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The Time Traveler's Wife
The Time Traveler's Wife
The Time Traveler's Wife
Audiobook17 hours

The Time Traveler's Wife

Written by Audrey Niffenegger

Narrated by Fred Berman and Phoebe Strole

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

This bestselling and innovative debut novel from Audrey Niffenegger explores the perfect marriage, one that is tested by challenges the couple can neither control nor predict. An imaginative extension of everyday life, the story asks: What if two people who loved each other deeply, married, and faced a life in which one person remained constant while the other slipped fluidly in and out of time?

A modern love story with a twist that invites us to linger over questions of how life and love change over time.

Editor's Note

Sweet love story…

Do you remember when “The Time Traveler’s Wife” was everywhere in the 2000s? Well prepare yourself, because everyone’s enthusiasm for this sweet love story tinged with a bit of sci-fi magic is about to time travel into the present due to the upcoming HBO adaptation. A good reminder to appreciate all the time you have together with loved ones.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 28, 2015
ISBN9781611744293
The Time Traveler's Wife
Author

Audrey Niffenegger

Audrey Niffenegger is a writer and visual artist who lives in Chicago and London. She has published two novels, The Time Traveler’s Wife and Her Fearful Symmetry, and many illustrated books including The Night Bookmobile and Raven Girl. She is currently at work on The Other Husband, a sequel to The Time Traveler’s Wife, which is now an HBO series. 

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Reviews for The Time Traveler's Wife

Rating: 4.196319018404908 out of 5 stars
4/5

1,467 ratings747 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5

    I stayed up all night reading this book. I simply could not put it down. It’s fascinating and compelling, especially for someone like me who likes time paradoxes. It’s about a man who has a rare genetic disorder which makes him unstable in time. He is constantly careening into other moments in time – meeting himself, meeting his wife at different ages, living his own story out of order. All this makes for a very three-dimensional life. At the same time, it’s clearly just one life, and quite finite.

    2 people found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Everyone and their brother has recommended this book to me, so I decided to go ahead and read it. Let's just get this out of the way before I continue: Everyone judges books by their covers, and I'm pretty open about the fact that I do also. I was a bit put off by this book originally because of its cover, and now that I've read it I would still argue that another image would have been better. I enjoyed the book Lolita, but not enough to finish it, and certainly not enough to read another like it, so when I saw this image of child's legs with mary janes next to old man shoes, I immediately thought that perhaps this "time traveler" was a pedophile.However, I'm not one to refuse books - everything gets a chance - and I'm glad I picked it up. The book is about a man who time travels uncontrollably, usually to moments in his past but sometimes moments in his future. He frequently finds himself in the vicinity of Clare, who eventually becomes his wife. According to the back cover, this is a book about their love and what it takes to love unconditionally without boundaries and over time, which is true, but I felt it was so much more than just that. The book is called The Time Traveler's Wife but I would have been just as content with The Time Traveler. It is the story of two people coming together and their lives, not just hers. Struggles are apparent for both sexes.Clare, of course, has to deal with her time-travelling boyfriend. Sometimes she'll wake up in the middle of the night and Henry will be gone. When she was a little girl, she had to adjust to a man coming to visit every so often. One time he'd be 28, the next time 40, then 36, then 28 again. He comes and goes in an instant with no control over it, which I imagine must be very frustrating especially as he is clearly the only one in this book who can cook very well.Henry, as the time-traveler, finds himself at random moments in history without any clothes on. It's true, he can't bring anything with him (except memories, apparently, which are very useful in cheating the lottery system), and that includes clothing. He doesn't know how long he'll be in this new location nor how much time will have passed when he returns (at his wedding, he's gone for five minutes, but finds himself in the past for several hours). I didn't immediately get into this book because it's written in present tense from two different view points - Henry's and Clare's. I seriously expected that at any moment I would find options at the bottom of the page, "If Henry goes left, turn to page 146. If Henry goes right, turn to page 79." (It never happened, sadly, but jumping around pages in this book would totally have fit in the theme of jumping around time.) Present tense narration is always hard for me to get used to, but it was handled rather well. The style was fluid and enjoyable, not difficult to comprehend or get through. I read it in three days and would have finished it earlier had I not been required for other duties.I've been reading a few reviews of this book around the web and it seems like the general consensus is "this book rocks, but there is so much cursing and sex that I didn't finish it." It's true. It's full of loving touches in inappropriate places, random satisfaction, and, ahem, colorful language. That stuff doesn't bother me but I suppose it bothers some more than others. That said, it's worth getting through this book even if you have to gloss over those parts. It's worth getting to know each character, trying to figure out the difference between "fate" and "free will" in this book. There's no such thing as destiny, Henry claims, and yet he already knows what's going to happen to Clare, already knows what's going to happen to himself. I don't read very many time travel books and perhaps this is brought up in a lot of them, but it's a wonderful thing to frustrate oneself thinking about. I'm not sure I could make this review more succinct or interesting even if I put it off another couple of weeks and really hashed out my thoughts. I more or less already discussed the confusing parts with Richard, who had read it previously, and who either explained a bit or admitted equal amounts of confusion. Like, if Henry only time travels while he's stressed, what's with that scene where he time travels while he's calmly sitting on his porch? And if it's hereditary, why did no one else in his family experience it before him? In any case, it's a really good book and I really encourage you to pick it up if you've been wondering about it.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I am deeply divided on this book. I loved parts of it. I hated other parts of it. It is much more complex than the movie (I hoped for and liked that). The characters are deeper, they deal with more and deeper issues. I thought that she went into a little too much detail on the grittier aspects of their lives, but again, I can deal with that.

