Saturday, February 27, 2010

Review : The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger


Title : The Time Travelers Wife
Author: Audrey Niffenegger

Rating: I have no idea !


About the book:


Audrey Niffenegger's innovative debut, The Time Traveler's Wife, is the story of Clare, a beautiful art student, and Henry, an adventuresome librarian, who have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-three and Henry thirty-one. Impossible but true, because Henry finds himself periodically displaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity from his life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous, his experiences unpredictable, alternately harrowing and amusing.

The Time Traveler's Wife depicts the effects of time travel on Henry and Clare's marriage and their passionate love for each other, as the story unfolds from both points of view. Clare and Henry attempt to live normal lives, pursuing familiar goals - steady jobs, good friends, children of their own. All of this is threatened by something they can neither prevent nor control, making their story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.


My Review:
 

Clare met Henry the first time when she was 6 and Henry was 36. Henry met Clare the first time when he was 28 and Clare was 20.And yes, they were married when Clare was 23 and Henry 31. Weird and confusing eehh ? Yes, Henry has some genetic disease which forces him to time travel into his past and sometimes in his future.Whenever he time travels, he is never been able to carry anything with him.Not even his clothes! This clearly put him always in a lot of danger whenever he used to time travel.But, one such day Henry:36 meets his wife Clare when she is of age 6. Years pass by, and Clare grows up knowing that one fine day, she and Henry are going to marry ! Faithfully, Clare is always shown waiting for Henry to return;sometimes, from his time travel adventure when she is his wife and sometimes in the hope to meet him again when she was very young. This story basically revolves around Clare and Henry and various hurdles they both have to face together and cope with because of Henry's time travel problem.

OK. 'Time Travelers wife' is a beautiful, intelligent as well as a little boring book! I just finished reading it a few days before, but was simply unable to put my mixed thoughts into words! I know, I have put a contradictory statement above, but yes, unfortunately it's true !

Let me explain..

Since I am in a habit of reading YA's or rather any books which are fast paced, I took a lot of time to get into this one.This book was very very very very slow for me...! Basically, the writing style was very different for ME. Like, if Henry wanted to wear a coat the words would be like : I got up from the bed, looked around, set my foot on the floor, then went to the wardrobe, opened it, found some coats hanging there, and blah blah...!
So, I had to keep a lot of patience for this one.Also, it took me a lot of time to basically understand whats going on since I was too on the roller coaster ride of the time and date mentioned in the book.After reading 40 pages or so, I even thought of quitting this book.

Anyhow, here, I won't say that the writing style was pathetic or bad.Nope...it simply didn't appeal to me because it was terribly slow.That's all.
But, in spite of all this, I found the plot of 'Time Travelers Wife' very unique and filled with unconditional love! I guess, that's the thing I loved and which helped me to read the entire book! Very few authors can put pure love with all the sacrifices made and their aftereffects into actual words without explicitly and specifically writing about it. Also, the grieving, longing, happiness, sadness, all these emotions are written excellently by the author..! And mainly, the way Clare is shown so faithful and understanding towards Henry.The love and affection shown in this book is mind blowing !These are the few important reasons why I found this book so beautiful !

Considering all the pros and cons which I found, I find it really difficult to rate this book..! Conclusion: This book is tremendously slow and sometimes boring, because of the writing style. But, also, the plot, the characters, the emotions described in this book are really good....again because of the writing style!

8 Comments:

Blogger Dazzling Mage said...

I've heard a lot of mixed reviews about this book, and honestly, after the movie, I don't think I want to read it. Still, it's good to see your views about why you didn't click with this book. It happens.

Btw, I have an award for you. =D

February 28, 2010 at 1:06 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

IceJewel, I think you did a good job of explaining why you were conflicted about this book. I keep meaning to read it, but have not as yet. Maybe I will just see the movie. :-)

February 28, 2010 at 4:52 AM  
Blogger (Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

I never read this book; I just did not think I would enjoy it.

February 28, 2010 at 5:18 AM  
Blogger YA Book Queen said...

I've seen a lot of reviews saying how boring the book can be...It sounds like a cool plot, but I don't think I could get past the boredom. ;)

Awesome review :P

February 28, 2010 at 9:20 AM  
Blogger Ryan said...

Still haven't read this one yet. Not sure I ever will.

February 28, 2010 at 7:46 PM  
Blogger Cherry said...

I've read a few books where I was quite ambivalent about it too. But those books never rates 5 out 5s because of the negative pull.

They got this book on sale at Tesco and Asda and they are almost giving it away. I was thinking of getting it just because it's very cheap. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

March 2, 2010 at 10:10 PM  
Blogger Shantal said...

Thanks for your honest review. :) I have mixed thoughts on this book but I'm not sure this is for me :) Nice review !

March 10, 2010 at 5:20 PM  
Blogger dkm1981 said...

I can see why you struggled to rate this book, it sounds interesting and confusing. I don't know whether to give it a go or not because, like you, I prefer a fast past book. Good review. Love your blog too - it's so pretty!!

March 17, 2010 at 1:12 PM  

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