A Literary Life

The Time Traveler’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)

    A lot of people have been struck with great ideas for books, wild notions about alternate universes or shifts of time that usually fit snugly in the sci-fi or fantasy genres. But not a lot of people actually are able to untangle these ideas, weave them together without gaping holes of plot or character, and create a touching and realistic piece of non-genre fiction. It is such a feat of unique vision and technical talent that Niffenegger has pulled of in The Time Traveler’s Wife, her incredible first novel.

Henry DeTamble is a handsome guy if somewhat thin, smart and well-read, multi-lingual, a librarian. He’s also an expert lock-picker, able to violently kick the ass of those that threaten him and turns up naked in public places quite often. These last three character traits stem from the fact that Henry is a time traveler. And no, not in a Jules Vern or Back to the Future flux capacitor kind of way. Henry involuntarily skips through time like an epileptic experiences seizures, traveling more when he’s tired or stressed and can’t seem to keep a grip on the present. He carries nothing with him (hence the frequent nakedness) and cannot control where he winds up. Despite this lack of control and helplessness in the face of time and space, Henry is also uncomfortably aware of past and future events: who will die and when, of the bad choices his future self will make despite his knowledge that the decision will be disastrous.

While this involuntary time travel, treated as a physical disorder, is unique on its own, the author adds depth with the character of Claire, Henry’s wife. Claire met Henry when she was six in a small clearing behind her childhood home. Henry, on the other hand, doesn’t meet Claire until he is 28 and all his childhood visits to Claire are still in his convoluted future. So do Henry and Claire’s lives intertwine over the course of their non-parallel lives, and so is the nature of unconditional, destined love revealed through Niffenegger’s beautiful and concrete — though not romantic or sappy — prose. Sometimes, Claire is faced with two husbands of various ages in one time period. Other times, she is left alone for days, unsure of where or when or in what danger her husband is.

The Time Traveler’s Wife is not an easy story, where all threads are tied off in perfect, little square knots. That’s a good thing, too, because I’m not really a fan of squared off, neat stories. Instead, the book is a rich and complex, incredibly human story, despite the supernatural subject matter. And it’s a book that breezes through the eye, a quick read that keeps you glued to the bus bench, bathtub or wherever else you happen to be reading. It’s the kind of book that proves that books will never die, will never be sacrificed on the altar of television and computers and Progress with a capital P. It’s a book that reminds me why I read — to find these stories and people that are so real, that now exist in my head, that maybe somehow existed all along.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars – Buy the hardcover

5 out of 5 Star Books, Fiction |