    What I couldn't take was the pervasive use of F***. In that mind that is a very derogatory word. It is a word that is associated with animals. It is not a word used in love. So unless this is Audrey Niffenegger's attempt to change the connotation of that word, I hate her use of it. To me the constant use of it between the two main characters was a slap in the face. Every time they used it in what should be a loving context it threw me out of the book and degraded their relationship to one of less than love.

    If not for that I would give the book at least four stars.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This is one of the weakest women in a book I've encountered. Her whole life, from the age of 6 to death, is spent waiting for her time traveling husband, thinking about him, talking about her feelings for him, wondering where he is, and creating art projects for him. She has no life of her own.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    recommended for: time traveler & romance & children's lives book fans, those who appreciate a good novelThis has become one of my favorite books. I read it for my book club. It's an extremely intricate and complex time travel story of a man/boy and a woman/girl and those they know. A love story told through time. It can be challenging to figure this one out but it came together beautifully. I don’t want to give away any of the ingenious plot, as I found it so much fun to determine for myself what was going on.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What a wonderful story! So touching. I didn’t want it to end.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    As I closed the cover for the last time on Audrey Niffenegger's novel, I was extremely sad. Sad to see the end of an extraordinary story, sad because of the way the story ended, and sad because we have just experienced an untimely death in our family. All of these together brought tears to my eyes. This is a beautifully written book, and I personally will never forget Clare and Henry. This book is not all sad. There are some truly funny and heartwarming moments in it as well. The plot is so imaginative that it took my breath away. It also took me a little time to get with the lack of chronological order (at least in Henry's life as he time travels back and forth). But the thread through the book that keeps it sane and makes it real is the love between Henry and Clare. This book shows how long true love can pesevere through all kinds of difficulties. Faith and hope are always the glue that binds true lovers together. This is a truly magnificent story. I truly feel blessed to have read this wonderful book and to experience Henry and Clare's love.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I asked my sister to get me this book as a belated Christmas gift because I love to read books dealing with time travel. I only got through about half of this book before I was simply "lost." There was too much time travel going on to try to keep up with it. I was sad, because I was really looking forward to receiving this book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    First let me say that I have a tremendous fondness for Chicago novels. I'd go even farther and say that I'm a sucker if an author writes a book and I can recognize the locations all the way through. And when you mention Bookman's Alley AND the Newberry Library in the same book, how can I not like it? Sure, it's an odd mix of disturbing, sappy and unbelievable even for the fantastical, but it's also a really enjoyable read and quite a good love story. Because it's written in little vignettes, it almost feels like a collection of short stories, but I think the disconcerting moving around perfectly mirrors the disconcerting nature of a time traveler's life.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Audrey has developed characters that are so real in an emotional sense that they pull you on the journey they go through. You can really feel the highs and lows that Henry experienced particularly the loneliness and isolation he often felt when 'leaping' through his own past and future. The relationships in the book are beautifully written and it is impossible not to connect with them. I loved the way that the author explored the different levels of Henry's relationship with Claire from guardian and father figure in her early childhood to lover and husband in her adult life. The beginning of the book is quite complex but towards the end of it you wonder at the simplicity of it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Interesting story, amazingly well told.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A book of love, loss and loneliness written in an appealing and unusual style. Not my usual fare but this is a book that tugged at my emotions and was one I keep thinking back on. One of my best 2009 reads.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Hmmm this book was interesting, I varied on a daily basis from I really don’t like this book to I really like this book. At times it was wordy and boring and other times it was fascinating and I thought some of the wordiness added to the story. It wasn’t what I expected it was better than my expectations. I know a few people who saw the movie who did not like it or understand what was going on most of the time. After reading the book I can’t see how you can take everything in the book and condense it to a 2.5 hour movie and make it worth watching, no wonder they left the theater confused. Overall I would recommend this book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Although this novel includes a time travel element, its story is timeless--girl and boy fall in love, their love is exceptional but there's a problem. The writing style is detailed and realistic, embroidered with allusions to art, music, poetry and mythology. A lovely story, well told but not terribly innovative or thought provoking
