Monday 14 April 2008

The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

I am probably way behind everyone else in my reading list but I simple had to post about this book. My Mum got this book several months ago, read it and gave it to a charity shop. I happened to be on amazon a few weeks ago looking at books that would quench my ITLADian thirst and this book popped up. My Mum, bless her went straight our and bought the book back from the charity shop!
Any way I would love feedback from those of you that have read it and for those of you who haven't I think you would enjoy this work of fiction simply because of it's parallels to Tony's theories.
Henry is able to literally fall out of time and visit different parts of his timeline and also end up in other random places. It therefore suggests that all time is now as Henry meets himself on many occasions. It is made clear that any visits he makes to the past cannot be changed so whilst he may know in his own memory he fell and scraped his knee when he was six, he can go back to that moment but not alter it. His visits to doctors result in them diagnosing schizophrenia and/or a weird form of epilepsy! Eventually he meets a doctor who deals with gene therapy and so starts their work on discovering 'what' Henry is in terms of evolution and gene mutation. It is an amazingly interwoven book, taken at face value a nice fantasy love story but the deeper connotations are mind blowing.
It is quite funny in that from the age of 36 Henry travels back in time and meets 6 year old Clare and continues to visit her as she grows up. However when Clare is twenty and meets Henry(28) in the 'real' world she knows him intimately but he has no idea who she is because he hasn't met her in the past until he's 36. Takes a bit of working out but I loved this book and will read it again one day. It resonated with me profoundly and I am just pleased I read Tony's book first as my new knowledge has added so many layers to this book.

10 comments:

SM Kovalinsky said...

Thanks for this post, Johar - I am very interested in reading this book now; I hope I can easily find it to order!

johar said...

There are loads for sale on EBay.com. Hope you enjoy X

ra from ca said...

A movie of this book is going to be released in the near future. The screenwriter who did Jacob's Ladder worked on the screenplay.

SM Kovalinsky said...

RA: That is wonderful to know - thanks! And thank you, too, Johar.

johar said...

ra from ca - Thanks for the info I will really look forward to seeing that.I hope they don't make it too sci-fi and adventure packed as it is essentially a love story. Or is that just my interpretation? *smile*

Karl Le Marcs said...

Johar; Yes I have read it
*cacophony of gasps from stunned bloggers*
BUT I read it about 1BP (Before Peake) *smile* and didn't enjoy it, so I'll make a point of revisiting it now in 1AP (After Peake).
*Good LORD look at the time!!!!!*

Anthony Peake said...

Yetb another book I must read ... I really need my holiday to catch up with some fiction reading (Karl, I promise that I will read Mobius Dick then as well!!!)

Karl Le Marcs said...

DON'T BEND THE SPINE !!!!
I don't lend my books out to just anyone.
*Smile*

johar said...

Karl you are so precious!!! *giggles*
Hope you enjoy it better the second time round now you you are at the PEAKE of your knowledge - geddit!!

Karl Le Marcs said...

*blush*
Thank You Johar
*chortle*