Book Talk: Time Traveler's Wife

The Time Traveler's Wife

 

"'But don't you think' I persist 'that it's better to be extremely happy for a short while, even if you lose it, than to be just ok for your whole life?'"

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, is another book that I grabbed at a Goodwill in particular because I was curious since I had seen previews for the movie.  Admittedly it does sound like an interesting plot: a man travels back in time and visits a little girl who eventually becomes his wife. However it's incredibly more complex than that, because even though Claire has spent her childhood being visited by Henry, said time traveler, when she meets adult Henry, Henry hasn't actually met her yet... so it's this really weird  circular theme.  The author eases concern by starting each section/chapter telling you the year and how old Claire and Henry are (which I found to be immensely helpful)

I also enjoyed that I got to read the story from each of their perspectives, because while Claire starts out as the romantic Henry is decidedly realistic and you realize that because of his condition he has to be.  He can't control when he time travels or where he time travels and he always shows up stark naked at a new location (talk about a problem when you live in Chicago and it gets realllllly cold).  The most heartbreaking part of this story was when they kept trying to have a child and they kept having miscarriages, it was the hardest part to read.  And I kept thinking that they were going to find a cure to allow Henry to stay in the present.  But what I ended up liking the most about this story was the non fairy tale but still very happy ending.

I would highly recommend this book as a entertaining read, perfect for a summer beach weekend or when you're traveling somewhere.  It's easy enough to read with enough substance and intrigue to keep you fully engrossed throughout the story.  

"Time is priceless, but it's free - you can't own it, but you can use it.  You can spend it.  But you can't keep it.  Once you've lost it you can never get it back."