Justine's Thoughts: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

The Time Traveler’s Wife

By Audrey Niffenegger

Pages:

518

Book Description:

When Henry meets Clare, he is twenty-eight and she is twenty. Henry has never met Clare before; Clare has known Henry since she was six. Impossible but true, because Henry finds himself periodically displaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity from his life, past and future. Henry and Clare’s attempts to live normal lives are threatened by a force they can neither prevent nor control, making their passionate love story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable. The Time Traveler’s Wife is a story of fate, hope and belief, and more than that, it’s about the power of love to endure beyond the bounds of time.

A quote:

Love the world and yourself in it, move through it as though it offers no resistance, as though the world is your natural element.

Any thoughts:

The Time Traveler’s Wife is such a wonderful work of art, casted through words that bring a sense of awe, beauty, and wonder. Everything about it felt artistic and poetic to me, as though I was reading something that came out of a picture.

The writing matched the age of the narrator, whether it was Clare or Henry, and each came with their own voice. For example, when Clare was around the age of eight she would ramble on and on in one very long sentence, and when Clare was thirteen her sentences would improve but then she would write in one enormous, never-ending paragraph. I found that interesting. Also, sometimes, there were inserts of poems, which were amazing and meaningful, and small pieces in a couple of different languages, which I think were French and German (or Latin). Overall, even though I had to get used to the writing in the beginning, I have to say that I really admired it.

Clare and Henry have made it to my top favourite literary couples list. Their love story is one that is unique, yet heartbreaking and full of longing at the same time. Though I didn’t cry when I read the novel, I was bawling at one point in the movie, which I watched first. And I would have to say that this is one of the best books that has turned into a movie. The beginning was very similar to the one in the book, as well as most of the scenes. Only some unimportant ones have been cut and some have changed, which I didn’t mind at all. There also was a bit more maturity (e.g. sex and language) in the book, whereas in the movie, it was safer, for lack of better words.

I’d have to go back to the imagery in the book, though, which I marvelled at and appreciated. Everything is outlined and detailed for the reader to imagine the world Clare and Henry are in as Niffenegger writes it.