The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger (some spoilers)

[lathany]

I had been bought a signed, hardback copy of this by bateleur's parents for Christmas and these last few days (between doomed Vampire: Bloodlines loading and patching attempts) I have been reading it.

It's a clever idea which the author seems to have gone to a lot of effort (and detail) to portray convincingly. I was a little dubious about some of the reasoning (I regarded the DNA stuff as artistic license, but found it hard to consider the survival of the time-travelling embryos in the same way) but all the non-science side seemed solid. I liked Clare and I liked Henry, but I also thought that the minor characters were pretty believable as well. I guess my favourite of those was Alicia, or possibly Ben.

Did Henry's time travelling make Clare his soul mate - because he had been there - or would they have always been a couple? I found the book raised a great many questions like that. Another good example is how their joint "secret" (for want of a better word) seemed to set them apart from everyone else; was that why they were both in demand? Also I would have liked them to explore the issue of trying to break the past a bit more; but perhaps the point is that they did not.

I spent some time wondering how she had written the book. I write from start to finish and I understand that is the most common approach, but The Time Traveller's Wife is a book that lends itself to being written in other ways (eg. all the events by either Clare's age or Henry's). It's mostly written as Henry grows older, but not entirely and I think her ordering really works well.

I was rather sad about the lack of plot. The book is really all about Henry's condition and how it affects him and the people around him. It is interesting enough to be a story in its own right but... I kept wishing that there was something else going on in the background. Things like Ingrid and Gomez are not really big enough to count. I also found the last but one event that occurred to Henry exceptionally unpleasant and it seemed rather set-up in advance.

However, all in all, an excellent book which I'd recommend.

One last note: I've got a feeling that someone on my Flist (triskellian?) has also read this book and reviewed it on LJ. If this is the case (I've looked but can't find it), can someone point me to the review? I'd be interested in comparing. Thanks.

Comments

[triskellian]

I have indeed read it, but I didn't review it, so much as post song lyrics that my brain decided to associate with it.

I loved it. Possibly my favourite book of 2005. I pretty much agree with all of your comments, except that the lack of plot didn't bother me - I felt the characterisation and background were plenty to be going on with, and plot would have been a distraction.

[lathany.livejournal.com]

That was probably it. :-)

[cuthbertcross.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed this (read it a few weeks ago during feeds). Like triskellian, I was quite happy with the amount (or lack) or specific plot. You're right, the second last Henry thing was a bit over the top, but in a narrative with a lack of driving plot there has to be a semi-conclusory event somewhere in order not to leave the reader just hanging.
There are many books that base themselves on the "just suppose this was the case, what would things be like..." hook , but it's quite unusual for it to be carried off well enough for you to forget how unlikely the situation is.
With regard to the how was it written, I think she wrote it from Hs point of view on little bits of paper and then swapped them all around to chronological order to write Claire's perceptions/reactions. At least I hope that's how she did it.

[bluedevi.livejournal.com]

I'm with triskellian - loved it, have re-read it several times, thought the characters generated plenty of plot in themselves without needing anything else, have minor crush on Henry - okay, maybe that last bit is just me. :)

[cuthbertcross.livejournal.com]

Hmm, he doesn't sound very crushworthy to me in the book. Now, make a film and get Johnny Depp involved....that's different :o)