Rating: 
Summary: Not quite as good as it could be
Review: I borrowed this book yesterday and read just about all of it by now. The first thing to ssay is that the reviews may be just a little bit misleading. The woman is not exactly waiting for him and we don't see much of that. This book is told in a long series of scenes. The author gives the date and in parenthesis the age of the person or perseons involved. It is told as if Henery or Claire were writing - not sure what - in truth nothing - there is no attempt to fit *that* into the story, although it could be a diary - although it's more like someone speaking to some kind of interviewer. I don't consider this a flaw. There may not be a better way to get the point of view. The most serious flaw is that this book does not have a bog subplot. It would ahve been much better had there been a secondary plot added to it. Another problem is taht certain scenes are envisioned, but not described. (We never get any scene firsthand of Henry with his mother, nor any place else other than with himself or Claire, although there seems to be an indication he has shwon up other places as well. I don't think the characters are quite human with respect to sex. I am not talking aboit Claire's desire for Henry or even nearly raping him in effect in 1991, but other relationships and I don't think it is credible really to have every other person in her life (at least her friends and her mother) noticing and asking why she is not interested in boys around the age of 16 - I mean noticing enough taht she feels compelled to date boys. What Henry does to a certain football player is not that bad, but what what he did to Claire doesn't seem to make too much sense. I never heard of a crime like that. It is too easzy ti run into lesbians here. And worrying only about age, is really really politically correct. Length is not a problem The book has a number of twists, sometimes foreseeable, like "The Apprentice" or let's say "Replay", but not too many. I find somewhat "politically correct" about sex. There is an absurd scene (not quite told) of Henry at 15 and 1 that should have been cut from the book, and if you strike it out you lose nothing because it affects nothing.
Rating:
Summary: Well written, but...
Review: The best part about this story is that it uses a classic science fiction mechanism (time travel) and twists it in a unique way, allowing us to delve deeper into some rather well expressed human emotions and motives. I'm sorry, did I say unique? Well, not quite. Read "The Sirens of Titan" (written much much earlier) by Kurt Vonnegut and you will be amazed at the similarities between the "chrono-synclastic infundibulum" and Niffenegger's "Chrono Dispalcement" -- not only in the concept, but in how it is used. Where TTW uses it as a mechanism to analyze the soul in what is essentially a romance-in-sci-fi-clothing, KV uses it to analyze our society in what is essentially a satire-in-sci-fi-clothing. Both use it for very non "sci fi" purposes, which is fine. I only give the 1-star deduction because the structure and content demands that this book be measured against other literary greats, including Vonnegut's work but also the classic time travel stories, and other less-known gem's such as Thompson's "Timecross'd" (which also tackles the question of humanity through time-travel mechanisms, and does it in a much more entertaining fashion). I would not recommend against reading TTW... although if I had to pick a single piece of time-travel fiction (sci-fi or otherwise), it would not be this. However, if you are looking for good science-fiction look elsewhere. If this rating were specific to the sci-fi genre, I would give the book 2-stars, for in that arena it is weak.
Rating: 
Summary: One Great Read!
Review: I don't know anything about the Today Show and their book club. I picked up this book while traveling and was rewarded with a fantastic story. Perfect plane reading - no distractions could deter me from the story. Don't be put off by the surreal aspect of a man traveling back and forth in time. The story is told in a very matter-of-fact venue. I loved the beginning - and returned to that part several times. The story unfolds with rich character development - yes some characters have their flaws - just like real life! I anxiously await his first-time author's next book - and hope it is a sequel.
Rating:
Summary: A True Classic....
Review: "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger is unforgettable. It is DESTINED to be a CLASSIC. Although it will especially delight science fiction enthusiasts, it will mesmerize ALL readers with it's compelling tale. I am not really into science fiction and I was RIVETED by this novel. I could not put it down. Literally, I read over 500 pages in less than one day. Additionally, the cover design was SUPERB. I cannot image a book jacket, which would better display this novel. The ONE aspect that SOME readers may find disquieting is that Niffenegger uses the typical 4 letter sexual words of slang. I was not bothered by this, because it fit with the age/time of the characters - but I know that many conservatives will find this offensive. I am going to urge my mother to read this wonderful novel...but I will also tell her to "prepare herself" for some of the dialogue. This is Audrey Niffenegger's first book and if she writes nothing more than this novel - it will still be enough to have truly left her mark on the literary world. (Although, I truly look forward to future books.) What is especially poignant is that while the concept of time travel is nothing new - Niffenegger delves into the pain, suffering, inconvenience and fear of time travel. She doesn't simply gloss over the realism with adventures - but intricately examines the human element for those who are left behind as well as for the time traveler himself. "The Time Traveler's Wife" will appeal to both men and women. It is a story of adventure, it is a story of the human spirit, it is a story of family and friends, and it is a story of love. If you buy ONE book this year...make it "The Time Traveler's Wife."