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Flipping brilliant. It took a while to get used to the back and forth nature of things. It took a while to get used to the un-sci-fi-ness of it all. But in the end, I really enjoyed the situations that popped up as a result of the time shifting and even more so the characters themselves. A great read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I find this book particularly hard to review. First, my reactions to the beginning and end were quite different. I'd give the first half an easy 4 stars; I'd give the second half 3 stars, maybe even 2½ because the very ending only rates 2 stars. Second, my policy against spoilers gets in the way because this book cries out for discussion of specific scenes. :-)Anyway, to start, if you're reluctant to read this because you think it's science fiction, or if you are a science fiction buff looking for another book in that genre: this is not a science fiction book. The time travel aspect of the book is merely a plot device and what science appears is actually a bit flawed. This is a love story, and a story about a man struggling for some semblance of normalcy in a life that is pretty bad, and a story about a woman who struggles with being left behind.The first part of the book sucked me right in. I think Niffenegger's writing was wonderful...at least when heard aloud (I listened to an audio version of this while commuting). The touch is light, humorous at times, switching back and forth between the two main characters, drawing you into the relationship that each encountered from opposite ends. Yet, it's not trivialized. You get enough glimpses of the reality that Henry faces to understand his longing for normalcy. I disagree with those who complain that the characters aren't fleshed out—I think they are extremely real at the beginning. Niffenegger doesn't explicitly describe them, you understand them through the thoughts you hear when they are narrating. I agree that the secondary characters aren't well-developed. They're not supposed to be; the whole, entire, complete point of this book is Henry and Clare.The second half of the book just isn't up to the first half. The quick sketches and scenes from the latter, which echoed well with the situation of the characters' lives, give way to repeated and longer scenes...at points, tediously longer. Henry remains reasonably consistent with what you've seen in the earlier book, though a bit more shallowly portrayed—huge events in his life don't seem to spark much emotional reaction. Clare, on the other hand, isn't the same person and just isn't so likable any more. However, it's clear that this wasn't deliberate...the author didn't intend you to not like Clare as much, but she starts acting inconsistently with the Clare that came before. In fact, close to the end of the book, she does things that are so completely out of character I was left thinking, "you've got to be kidding me!"I don't know what to say about the ending other than I felt the author simply didn't know what to do. She couldn't put brackets on the relationship and leave you with some insight or even strong emotion about it. It sort of wanders off into a vague, sappy ending that left me cold.What this book needed was a good editor.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of my favorite books of all time. If you saw the movie, do yourself a favor and actually read the book - it's about a million times better than the movie.Niffennegger is one of the best writers to hit the best seller list in the last 25 years. Despite the sometimes confusing time-travel element in this book, the author's writing style and language makes it an absolute joy to read.Don't let the science fiction element of the novel throw you off. This might be a very untraditional love story but it IS a love story at heart. The ending, which was left out of the movie, is the best part of the book and stays with you for a long time after you've read it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a great love story! I know people also label this book as science fiction, but that part of the book is not what makes me love it. In fact, I sort of ignore the 'science' part and see it as a tool needed to make the love story so beautiful. In short: a very powerful novel, which made me cry, also when I read it the second time.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I am reading this now. It only took me a couple of chapters to orientate myself to the past, present and future aspects of the novel. This is a great first novel and hopefully, we will read more from the author. Good plot and character development and willing suspension of disbelief.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What a journey. This book was an emotional roller coaster for me. Even though I made the mistake of seeing the movie before reading the book, I enjoyed every minute of reading this wonderful story. Wow.