I haven’t seen the teary-eyed inducing romantic comedy movie adaptation of this book but the promising premise was a feel-good weekend read. The weird and unconventionally quirky love story that spans decades and crucial life stages is the main theme of the story. It depicts the ups and downs, uniquely different but interestingly poignant relationship between an artist named Clare Abshire and a time-traveling librarian Henry DeTamble. They risked everything for them to be together, unabashedly fighting all the obstacles that try to break them apart. I learned it’s not that hard when one is in love with somebody who loves them back just as much, a typical love story made not too typical. Time traveling is a whimsical fun adventure but the drawbacks make it not seem like that at all. In Audrey Niffenegger ‘s world, in which her works are aimed mostly to the younger adults (YA) , a bit of tragedy is necessary amongst the indefatigable but indefinite concept of a relationship that is highly unusual but cute.
The two protagonists who tell their points of view that make up the book, met when Clare was six and Henry, thirty six, who was into one of his time-traveling sojourns when that fateful meeting happened and the relationship that spanned decades started. Over the years , it had evolved and grew stronger with friendship and familiarity with each other’s quirks and personalities, amazing ingredients that formed the special core of their mutual bond. Having a childhood friend who will also be your future spouse sounds incredibly romantic and too good to be true so the added science-fiction ( albeit a bit bogus for my taste), helped add a touch of conflict to a story that seems predictable. The story may appeal to others looking for a positive vibe for a weekend or a beach read, and this book is on every bookworms’ list. It’s engrossing enough but not really caters to everyone’s taste, myself included. Clare and Henry also go through the same issues and problems to achieve that elusive marital bliss but like all things, it always remain challenging and almost unattainable. Their trials don’t seem that difficult because they are so deeply in love all the time that except for the part where they want to conceive but the notion is almost hopeless, borders on corny.
Like a classic fairytale love story, The Time Traveler’s Wife is easily a favorite to those willing to suspend their disbelief in relationships especially when it comes to love. However, not everyone choose to look at things that way, even if things doesn’t seem to go right, as the saying goes ” it’s all a matter of perception “. Favorite lines:
Silence. I am trying to look harmless, and nice. Nice looms large in Clare’s childhood, because so many people aren’t. -The Time Traveller’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
“But you make me happy. It’s living up to being happy that’s the difficult part.”- TTTW, Audrey Niffenegger
The hardest lesson is Clare’s solitude. Sometimes I come home and Clare seems kind of irritated; I’ve interrupted some train of thought, broken into the dreamy silence of her day. Sometimes I see an expression on Clare’s face that is like a closed door. She has gone inside the room of her mind and is sitting there knitting or something. I’ve discovered that Clare likes to be alone.- TTTW, Audrey Niffenegger
Love the world and yourself in it, move through it as though it offers no resistance, as though the world is your natural element.- TTTW, Audrey Niffenegger
Sleep is my lover now, my forgetting, my opiate, my oblivion. -TTTW, Audrey Niffenegger
Angel from your nightmare 