December 21, 2004
The Time Traveller's Wife
This is the story of Clare and Henry. Clare is an artist and Henry is her husband, a librarian who will, in the future, be diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder. It's a genetic disorder that misplaces time in certain people, whisking them in and out of different times in their lives.
But now, in the present, Henry has this problem and no one knows about it except Clare and a few friends who've happened to stumble upon it.
The narrative, told from the point of view of Clare and Henry at various ages in their lives, seems a bit disjointed but it works because the whole idea of going back and forward in time within your own lifetime is disjointed.
The characters of Clare and Henry are very 3 dimensional. Things are not always rosy and happy between them. Clare tries to be understanding, but not having ever experienced the time displacement, sometimes feels alienated and alone. Henry, battling his own childhood demons, loves Clare almost too much, leaning on her too much when he can't handle things and expecting her to always be there for him.
While the book seems somewhat Sci-Fi in nature (I mean, come on, time travel? That screams science fiction), it is at heart a story about two people who love each other very much and are trying to make their lives as normal as possible.
Very poignant and sad at times, but also funny and happy as well, this is an easy and fast book to read (I read it in about 4 hours).
Posted by xinh at December 21, 2004 04:12 AM