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Henry DeTamble is the time traveller of the title. He's a man with a genetic disease that will come to be known as Chrono-Displacement Disorder; he unexpectedly and randomly slips through time, always arriving naked and confused. His wife is Claire Abshire, who first met Henry when she was six (and he was thirty-six). He visits her throughout her childhood, coming from a range of dates in her future, knowing what is going to happen to her but refusing to tell her in advance. Henry on the other hand, first meets Claire when he is thirty-one (and Claire is twenty-three) and this time it is she who knows his future and he who must live it. This is the story of their marriage; their joys and heartbreaks, their trials and their happiness and through it all, their love which remains first and strong despite everything. I found a website where Niffenegger says "I wanted to write a book about waiting. ... I wanted to write about a perfect marriage that is tested by something outside the control of the couple." These are indeed the fundamental things that this book is about. Claire is always waiting, always waiting for Henry. From when she first meets him at six, to when she is an old woman, long after Henry has died, she is waiting for him to come to her, either slipping through the cracks in time or walking up to her in their own, shared chronological space. There have been a huge number of rave reviews about this book. That is something that always makes me nervous, especially for something that is a mainstream novel (and this is, despite the time travel) as generally those sorts of books aren't my kind of books. But the more I heard about this one, the more I decided it might be "my kind of book" after all. I'm so very glad I decided to try it out. This is a book that is both down-to-earth and highly lyrical. It is a pleasure to read, even when your heart wants to break for Henry and Claire. Niffenegger helps the reader out, by giving the date for each section as well as Claire and Henry's ages at the time, but it is still possible to get a little confused as time keeps shifting. I found that it was best simply to "go with the flow" and let the story seep into me, rather than trying to keep close track of the time shifts as that distracted me from the essence of the story which is far more important. This seems to be a short review for such a good book, but for me The Time Traveler's Wife is a book to experience rather than try to analyse in detail. It is by turns funny, beautiful and heart-breaking and a delightto read. I recommend getting hold of a copy, settling back and sharing Henry and Claire's entwined lives.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I found the book to be very slow in the beginning and found it hard to read for very long. I was disappointed with it right on till the half way point where it really picked up and became a much better read. Enjoyed the way the time travel put the story line somewhat out of order Pulp Fiction style. I also did not realize till later that all the positive reviews of this book I had read were from woman. This is a chick flick.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    In my experience, it's unusual for romances to detail any reason for the main characters to love each other beyond the superficial (Bella and Edward had little in common in Twilight; he loved her because she smelled like food and he couldn't read her mind - she loved him because he was tall, dark and mysterious. The unnamed narrator in Rebecca likes Max because they have nice long drives where they enjoy talking to each other - almost as soon as they're married though, these talks stop. Anastasia likes Christian in Fifty Shades of Grey because he's rich (face it, that's the only thing he's got going for him) and Christian likes Anastasia because she was something pure that he could corrupt). We actually get to see Henry and Clare celebrating and engaging in each other's interests and bonding over mutual interests. Granted, IMO, some of their interests make them obnoxious friggin' pretentious a**holes (e.g. anything they do with Gomez and his personality-less girlfriend/wife). While I don't particularly care for most romances, I must applaud Niffenegger for doing a decent job portraying one realistically.That being said, the book becomes very vulgar once they have a baby. Everything baby-related was extremely graphic (why does it seem pregnant women have to talk to everyone who will listen about every disgusting thing that comes in and goes out of their body?). On Clare's 18th birthday, Henry talks about gutting Clare to have sex. Quality definitely plummeted at this point and went from impressive character building to horrible fanfiction.