The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

I’m really of two minds about this book. It took me about a hundred pages to really get into it. The only thing that saved this book from being thrown onto the “trade” area of my bookshelf after the first fifty pages was my trait of being tenaciously persevering when it comes to books; I consider it a personal failure when I can’t make it to the end. (I still feel guilty about Anna Karenina.)

In Time Traveler’s defence, it does eventually pick up steam. I did reach a point where I almost couldn’t put the book down, and it did make me cry. Plus, there are some very moving passages as well as some beautifully written parts that remind me of the classics–those phrases or entire passages that you want to write down somewhere, in your journal or on your bathroom mirror, so you can turn them over again and again, contemplating the truth contained in them or the exquisite beauty of a well turned phrase.

In the end, it is really a beautiful love story that does manage to transcend the level of modern romance novels. Perhaps part of my mistake at the beginning was that I kept looking for a “plot” to develop…some overarching theme or purpose towards which the narrative was driving. I might have enjoyed the first hundred pages more if I realized that there is no major climax towards which this novel is building; it is simply a gentle journey through tremendous love and dedication.

One strong word of warning to more conservative readers–sex is a significant focus of the novel. While the descriptions are in no sense pornographic, they are certainly there. Henry and Clare are radical in their beliefs and in their lifestyle (especially Henry before he meets Clare), and while I do not think that any of this is enough to put someone off reading the book, you should definitely be aware that it’s there.

July 31, 2009 Posted in: fiction