Take the Time to Travel with this Book! (The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger)

Name: TheChocolateLady

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Product:	The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
Date:	23/02/08 (145 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fascinating premise, beautifully written, great characters, etc., etc.,

Disadvantages: You might never want to stop reading it.

Henry has a genetic problem that makes him occasionally disappear from his present, ending up somewhere else in time - sometimes in his own past, and sometimes in the future. When he was 36 he showed up in a field where he found six-year old Claire. That was the first time Claire met Henry, although not the first time that Henry had met Claire. "The Time Traveller's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger is the story of these two people - their unusual lives and their unique love.

Of course, the first thing you're going to think after reading this synopsis is "chick-lit" but I really must stop you all right there. Yes, this will appeal to women, but seriously, I think that guys might like this as well. I say this because there's just enough quirky science fiction here to get them interested, and enough odd circumstances to keep the romantic side from becoming overpowering. Of course, this still won't appeal to every man out there, but those who have experienced a special love and/or totally off-the-wall situations might get a great deal out of this. What brings this out of the classic "chick-lit" genre is certainly the implausible idea that a genetic fluke could make someone's "biological clock" reset itself to another place and time of their own existence. How this effects Henry's life as well as everyone around him, and especially Claire is part of Niffenegger's creative genius and possibly one of the most novel ideas I've come across in a long while.

Of course, there are certainly some comic possibilities to this scenario and Niffennegger doesn't shy away from them, but rather than turn this into a comic tale, she has endeavoured to find the reality within an unrealistic set-up, and make it believable rather than supernaturally funny. That is a high road that I don't know if any other author has attempted before this, and we must all give kudos to Niffenegger for such "out of the box" thinking when she wrote this story - which can't have been easy.

Niffenegger's approach to telling this story isn't unusual - she takes her two main characters - Claire and Henry - and lets them tell their own stories in first person. This is done in an almost diary style, complete with each section telling us the date of the scene and the ages of the respective characters. While this is a common literary mechanism, there is always the chance that the prose will sound sterile and stiff. It is in this that Niffenegger really shines as she makes us feel totally part of these people's lives, and brings them to us with such honesty and truthfulness that we fully believe that this could almost be a true story. Through this tool, we are also given such insight into the main characters that not only are they vivid as people, but they also have very strong voices we can almost hear as they recount their experiences. I found this particularly strong since it gave me an even better picture of Claire and Henry than using third person might have done.

What's more, her writing here is so smooth that you'll feel like you're riding on a cloud as you read this story. But there's nothing bombastic here, or overly flowery, and yet you also don't feel like anything is too simplistically told. This is written on a perfectly ridden fine line that makes this novel all that more approachable to the readers, while still transporting us to a place we've never been, and yet find much of it strangely familiar. What I mean by that is she gives us a combination of real human emotions and conflicts while still making us believe in the unbelievable. Moreover, Niffenegger concludes this book so artistically and with such clarity and credibility that one can only say "ah, yes" at the last page, and then possibly (as I did) want to start reading it all over again.

I should note that throughout this book, Claire speaks of her life in only chronological terms, while Henry has both a chronological history to tell, as well as the out of sync visitations. This may be slightly baffling for the reader at first, but you will quickly get used to it, and Niffenegger actually uses this to help point up the feelings of confusion Henry has when he time travels. One thing it took me a bit to catch hold of was that Henry still lives a linear life, despite all his visits in the past and future. This means that a visit to the past at age 35 will be unknown by the 28 year-old Henry. Yes, I know that sounds confusing but if you think about it a touch you'll understand just how important that bit of information is. I found Niffenegger's sticking to these types of rules (of which she does have several) helped make the whole feel all that more correct and cohesive.

Now the fact that much of the setting of this book is in my old home town of Chicago, Illinois may have had something to do with my enjoyment of this book, since I always take pleasure in reading about familiar settings. However, there were enough new places and surroundings included here to also keep me from feeling like I was reading about my own past. I should mention that there were places where I wasn't totally sure of her accuracy here, but even if I'm right, these hardly detracted from the overall storytelling. Of course, this may have made the action in this book easier for me to visualize, but I doubt that those unfamiliar with Chicago will find themselves at a disadvantage. That Niffenegger is from Chicago is obviously the reason why she set the story there, which again contributes to the realistic feel here.

All told, there is almost nothing I can find fault with here. The premise of this story is totally unique and yet builds on familiar ground of personal relationships. The writing is completely spot-on and approachable. The characters are fascinating and develop perfectly before our eyes, and even the settings feel touchable to us. While I can't say that this is the absolute best book I've ever read, it certainly has gotten into my top 10 - mostly due to the beautiful consistency throughout that isn't ruined by a rushed or false ending. I'm sure you can tell by now that I give this a full five stars and highly recommend it to anyone - guys and gals alike.

Thanks for reading!

Davida Chazan © February 2008

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Technical Stuff:

This book is being made into a movie, so I suggest you read it first - just to make sure that the movie doesn't ruin the book for you. I say this especially because I'm not thrilled with the people they cast in the main roles, but that could just be me.

Available new from Amazon for £5.14 or through their marketplace from 30p. Details found there are Paperback: 529 pages, Publisher: Vintage; New Ed edition (6 Jan 2005), Language English, ISBN-10: 0099464462, ISBN-13: 978-0099464464

You can find out more about Audrey Niffenegger at her web site which you can find at http://www.audreyniffenegger.com/ although most of it is still under construction at the time of my posting this review. Just check out the FAQs and the Links and Contacts.
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Summary: One of the more unique novels ever written.