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book combines time travel, usually the stuff of science fiction, with a love story. Henry DeTamble has a genetic disorder that causes him to involuntarily travel in time, usually to the past but occasionally to the future. The first time he does it he is five years old and he meets his twenty-four year old self at the Field Museum of Natural History in the middle of the night. Henry grows up, continuing to time travel but managing to graduate university and get a job as a librarian at the Newberry Library. When he is twenty-eight he meets Clare Abshire, a twenty year old art student who comes to the Newberry to do some research. Clare reacts strongly when she meets Henry because Clare has known him since she was six years old. Henry travelled back in time when he was 36 to meet Clare as a 6 year old in a clearing near her home and he continues to visit Clare up to the time she is 18. However, for the 28 year old Henry, Clare is a total stranger. He can tell by her reaction that she is someone important to him so they arrange to meet for dinner. This gives you some idea of the complexity of this book. The characters shift between the present time and their life together to their meetings in the past and sometimes occurrences in the future. It is important to read the passage headings which give the date and the characters’ ages so you are clear as to when the action takes place.I thought the story was unique and interesting. The main characters are well developed and the problems that result from Henry’s genetic disorder are believable if the disorder is believable. As a long time science fiction reader I don’t have any problem with believing in time travel and the concept of it resulting from a genetic disorder is a new and interesting twist. However, I think that if it was a genetic anomaly there would be more than one person exhibiting it and that does not seem to be the case (or at least it’s not the case until Henry can father a child). That’s one of my quibbles with this book. The other reservation I have about it is the way that Clare’s life seems to be predetermined. I felt like Clare had no real choices about her life and that is sad. Even at the end of the book Clare is waiting for something to happen because Henry told her it would.Nevertheless, I am glad I read the book and I will recommend it to others.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I had heard about this book, but had never really considered reading it until I came upon two friends discussing it: one ranks it as her favorite book while the other was returning the book after trying, and failing, to get through it after three attempts over the course of a year. I ended up borrowing it, and I am so glad that I did. I thought it was a fascinating love story. Henry and Clare meet when he is 28, but she has known and loved him since she was 6 and he was 36. Because Henry is cursed with being a time traveler, his future is her past. When she is a child he is burdened with the responsibility of knowing too much about her and their relationship; when they meet in the present she now carries that burden. How do you plan a future with a man who keeps disappearing? How do you live when your life consists of being dragged against your will through time to be left naked and vulnerable and alone? How can your love stay connected when time is both enemy and friend? I thought this was an inventive, poignant story. I certainly had some quibbles with the story (I have never heard a woman use the c--- word; it was jarring when Clare used it in such a matter of fact manner) and wasn't particularly interested in Clare's art or the world of punk rock, but their love story more than made up for those areas that dragged for me. I would definitely recommend it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of the best books I've ever read. I've read it multiple times in fact, and will probably continue to do so. I love this book!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Reviewed by Charity (Class of 2010)I decided to read the Time Traveler’s Wife after liking the movie so much and while I did like it, I think the movie was better. The book was not quite as engaging. One thing I did like about the book that was lacking in the movie was its complexity. Obviously being about a time traveler one would assume it to get complicated at some point. The author had to write out the dates and ages of all the characters at the beginning of every chapter or new setting. At first it threw me off a few times but it all eventually came together. I think watching the movie also helped me to understand what was happening, and when. I would, however, recommend that everyone read before watching. It never has quite the same effect, and it slurs your take on the book to match the movie. I did not think that the book would also be so graphic sexually as it was. I you don’t like books with explicit sex scenes, you definitely would not want to read this book. As for the ending of the book, it is fully comprehendible as to why it is an ending... however, I still feel like it left some things unsaid that I would have preferred to be explained.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    It seems like most people just weep over this book. I really didn't care for it. I didn't buy the idea that he could be in two places (times) at once at different ages. I usually don't mind stories that jump back and forth in sequence, but this one just seemed unorganized. Lots love it; I didn't.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of my favorites. The Time Travelers wife takes you away which is the best way to enjoy a truly great story. Highly recommend if you love rich characters and a beautiful emotional roller coaster.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    O. M. G. I see what all the fuss is about. Quite a surprise to find an acclaimed book being as good as the buzz, let me tell you. It grabbed me by the throat from the beginning.