The Time Traveler's Wife

Rating:
Summary: Great FIRST novel!
Review: Now, I don't usually write reviews. I just had to this time. I love this book. I love the way that she starts out each narrative section by identifying the narrator. I like that we never wonder whether Henry and Clare love each other. This is a good book. Read it.

Rating:
Summary: A love story for all time!
Review: An amazing book, which I completed in a reading marathon over a lazy weekend. The story is completely engaging, the characters compelling and the romance sincere. While light on plot, the dynamics of time traveling are so comppelling that the actual "plot" -- which is really just a simple love story -- is satisfying and complete. I recommend this for any rainy weekend when you have a couple of days to be swept away in time . . .

Rating:
Summary: Amazing Novel
Review: This book is an amazing, highly engrossing first novel. I wish it was even longer than the 500 pages... I found myself not wanting it to end. The story is very original and I was immediately hooked. The characters, the plot, the twists & turns... all incredibly drawn by Ms. Niffenegger.

I highly recommend this book.

I look forward to the next novel!

Rating:
Summary: Could have been so much better
Review: I just finished reading The Time Traveler's Wife. I wish it were an unpublished first draft in the hands of a skilled editor. This book has all the components of a truly great novel -- unfortunately for me, it just didn't measure up to its potential.

I enjoy genre-busting novels -- and this one is certainly hard to pidgeonhole. Is it chick lit? Science fiction? Magical Realism? I wouldn't try so hard to classify it if I had been swept away, if the novel had a more masterful voice and engaging plotline. Although the book goes on for over five hundred pages, there is very little plot. And I mean VERY little. Henry and Clare love each other. And love each other some more. And keep loving each other through some fairly gruesome events that seem to take place for no other purpose than to allow Ms. Niffenegger to continue to describe how much they love each other. Throw in some detailed scenes including quirky, "intellectual" supporting charactes who serve virtually no purpose in furthering the story. Ms. Niffenegger is magnificent at writing description ... the problem is, she doesn't do much more than set a colorful stage where nothing happens.

The poignant tale of Henry and Clare's love through time would have been better suited to a short story. I kept waiting for a major plotline to develop. Forget it. There is no actual point to the story, much less subplot. And once Henry's undeniable fate is revealed, all the reader can do is wait. And wait. And wait! By the end of the book I was annoyed, not heartbroken. I felt manipulated, not moved.

I also found Ms. Niffenegger's first person present narrative to be tedious and sometimes jarring. Starting each section by actually defining the prose voice with "Henry:" or "Clare:" was a simplistic contrivance, and not worthy of Ms. Niffenegger's talent. (Again, I wish she had a better editor to steer her away from such lazy devices.)

I can see how this book is tailor-made for movie rights. Unlike most novels which are too detailed to translate well to the screen, The Time Traveler's Wife has the bare bones of a wonderful film love story. I never thought I would say this, but I hope the screenwriter modifies the story to add more genuine conflict, a decent subplot and a few surprises. The characters, as written, are begging for more action.

Rating:
Summary: Original and compelling
Review: I couldn't put this one down; read the whole thing in two days. Loved the characters from the very beginning, loved their relationship together, empathized with their struggles and the inevitable outcome. Strongly recommend.

Rating:
Summary: Clever plot....human characters and compelling read!
Review: This was my first time-travel novel. I was a bit hesitant as I thought "I" might get lost in trying to read it. How wrong I was! From the first page, the author always makes sure her reader knows exactly where they are. She does this very skillfully with her prose and her characters.
I just finished reading it and was sad to see it end. It was one of those books I found difficult putting down. I am amazed at the author's ability to take a topic like time-travel, create a fictional genetic disease, devise a plot of this nature so believably and have this reader close the final page not only wanting more.......but causing me to think about and re-think this unusual and clever plot that was written so well.
I agree that the entire story is a metaphor about savoring time, enjoying the moment, paying attention to our destiny and most of all about love.
It is THE most different novel I've read in a long time and I highly recommend this wonderful creation. As an author myself, I continue to marvel at Neffeneger's brilliant mind.

