Friday, February 11, 2011

The Time Traveler's Wife

The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger

This book was the highlight of my summer holiday reading - it is an absolute delight, I didn’t want it to end. And when it did end, I just wanted to sit and think about it more (unfortunately impossible, seeing I had to pick the kids up from their 1 hour play time at Ikea!)

It is the story of Henry, who can time travel, and the love of his life – Clare. It’s loosely based in chronological time – how they meet for the first time in their 20s and fall in love. But interwoven throughout are the interconnecting stories of Henry’s time travel – how he appears throughout Clare’s childhood, and is able at times to visit the future. Surprisingly, considering the concept, it’s not too confusing although there were times where I had to check the dates to ensure I had the right sequence in my head (each segment shows the date and Henry and Clare’s ages).

It’s a fascinating read. What I love about a good book, is not only a good story line (where you like the people, are interested in their lives, etc) but also when it’s written with a really different idea or premise. This certainly fits that category. On reflection, I think that’s why I also liked The Book Thief so much. This one makes you think about the ‘what if’ of time travel. What if you could see the future? What if you could revisit people from your past? What if you could talk to yourself as an older or younger version of your present age?

It reaches out to a longing in us all – to be able to return to those precious times again, to see loved ones who have died, and to have an assurance about what the future holds.

A very, very good book, which I will definitely read again.

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