Framed's 2007 Book Reviews

THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE
by Audrey Niffenegger

When I found this picture, it accompanied a review from Play.com, an English online book shop similar to amazon.com. Looks like an interesting site. You can visit it here: http://play.com/HOME/HOME/NAVMAIN/5-/Home.html
I think this review summed the book up very well.
This extraordinary, magical novel is the story of Clare and Henry who have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-two and Henry thirty. Impossible but true, because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder: periodically his genetic clock resets and he finds himself pulled suddenly into his past or future. His disappearances are spontaneous and his experiences are alternately harrowing and amusing. The Time Traveler's Wife depicts the effects of time travel on Henry and Clare's passionate love for each other with grace and humour. Their struggle to lead normal lives in the face of a force they can neither prevent nor control is intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.
I know I've read reviews of this book on other blogs and some of really liked it and others not so much. I loved it! I thought it was very nice of Niffenegger to include dates and the ages of Clare and Henry at the beginning of each chapter so I could figure out who and when and what is happening. It is a little mind-boggling if you try to follow the ramifications of Henry's visit through time. I was captured right from the opening chapter in this fantastic love-story. It is romantic, creative, riveting, and appealed to so many of my emotions. I consider it a compliment to the book that I cried at the end, because I had become so involved with the characters, even though the author warns far in advance of the outcome.
Rating: 5
Posted by Framed at 5:10 PM

11 comments:
SuziQoregon said...
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found myself flipping back to check dates a lot, but just loved it.
9:19 PM
Lisa said...
I loved this book, too. I thought it was amazingly clever for a first book. At the time I read it, though, I was convinced the author had made one mistake. I can't remember what it was now, unfortunately, so I guess it didn't bother me enough to mar my memory of the book!
8:23 AM
Les said...
Me, too! Me, too! I know a lot of readers didn't care for this book one iota, but I sure did. Definitely up for a re-read this year.
11:15 AM
3M said...
I loved this book. I just wish it would not have been so explicit in some areas. The story was great, and I cried at the end, too!
8:23 PM
Framed said...
Suzieq, I flipped around checking dates also. My mind sometimes just wouldn't grasp that Henry was here and then there, but I was completely captivated.Lisa, I think I wondered about a mistake also, but lost track of it. My daughter is reading it now. I'll ask her to see if she catches something.Les, I agree, thiis is one I will want to read again. But sho has time??3M. I was jarred by some of those scenes as well. And I found it odd that with her beautiful prose, she threw in some really crass words, not just profane but cheaply vulgar. That was my biggest complaint.
8:51 PM
Literary Feline said...
*Hanging head down in shame*: I still haven't read my copy. A friend was nice enough to give me her copy in a trade a couple of years ago and I've yet to read it. I'll have to pull my copy off the shelf and read it sometime in the next few months!
9:55 PM
Joy said...
Well...I'm one of those that didn't like it. There's always one in the bunch, huh? :)
6:20 PM
Framed said...
Feline, I don't think you will be disappointed. Joy, You're not alone. Was there something particular you didn't like or just the whole story?
6:35 PM
booklogged said...
I didn't care for it either, Joy. So there's 2 of us. I do recall being captivated with the concept of the book, though. Hearing that it was this author's first book, I am awed by the complexity of the plot. But, all-in-all, I still didn't like it.
8:40 PM
Cassie said...
I am loving the book as I am reading it right now. I was talking about it last night with some people in book club who were having a hard time getting all the time changes but I love it. I kind of know what is going to happen at the end now but we'll see my reaction.
11:53 AM
Bellezza said...
I LOVED IT!!! I picked it up when it was first released and just plain didn't get it. Then, when it came out in paperback I tried again and was hooked. I recommended it to both my book clubs. The "younger" one also loved it, the one with women my mother's age didn't even read enough to be able to lucidly comment in our discussion. They even felt it had some pedophile aspect, if you can imagine, because he comes to Claire naked when she was a child. Go figure. Anyway, I was a bit bewildered by the fragmentation of time, and it is definitely worth a second read to get a better grasp, but I was completely taken with this book. It's so unique, and such a love story. I'm glad to hear you liked it too, framed. And a few others!
8:18 PM