Saturday, December 12, 2009

The books I have read: The Time Traveler's Wife

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is an amazing love story between a woman and a man with a genetic disorder that makes him time travel randomly.

Main characters:
Henry DeTamble - a librarian at the Newberry Library in Chicago
Clare Abshire - artist, makes paper sculptures

The novel is narrated in first-person, switching between Clare's point of view and Henry's. Henry begins time traveling at the age of five, jumping forward and backward relative to his own timeline. He is unable to control his travels: when he leaves, where he goes, or how long his trip will last. His destinations are tied to his subconscious—he most often travels to places and times related to his own history. Certain stimuli such as stress can trigger Henry's time traveling; he often goes jogging to keep calm and remain in the present. He also searches out pharmaceuticals in the future that may be able to help control his time traveling. Henry cannot take anything with him into the future or the past; he always arrives naked and then struggles to find clothing, shelter and food.

What I like about this story, is that it starts with older Henry time traveling to 6 year old Clare. She simply believes him that he can travel in time, and thus their love story begins. When Clare is 20, she finally meets Henry from her present, who does not know her and has not lived any of the moments from Clare's childhood. It is a story about discovery, love and relationships.

Beautiful love story.......very sad!

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