Audrey Niffenegger: The Time Traveler's Wife

[lies]

Kookamoor seems to have started something with her Books you are afraid to post about. thread, so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and start posting some serious threads myself.

I read The Time Traveller's Wife a couple of days ago, partly because I had seen the title on TBF a few times and partly because my sister kinda made me read it because I wouldn't leave her alone. Quite a few members of TBF seem to have really enjoyed this book, but apparently no one felt like opening a thread on it, so here it goes.

Here are some other members' thoughts on the book:

That book stayed with me for weeks after. I felt I was on the lookout for the characters to appear in my real life. (source)

i am just about to finish The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger. the name of the book got my attention when i was at the book store- i had never heard of the author or the book. it is fantastic. beautifully written, funny, clever and sad. it's about a man who travels through time and meets his wife when she is a child. what a great book- so glad i bought it!! (source)

i loved this book!!!! loved it. it had me from page one and i felt so drawn into clare and henry's lives. there were certain scenes in the book, like when henry is describing the accident with his mom, that i read over and over, they were so moving and amazing to try to wrap your mind around. i would love to see the authors time line she worked around to make this story work. (source)

I'm still loving it, and Will defy be watching out for more by Audrey Niffenegger, but how she will ever beat this I really don't know...... (source)

And the quote I can relate to most myself:

I have mixed feelings about this book... (source)

I really liked the whole time travelling idea, but somewhere halfway I think it was, Niffenegger just lost me and I got pretty bored with Henry and Clare. I kept reading cause I wanted to know how it ended, but I had a bit of a "get on with it" attitude during the second half of the book.

 

[jenn]

what did you think of the ending?

 

[lies]

Well, I thought it was pretty obvious how it was going to end, so I didn't really like how it dragged on and on.

If it's the last scene you're referring to... I don't know. It gave some kind of "closure", but I still could've done without it. It didn't leave much for the reader, did it? (I'm not too fond of epilogues anyway.)

 

[pwilson]

Thanks for taking the step and posting this, lies. I enjoyed a lot of the time travel stuff and felt she had a pretty original concept but I agree that it kind of bogged down in the middle. Also, at times it seemed that she was trying to make the characters a little too gritty and hip. That said, it's still a book I think about a lot so that's gotta count for something, right?

 

[Rigana]

Gosh, you just love structuring your posts and researching, don't you?

The book got my attention by the beautiful cover art of the German edition:


But one shouldn't judge a book by its cover. I heard so many good things about it and the book couldn't hold up to my high expectations. It wasn't bad, but not great either. A good read with an interesting concept - time travel is usually not my cup of tea, but it didn't disturb me in this book.

 

[lies]

Gosh, you just love structuring your posts and researching, don't you?

It was 00:11 and I was bored.

(Plus I'm trying to show people what can be done with our lovely search engine. )

 

[Miss Shelf]

And the quote I can relate to most myself:

I really liked the whole time travelling idea, but somewhere halfway I think it was, Niffenegger just lost me and I got pretty bored with Henry and Clare. I kept reading cause I wanted to know how it ended, but I had a bit of a "get on with it" attitude during the second half of the book.

That's exactly what I thought. I started getting bored about halfway through, and kept reading, hoping it would get better. It didn't, in my opinion.

 

[Clara]

I agree with lies and Miss Shelf - I lost interest in Henry and Clare. It was a shame because I think the concept had a lot to offer.

 

[direstraits]

lies, you really did your research.

Like Clara, I did think the concept had a lot to offer, and while I thought Niffenegger could have done more, but it was still a good tale. I wasn't bored with Henry and Clare, though. I just hoped more could have happened.

ds

 

[Inkheart]

I really loved this book and I emailed the author when Id finished.

She replied and said her next book shall be set around a graveyard in a part of England.

 

[Peder]

I've just finished the book and enjoyed it very much.
And I also thought it slowed down a little after a brilliant beginning. I think it both gained and lost from the time-slicing concept. Some of the vignettes were really touching and beautiful but ended before being able to be elaborated into full-scale character development, while some of the longer scenes were interesting and could be read without connection to any time travel. I really had to work at putting the characters together because of this disjointedness,
However, I have taken the bold step of recommending it to others and I hope they enjoy it as much as I did.
And who can argue with an ending that tugs at the heart strings anyway?