Rating:
Summary: A different kind of time travel
Review: Clare Abshire meets her future husband for the first time when she is six, when he appears naked and a little worse for wear in a clearing near her home. Henry DeTamble has just popped in from the future. He continues to visit her over the years, and she gradually falls in love. (He is already in love, since in the future he is already married to her.) On his last visit from the future, when she is 18, he tells her they will meet in the present in two years. When they meet in two years, she is already in love with him, yet he has never seen her before. (He always visits her as his future self.) So the courtship begins again, from a completely different perspective. This is a time travel story like I've never read before. For one thing, in this universe, time travelers cannot change the past or future no matter what they do. Everything is fixed; essentially, while there appears to be free choice, there isn't. The second thing is that the time traveler has no choice about when he will go traveling, or where and when he turns up, but usually it is to places and times that have emotional intensity. He arrives naked and ill, and spends most of his displaced time stealing clothes, money and food, and running from the police. The one constant is the love between Clare and Henry, and the darkness that hovers just beyond their grasp as they both gradually come to realize that their time together is limited by forces they have no control over. Gripping reading, really amazing stuff. I did not much care for the ending; as skillful as this author is at planting clues and paying them off with an "ah-ha!" moment, I was waiting for some grand twist at the end that would surprise me. But there are no surprises, and the ending just sort of trails off. Still, don't let that stop you from giving this novel a whirl. I am praying that Niffenegger writes a sequel, because there is a character who begs her own story.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've read in a long time!
Review: This is truly one of the best books I've read in a long time! It has everything; prose, poetry, endearing characters, an entertaining plot, suspensefulness, excitement, couragousness... The Time Traveler's Wife is about Henry, who ever since he was 5 has been traveling through time. BUT, he has no control over when this happens and when it does, he has lands somewhere in time completely naked-with nothing else. He may be somewhere 5 minutes or 5 hours. We meet Henry at 5, but the story takes us from one time to the next, we see Henry grow up, but we also see the story of how him and Claire meet, when he's mid-30's. As we watch their lives unfold, in the most untraditional of ways, you can't help but become so involved in their lives and how they deal with their unique situation. I enjoyed everything about this novel. The writing was superb! The story did not get dull or drab once, which is an amazing feat for a 520 page book. AND, it also did something few books do, and that's move me. I highly recommend this novel, even though it's long, the pages fly by with such speed, you'll be sad to see it end!
Rating:
Summary: Why did it have to end?
Review: I was excited about reading this book the second I lay eyes on the blurbs written about it. This book exceeded my expectations. It is not only original, but it is beautifully well written, humorous and tragic, heartwarming and chilling. This is the new Love Story of our times.
Just read it, you won't be let down.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful science fiction love story
Review: Imagine being married to a man who is unanchored in time, who at any moment can vanish and pop into a different era, not to return for hours or days or years. Imagine knowing that man as he visits you - traveling in time - as a child, helping you with your homework and watching you grow up. Imagine then meeting him when you are grownup and he is only a few years older, but younger than when he visited you so he doesn't know you at all. Imagine getting to know someone whom you've known all your life but doesn't know you. That's the essence of this love story between beautiful, timebound Clare, and helplessly time-traveling Henry. Their story unfolds in a mix of snake-eating-itself paradox and perfectly timed narration as we experience the story of their lives. As I've said before, the best science fiction uses a speculative premise to put people into a situation that they would never experience in conventional fiction, and this is a superb example of that. It's a love story, but not just with a man and a woman, but with a man and a girl, a young man and a young woman, and all the variations between, as Henry's uncontrolled time-travel takes a Cuisinart to their relationship. Henry has a tough life. When he jumps, he brings only himself, so he arrives without clothes, wallet, or identification. This makes his ethics somewhat dubious, as of necessity he has to steal to get clothing and food and has to fight those who think a naked man in an alley would be easy prey. Clare is the one fixed point in his life, the one thing he can rely on. Clare finds Henry magical, I think, popping in and out of her childhood, and she becomes devoted to him - he's a part of all of her life. When they come together, it is a source of both joy and sadness - sadness because, even more than for most of us, their relationship is an evanescent thing, experienced in brief, ecstatic moments separated by periods of longing and loneliness. Niffenegger, in an amazing feat for a first novel, manages to tell this story without losing the reader. The thread of time is logical and - mostly - chronological, with Clare and Henry taking turns to express their viewpoints. But at the same time she weaves in the story of their lives just as it should be. Every moment seems right, from their wedding to the first time they make love (which in a sense is different for each of them). It's a true tour-de-force, and I highly recommend this book. (I don't hand out five stars very often!)
Rating: 
Summary: Okay for a first novel but needs and editor!
Review: I borrowed this book from the library based on the strength of the reviews and found it to be okay, although better than average for a first book. A very
interesting premise but with a major flaw- because it
jumped around so much it was hard to establish character
development so you never really got a firm grip on who the
people in the book WERE. I never really got the feeling that Henry and Clare were in love. They were so _extremely_ cerebral there was just no emotional involvement. Since it was the magical and passionate love between Clare and Henry which was supposed to be the whole POINT of the story it never really worked for me. Since they would jump back and forth so much there wasn't enough time to develop the characters realistically. Of course a couple would get along great if they only saw each other a few weeks at a time- the little things that start to bug you wouldn't have time to develop!
And it really should have heavily edited - could have done this in 400 pages with a much tighter story. Some people have objected to the violence and language but I thought it highlighted the precariousness of Henry's situation (while foreshadowing his death) very nicely. Found the many sex scenes to be jarring and not adding much- yes, they have a healthy sex life, I get it! (...)
Rating:
Summary: Wow! 500 pages never seemed so short!
Review: This book just flew by! It's rare for me to find a book that I just can't put down, even after I've finished it! I'm so reluctant to give up the story and the intimate connection with Henry and Clare that I don't think I'll be able to start another novel for a few days. Let's see, where's that Reader's Digest?
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