Rereading The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

From the prologue: Clare: It's hard being left behind. I wait for Henry, not knowing where he is, wondering if he's okay. It's hard to be the one who stays. I keep myself busy. Time goes faster that way.

Here is what I said in my original review of The Time Traveler's Wife: "This is a really great book, recommended to me by Mr. Campbell (thank you so much!!!) about two people: Henry DeTamble, a man who involuntarily travels through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist and his wife whose life is "normal." "Henry and Clare's passionate affair endures across a sea of time and captures them in an impossibly romantic trap that tests the strength of fate and basks in the bonds of love." Very dramatic, but I really did love this book. The premise was really great and interesting; time travel is so fascinating. And the way that Henry would go back and meet Clare as a young girl to set up their relationship one...I just had to keep reading. The way the book was narrated was interesting too, with Clare and Henry taking turns in a particular scene and time setting.

One thing about time travel though: it requires some concentration. It's really hard to wrap your head around, and I was a bit confused at the beginning. However, that has nothing to do with the quality of the book: that's just the way time travel is." 

Such shortness. Anyway, I loved the book just as much the second time around; it's really funny at times and really bittersweet. The book skips around to various times as Henry travels there, but it's not too confusing if you just think about it for a second. I love the premise of this book; time travel is so fascinating, and so hard to wrap your head around. It goes against every rule that we've ever learned, yet maybe it is possible. 

The novel itself is also amazing, really thought-provoking, and also highly entertaining. It's really at heart a simple love story, but there's just the one twist: time travel. The ending of the book is really sad, really really sad. But it also is really, really, good. That's what I mean about the book being bittersweet. 

I love both of the main characters: Henry and Clare. They're very different from me, but they're also really funny and interesting to read about. Plus, Audrey Niffenegger has an amazing writing style, engaging and compelling. It hooks the reader in, and you just have to keep reading. 

I'm planning to read Her Fearful Symmetry, another novel by this author, very, very soon. It sounds interesting, and I hope I'll enjoy it. I would highly recommend The Time Traveler's Wife.

Read The Time Traveler's Wife:

• if you like Audrey Niffenegger
• if you like books about time travel
• if you like realistic fiction with a sci-fi touch

536 pages. 

 

Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf For Rereading (jf I own it)!