 

[moltomezzo]

I read this title about a year ago, and I really enjoyed it. I've never been much for time travel novels, because I tend to get lost in all the back-and-forthness. But this one didn't get me confused.

I cried at the end, and I rarely cry at books.

I wonder if they'll ever make a movie out of this one?

 

[Peder]

I've been thinking about the book since finishing it and would suggest that "time travel" is a somewhat misleading theme for describing the book. I would say that the single most impressive thing about the book is the imaginative variety of plot situations that the author was able to create using the ability of a character to travel in time. I would say that she in fact expanded the concept of time travel quite a bit. However, I'm not into sci-fi, so maybe her use of time travel is nothing extraordinary for readers who are, but I was constantly amazed at the author's ingenuity. In fact, for me, the book came to have many of the qualities of a good mystery story, in causing me to wonder just how all the pieces were going to fall into place. How do sci-fiers feel about it I wonder? Or others?
Peder

 

[Isabell]

I thought of it more of a love story with a bit of time travel. I loved it, but maybe because it was mostly set in Chicago and a bit in Michigan. I related to it better to it because I could picture exactly where they were, and what the house looked like that Henry ans Clare bought. I think it helped with the imagintive part since I grew up in Chicago

 

[mojo]

I cried at the end too, I thought that was beautifully done, and I agree with Isabell, I think it's the love story that's important in this case not the time-travelling. It did die a little in the middle, but I think the ending more than made up for it. And is it not being made into a film soon? I'm sure I read that somewhere...

 

[Bagpuss]

And is it not being made into a film soon? I'm sure I read that somewhere...

It certainly is. The rights to the book were bought by Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. There is a little bit of information in the link below, such as director, scriptwriter, but no actors as yet (although maybe Brad and Jen will want the roles for themselves - can you see them as Henry and Claire? Not sure I can).

The Time Traveler's Wife

I see that this thread is entitled 'The Time Traveller's Wife', yet the book I read said 'The Time Traveler's Wife'. I'd have thought the thread spelling was correct, but my cover definitely only had one 'l'. I though perhaps it was an American spelling?

Anyway, to the book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was unlike anything I'd ever read before. I read it in about 3 days on holiday, which is quick for me. I liked the fact that Henry would still seem 'alive' to Claire, through their daughter.

I was disappointed to finish it as it was such a good read.

I can't wait to see how Niffenegger will follow it up!

 

[Peder]

I see that this thread is entitled 'The Time Traveller's Wife', yet the book I read said 'The Time Traveler's Wife'. I'd have thought the thread spelling was correct, but my cover definitely only had one 'l'. I though perhaps it was an American spelling?

I can't wait to see how Niffenegger will follow it up!

Janet,
I'm pretty sure of one "l" in the States also.
Spelling has two because the syllable is stressed. (And because the root word has two).
Snipping gets two because the syllable is stressed, even if the root word has only one 'p' (and otherwise it would be sniping)
Taveling gets ony one because the syllable is unstressed.
It took me only about 30 years to learn that much, if I have.
But it sounds like you already knew all that. So forgive me if you did (and please check me!)
Ah, the English (and American) languages!
Peder

 

[jenn]

i almost never recommend this book as sci-fi. i always say that is a love story with a twist. and like peder, i loved the plot situations that we were able to witness because of henry's ability. some of them were so, so sad, so devastating. the one that sticks in my brain is when he is talking about the car accident and how if you had an aerial view of the scene you would see him at different ages all over the place.

 

[lies]

I see that this thread is entitled 'The Time Traveller's Wife', yet the book I read said 'The Time Traveler's Wife'. I'd have thought the thread spelling was correct, but my cover definitely only had one 'l'. I though perhaps it was an American spelling?

No, I think that´s my fault. If a moderator would like to change the title?

 

[MonkeyCatcher]

Taveling gets ony one because the syllable is unstressed.

Or maybe because Americans are lazy