Rating:
Summary: One for the ages
Review: This was one of the most moving, original, profound books I've ever read. Though it's long, I wouldn't cut a single word; it's beautifully written (obvious even from the first pages), and I was completely captivated by the story of star-crossed lovers. Henry is cool enough that the story should appeal to men and women alike (I'm a man); it's not frothy weightless chick-lit that makes you feel like you're losing IQ points by the page. The time travel thing is pretty much just a device --"he could go at any time" -- meaning this book is anything but science-fiction. Henry's travels only underline how fragile life is, how we have to learn to live in the moment, to remember what really matters. Even if Niffenegger never writes another book, I think this one will last. Its power and brilliance are undeniable.

Rating:
Summary: A highly readable and enjoyable book!
Review: Halfway through this incredibly original, well written first novel, I was calling my book loving friends to tell them to read this book. A wonderful story that draws you in immediately & keeps you turning pages until you're finished - I know, I just spent two days on the couch! Audrey Niffenegger is very gifted - besides writing wonderfully believable dialogue, I kept marveling at the logistics of crafting the story in this particular format. I particulary love that in a day where the norm is 250-350 pages, someone took a chance that there are people who will read a 500 page novel. Definitely well worth the time!

Rating:
Summary: Dishonest and Gimmicky
Review: Audrey Niffenegger certainly has to be congratulated for putting a highly original spin on an old and trite device, i.e., time travel. Niffenegger's spin is just a little too original; I know I'm in the minority, but I found it extremely difficult to feel any identification or empathy with Henry and Clare. Their emotions were just too forced, too dishonest for me. Even Alba seemed dishonest.

I usually can't agree when someone says a book is "contrived" because all fiction, by its very nature, is contrived. I found "The Time Traveler's Wife" to be so dishonest. The characters said and did things that would be fine if the book was campy comedy or straight science fiction, but it is neither. It's fiction with a bizarre twist and I found comedy to be entirely absent from this book.

"The Time Traveler's Wife" is quite tragic but it was a tragedy for which I had no sympathy because it was, I think, dishonest. Real people, in Henry and Clare's situation (if they could be in that situation) simply wouldn't react the way these two fictional people did. Too much tragedy and pain kills love and makes it impossible to remain together. Henry and Clare's love, while believable in the beginning, grew increasingly unbelievable as the story progressed. The scene with Clare in Gomez's kitchen, near the end of the book simply verified the dishonesty of Clare's emotions to me.

Even had I liked this book I would have been put off by all the foul language. I'm certainly not a prude, but that doesn't mean I enjoy reading gutter language. I don't and Niffenegger surely must know that most people don't use it, even in private. At least not as often as Henry and especially, Clare, did.

The book was also overly long and very, very slow to start. Henry and Clare "meet," then Niffenegger goes into a backstory longer than some novels. Henry and Clare's wedding doesn't occur until the book's midpoint.

Originality is a quality highly prized in any writer of fiction, but when originality drifts into the bizarre, the reader identification is usually lost.

Ms. Niffenegger writes a smooth narrative and good dialogue (except the crude parts) but I think she needs to work on structure. This book meanders far too often and Niffenegger has a tendency to ramble. The book was simply "they did this and then they did that." Niffenegger loses touch with her story far too often. The book was too boring, too repetitive and way too dishonest. I'd be more dishonest myself if I gave it more than two stars.

Rating:
Summary: Highly Entertaining!
Review: "The Time Traveler's Wife: A Novel," by entertaining writer, Audrey Niffenegger, is a story that you truly don not want to miss! The characters are well-developed, and the storyline, smart, humorous, and interesting. I had a lot of fun with this delightful story and I think you might as well. (Recommended Novel)