The Time Traveler's Wife

I must've omitted this from my Goodreads list. I struggled with it. Yes, I know. Shocking, huh? I got bored with it about half-way through and actually moved on to something else, which is very unlike me. I generally persevere. But I came back to it. I'm not sure why, but I did, and praise the holy good book that I did. I love, love, loved the ending. It moved me. So much so in fact that I might even have had the sniffles for a second or two.

“The Time Traveler's Wife” is one of the most interesting, powerful books I've read in a long time. Audrey Niffenegger did a beautiful job taking some of the most complex ideas - time travel, marriage, love, children, friends, literary and artistic allusions, religion, death, drugs, childhood, growing, loss, and what it means to be human - and weaving them together poetically and with amazing clarity. Her characters are wonderful, “real” people with strengths and flaws, and I really grew to adore them. Despite skipping around time at the same rate as Henry, the time traveler, the events are sequenced in such a way that you still witness each character's growth as a person, as well as discover many surprises along the way. Clare and Henry's story is one of the best love stories I've read in a very long time. This book also echoes important modern-day questions about the appropriateness of gene therapy, and what it means to be a human being. I highly and enthusiastically recommend this book.

Tragic. Exhilarating. Lovely. Don't watch the movie.

2.5 stars.
The book is kind of dragged. It starts out interesting because of the narrative style (back and forth), but after a while, it is just the characters eating, roaming, and talking, which is not interesting enough for 150–200 pages. But at the end, I did kind of feel slight emotions towards the characters.
Come to think of it, the love story between the leads is not well developed. They just fall in love for the sake of it. Also, what is the art that Clare does? I didn't understand it. Whenever the topic about her art comes, it just skim through it

This book itself a emotional travel for me. First few portions not getting/ hard to get into dates and age things. Next few chunks felt boring such as their dating, friends chats, too much of daily lifestyle descriptions, feelings about babies. I skimmed through them. And the last 150 pages thrown at me like a magnet and gelled me throughout the end. That's the stuff. It was hard at the end. Loved it. But i feel it should be less than 400 pages. That's it

The time travel in the book works in odd ways, and it's a little hard to believe that the main character doesn't have at least a little control over it, he appears in convenient locations throughout the book which lets him bond with his wife during a time when she is way too young for him. Even if he appears in a general location near her was a coincidence, he already knows in the future that she is his wife and he seeks to meet up with her, and not avoid her.

The characters of this book are bland, and forgettable especially everyone besides the main characters Clare, and Henry. But even the stuff we find out about the main characters isn't sufficient to establish a strong bond between them and the reader. A lot of stuff you find out about them is pretty gross or shallow. They already seem to live quite comfortable lives, but the time-traveling also provides cheat codes for them (which they only use when the plot demands it). You don't get to hear a ton about their work life which you would assume would be affected by time travel at random times.

The scenario sorta seems like a setup for smut, the sex scenes we do get have quite silly descriptions, and sometimes even other scenes have an odd choice of words.

There are a lot of parts in the book where the author throws a ton of adjectives, and lists of references (one time even a very long grocery list). There are also a ton of parts where nothing of interest happens.

The main character expresses negative views toward adoption that do not make any sense—questionable romanticism of pregnancy.

I've been disappointed lately by books that were like wedding cake—they looked much better than they actually tasted. Several recent reads—Ella Minnow Pea, Jennifer Government, Calculating God—were books that were based on an extremely clever plot twist. Unfortunately, that's all these books had—an extremely clever plot twist. No character development, no plot. Just an extremely clever plot twist.

The Time Traveler's Wife does have an extremely clever plot twist. Henry has Chrono-Displacement Disorder; when stressed, Henry suddenly finds himself shifting, shifting, to another time. During one of these shifts, Henry meets his future (present?) wife, Clare, as a six year old girl.

But the extremely clever plot twist is just the hook that snags us into this book. It is the relationship between Clare and Henry (ever changing, yet ever remaining the same) that is the line that pulls us into the heart of the story.

Without giving away too much, Niffenegger uses the time shifts to add resonance to the characters (wonderfully flawed, all) and to create an intricate and intriguing plot.

The time traveling felt very real to me, as if there could actually be people in our world who have Chrono-Displacement Disorder, perhaps even friends or relatives. Possibly I could even time shift myself, if I gave it a try.

I felt myself losing track of time, traveling into another place while I read The Time Traveler's Wife. ;-> Recommended.

