into other times, he is a time traveler.
he meets his wife, travelling to the past, when she is just a little girl. he keeps visiting her until she's eighteen. after that the visits stop. she has to wait for a few years until she meets his contemporary self, by faith/accident. she allready loves him. he hasn't met her yet.

it's a sad romantic tale with some interesting implications on fait, choise, causality and time consistency.
but it is definitely too long. it looses all its drive and power when they start trying to have a baby. i especially did not like the end. i didn't think it matched the characters and especially, the kind of causality time travell invoked in the book. ( )

Just finished "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger (a book, not a movie). I don't know if I will go & see the movie as I would regret spoiling a beautiful experience. The book is a wonderful celebration of love, life & loss- recommended.

This book is depressing. Imaginitive, yes. But everytime I think about this book, I honestly wish I hadn't read it. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great mix of sci-fi fantasy type time travel, and sensitive love story. The details and fun of the time travel were believable and interesting, while being well tied together by the romance. The characters had real depth, even though they sometimes seemed a bit caricature-ish... punk loving librarian? But you definitely come to care about them! Well written and fun! ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was captivating, absorbing and refreshingly different. A romance with a very significant twist. The plot was very cleverly thought through and kept the reader intrigued from start to finish. I loved the way the story criss crossed through time. ( )

Oh. My. God.

That was my first thought when I finally closed this book. This is one of the best works of recent adult fiction I have read. And while I may have slight objections or questions to parts, it is, as a whole, one of the best books of the decade (I say that having not read even close to most of the books written this decade - forgive me).

Audrey Niffenegger tells the love story between a man and a woman, Henry and Clare. This would be nothing new or exciting if it didn't have one key element: Henry is a time traveler. He will disappear at random and end up in a completely different place in a completely different time. This is how he meets Clare, when she is six years old and he is 36. Throughout Clare's childhood Henry is somewhat of a mythical creature. Always appearing, but never giving her details as to when he comes from or their future together. When she meets him in the present, he is only eight years older than her, and they begin their all-consuming love affair, accompanied by moments of anguish when they are separated by Henry's time traveling (which Niffenegger explains as a genetic disorder). Throughout, Henry is searching for a way to stop time traveling, to be kept firmly in the present with the ones he loves. But is that possible?

Niffenegger created a believable world with very human characters. I felt for Clare when she had no idea where Henry had gone or when he would be back. I felt for Henry when he was transported to unknown times and places, often finding himself in danger. And I felt for them both when they weren't sure if they would be able to have a baby due to Henry's genes. There is depth to the characters and, because of that, the originality of the story, and the flow of the writing, I am counting this among one of my favorite books.

5 out of 5 stars. This is a story I could read again and again, and it has made me appreciate what I have. Contemporary fiction rarely brings out such true, raw emotion, and I applaud Audrey Niffenegger and look forward to reading her second novel, Her Fearful Symmetry. ( )

I'm ashamed that I still find this book so good and totally devastating. Creepy nod to Nabokov though ... -- Ms. Lopez-Gerlach

* NO SPOILERS WERE USED IN THE WRITING OF THIS REVIEW *

For me, the intellectual difference between watching a film and reading a book is that books can offer deeper insight into a story through language's rhythms and analogies; books often have the ability to be more mentally stimulating than films.

I specifically read books that will challenge my mind, and avoid one-dimensional writing that seems to narrate visual stories without offering linguistic depth.

This is where "The Time Traveler's Wife" disappointed - it reads like watching a movie.

Yes, the ending made me cry, but simply eliciting tears does not make a book great in my opinion - a story can be sappy and corny, and still make me cry. Unfortunately, there were no "a-ha!" moments here, not a single insight that stuck with me. This is junk food for the bookworm's soul, as far as I'm concerned. And while I'm at it, let me add a huge CHICK-LIT Alert!

One of the rare cases in which the movie is sure to be better than the book.
Read as a screenplay, however, it is brilliant! ( )

I finished this book today and have not been able to stop thinking about it. The ending was so touching and emotional. I cannot remember the last time a book moved me to tears but this did, I was sobbing.
It took a little time to get into the story and the time travel appeared a little too unbelievable but the story soon wrapped itself around me. This is the best love story I have read for years and makes you appreciate the people yoou love in life. Hold them close and show your love everyday.