Resenha do blog Sincerando.com, escrita por Sarah Sindorf

“Eu me lembro, eu me lembro. Acordei de manhã e foi tudo um sonho maravilhoso. Mamãe riu, dizendo que viagem no tempo parecia ser uma coisa divertida e que queria tentar também.Essa foi a primeira vez.”

Clare e Henry são um casal. Um casal que se ama, um adora o outro e são completamente apaixonados. Tem vários problemas em seu relacionamento mas um grande problema é que Henry viaja no tempo. Se encontrando em diferentes períodos da vida, com idades com grandes ou pequenas diferenças entre si, o relacionamento dos dois vai se construindo. Através de períodos de ausência, desencontros temporais e problemas normais em um relacionamento vemos uma história de amor com características únicas.

Eu queria ler esse livro há um bom tempo. Queria ler antes de ver o filme mas não aguentei. Assisti o filme há um tempão (e devo assistir novamente em algum momento próximo) e fiquei apaixonada pela história. O romance dos dois é ao mesmo tempo profundo, emocionante, apaixonante, e em alguns momentos, desesperador.

Clare é uma menina que conheceu na infância um homem misterioso, que alegava poder viajar no tempo. Filha de pais ricos mais ausentes e tendo irmãos complicados, Clare cresce com essa mágica a sua volta. Henry é um homem complicado e sofrido, que sofreu a vida toda pelo seu problema: viagem no tempo. Uma hora estava em casa, confortável, e na outra estava pelado em qualquer lugar, qualquer período. Não consegue controlar quando nem para aonde vai.

O relacionamento dos dois é perturbado pelo problema de Henry mas também sofre alguns baques reais. Problemas de relacionamento com a família, de convivência, a ausência dele. Mas os dois mostram um amor palpável e verdadeiro quando enfrentam vários obstáculos para ficar juntos. Uma coisa que me encantou nessa história foi que a autora não teve medo de mostrar que um relacionamento não é felicidade o tempo todo, mas que ter problemas e vários momentos felizes é uma coisa real.

A história traz uma narração deliciosa. Fiquei aterrorizada quando vi o filme, com medo de que quando aquilo se passasse em um livro ficasse confuso. Pelo contrário, consegui me localizar muito bem, mais pela idade dos personagens do que pela data (cada capítulo começa com a data e a idade dos dois). A leitura foi fluída e praticamente não consegui largar. Só me separei do livro para dormir algumas horas.

Outra coisa que me agradou no livro é que a história é agradavelmente dividida entre os dois. Consegui ter um laço tanto com Clare quanto com Henry, pois os dois personagens são muito bem detalhados. Foi um romance diferente dos que estou acostumada a ler, e o toque da viagem do tempo o deixou muito mais interessante e intrigante.

Falando da adaptação, eu a considerei maravilhosa. Algumas coisas do livro não apareceram, mas nada prejudicial. Amei a atuação dos atores e não tenho dúvida de que vou assistir novamente. O filme conseguiu trazer a emoção às telas, e recomendo muito que o vejam. Mas vejam depois da leitura, pois confesso que ter visto o filme estragou as surpresas do livro para mim. Acho que gostaria e me emocionaria ainda mais se não tivesse visto antes.

Estou dando sorte até agora, segundo livro que leio esse ano e que amo. Espero continuar assim!

”- Tenho medo de que você se canse de não poder contar comigo para nada e me largue. (...)- Nunca vou largar você - diz. - Ainda que você viva me largando.- Mas eu nunca quero te largar.”

Link da resenha: http://www.sincerando.com/2014/01/a-mulher-do-viajante-no-tempo.html

I rarely dump a book before I've finished, but this is just really, really bad. The themes are pretty creepy and the love story grosses me out. It honestly reads like a bad fanfiction. Big yikes.

Good book...It's funny. I noticed that the author had all these run-on sentences, but good descriptions. I write exactly like that. And my teachers tell me that its horrible and confusing. Ha(:
Still, good book.

honestly I don't think this book is as wack as it has become to be understood (aside from the written out-dialect for the characters of color, yikesy)

https://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-231-the-time-travelers-wife/

I didn't love this book and would have DNF'd it except that I was reading this for a challenge. At first glance this seems like an epic love story, where the lovers are separated by time. But when you really dive into Clare and Henry's realtionship across the years it gets complicated and creepy. 
When Henry time travels to Clare as a kid and teenager he's between 30 - 40 years old. He's such an all consuming part of her life that it feels manipulative. When she finally turned 18 Henry was like 42, oof that was an age-gap I didn't want to know about.  Even as adults, future-Henry meddles with present day Henry & Clare's relationship. These moments pose moral questions that the author casually skips over. 

Il libro narra di una bella storia d'amore frullata nelle spire del tempo.
Pur essendo sostanzialmente una storia d'amore, lo stile narrativo (con eventi anticipati e svelati successivamente) e la particolarità della storia (il protagonista viaggia inconsapevolmente nel tempo) rendono il tutto “particolare” e “suggestivo”.
Insomma un libro ben svritto che si basa su un'idea originale che lo differenzia da altri libri del genere.

A touching story, joyous, sad and romantic at different points. I think my favourite scene was right at the start of the book, when the traveller meets his future wife for the first time in his timeline and she's so delighted to see him again (after a gap of a couple of years, for her) that she completely bowls him over. I will usually read a 500-odd page book in two or three chunks; this one got read in a single sitting, something I don't often do. It's going to become an acknowledged classic, I'm sure of it.

Henry leidet unter einer speziellen Genmutation die ihn zum Zeitreisenden macht. Unter Stress verschwindet er plötzlich und findet sich in der Vergangenheit und manchmal auch in der Zukunft wieder. Er trifft auch sein juengeres Ich und auch auf seine grosse Liebe Claire. Claire ist 6 wie sie ihn kennnelernt, er in den späten Dreissigern. Er besucht sie in ihrer Kindheit, als sie ihn endlich in der Jetztzeit trifft, hat er von ihr noch keine Ahnung. Sie heiraten, versuchen lange bis es ihnen glueckt ein Kind zu bekommen. Henry wird in der Vergangenheit angeschossen und stirbt in der Gegenwart. Aber da er schon in der Zukunft war, wird Claire ihn wieder sehen können ...

One of my favorite books, and one of only a few that I've re-read more than once. An emotional tour-de-force.

I feel like I can't give this book a fair rating because I am clearly not the audience for this book. But that's probably because I'm dead inside.

I found Henry to be a jerk and Clare to be so-close-yet-so-far-almost manic pixie dream girl. There are some real gross moments that are “okay” because time travel. (i.e. - him kiss her when he's forty-something and she's fifteen, but it's okay because they're going to be married.) The rules the author chose to follow when it came to time travel (everything has already happened therefore you cannot change it) also helps excuse the squickier stuff (him sleeping with her on her 18th birthday).

It was hard not to think of him grooming her.

So... yeah... I just don't buy the whole soulmate deal.

This is probably my favorite fiction book. I am glad that there is finally an unabridged version of it. The narration is this is very good. The chapters alternate from beging told from the male and female protagonists point of view. And the audiobook as two good narrators, male and female to do that voice. This is a science fiction book wrapped up in a tragic romance. Hard sci fi fans may not like it, but it hits the science fiction ideas of time travel paradoxes and determinism similar to the ideas of Asimov. If you are a tragic romance fan (think Nicholas Sparks) don't let the science fiction throw you off the book. Its science fiction is held lightly and the romance of the story comes through.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/time-travelers-wife/

I always thought this book sounded cheesy, but I'm glad I finally decided to give it a try. It is a good love story, and it is set (really immersed) in Chicago. I saw the movie when it came out, and I thought it was a little weird, but... “the book is better.”

“En los cuentos de hadas siempre son los niños los que viven las fantásticas aventuras. A las madres les toca quedarse en casa, esperando que sus hijos regresen volando por la ventana”

I couldn't wait for it to be over. I understand the book was written in early 2000s and the world was different then, however I was astonished about how homophobic, racist, elitist, and chauvinist this book was. It is way more retrograde than books I have read from classical writers, like Dickens. Let's not even get into the problematics of a naked man showing up to a 7 years old girl and asking her to keep it secret. Beyond that, some parts of the book sounded like the author was lazy, it was like reading someone's diary, no deep nuances or details, just a quick description about facts of the day. I should also mention that what Claire did to her friend in the past and then again in the future made me nauseated, no level of suffering can justify her bitchiness.
Giving 1 star because it can't be lower and after all the book distracted, even if it made me mad.

I reread this book in about two days in preparation for the movie. The first time I read it, I did so on the subway while commuting to Queens from Manhattan for an internship. Eventually (probably about two thirds of the way through the book) I had to stop reading it in public. I'm not exactly the biggest fan of crying in front of strangers. Fortunately I reached the end of the book in the comfort and privacy of my studio apartment (my creepy World Of Warcraft playing roommate happened to be gone) so that I could ugly-cry in peace. We're talking drool, people. Not cute.

Bottom line: one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking books I've ever read. Forget the movie — though entertaining and made 6 of the 8 people I saw it with last night cry — but it's middling in comparison to the beauty of Niffenegger's novel. A must-read.

La moglie dell'uomo che viaggiava nel tempo, in originale “The Time Traveler's Wife” è un romanzo fantastico del 2003 di Audrey Niffenegger. Si tratta di una storia d'amore non convenzionale che è incentrata su un uomo che per un difetto genetico si trova, senza volerlo, a viaggiare nel tempo e della moglie, un'artista, che ha conosciuto quando era piccola. È stato edito in italiano nel 2005 dalla Mondadori.

I diritti del libro sono stati acquistati da Brad Pitt e nel 2009 è stato realizzato un adattamento cinematografico del romanzo intitolato “Un amore all'improvviso”, diretto da Robert Schwentke con protagonisti Eric Bana e Rachel McAdams.

E' abbastanza insolito che un autore alla sua prima opera riesce a vendere il famoso “milione di copie” e che a distanza di tempo riesca ancora a vendere parecchio, questo grazie al tam-tam dei lettori. Curioso che il romanzo, non si trovi in nessuna libreria nel reparto “fantascienza”, sebbene viaggiare nel tempo, sia casualmente o fatto con l'ausilio di congegni, è fantascienza, ma probabilmente considerarlo “romance” vende di più e dunque sapete dove cercarlo nel caso.

La trama: Clare incontra Henry per la prima volta quando ha sei anni e lui le appare nel prato di casa come un adulto di trentasei. L'attrazione è istantanea, anche se Clare pensa che forse quell'uomo e un alieno, o un angelo. Poi, quando ne ha venti, Clare lo incontra di nuovo, e lui ne ha ventotto. Clare gli dice di sapere tutto di lui, mentre Henry non l'ha mai vista. Sembra impossibile, ma e proprio così. Perchè Henry DeTamble è il primo uomo affetto da cronoalterazione, uno strano disturbo per cui, a trentasei anni, comincia a viaggiare nel tempo. O meglio: a volte sparisce e si ritrova catapultato nel suo passato o nel suo futuro. È così che incontra quella bambina destinata a diventare sua moglie quando di fatto l'ha già sposata. E cosi che incontrerà sua figlia prima che sia nata.

E letta così è veramente una storia di fantascienza pura. Ma l'inganno è tra le pagine, perchè quello che esce preponderante non è il viaggio nel tempo, ma l'amore più coinvolgenti e trascinante che vi sarà dato di leggere: le due voci dei protagonisti che si alternano nel racconto sono piene di calore, non si smetterebbe di leggerne; gioie e tragedie, passione e minacce diventano metafore dell'imprevedibilità e dello squilibrio che caratterizzano la nostra vita. Anche nei grandi amori, nelle grandi relazioni ci sono momenti in cui uno dei due è più innamorato dell'altro, o più maturo, o più presente e viceversa.

Quello che ne esce è l'Amore in tutte le sue sfaccettature e il lettore si trova avvolto come in una coperta calda (sapendo però che fuori fa molto freddo e solo una coperta ci divide dal mondo) in una storia avvincente, originale, che prende dalla prima all'ultima pagina, anche se probabilmente una sforbiciata ad alcune pagine avrebbe reso ancor più entusiasmante la lettura.

Così mi sento di consigliare questo libro a chi abbia voglia di sperimentare qualcosa di nuovo, che sia pronto a leggere di una storia d'amore diversa, surreale, impossibile, ma forte e vibrante come solo l'Amore può essere, senza barriere... neanche quelle del tempo.

Fabulous read!!

1/5 stars

In some cases, I can read through a book and say I read it, I didn't like it, and I would never read it again. This is not one of those books. Instead, I can't even bring myself to finish it. Personally, I felt like this book was a waste of my time. I kept waiting for it to become interesting, but it just couldn't capture my interest.

Henry wasn't likable at all and felt creepy most of the time. I hated the way the book treated his ex. It's almost as if they tried to make it seem as if she attempted suicide for attention-seeking. Clare wasn't treated any better. Both of them revolved their lives around Henry. Personally, I felt like Clare was being groomed by Henry. Being told from a young age she was going to marry Henry was already a big red flag for me. I don't recommend this book as I deem it a waste of time. If you do read it, do it at your own risk.