Traveling

I posted last month about The List and how I added The Time Traveler's Wife to my list of movies.

Well after seeing that it was going to be made into a movie, I wanted to read it again. I read books over and over (and sometimes even over and over), but this was one I had only read once. It still made it to my list of favorite books, though.

So I reread the book in a weekend and was just as blown away as the very first time.

The story, by Audrey Niffenegger, revolves around Henry and Clare, a couple. Henry, for no explicable reason, travels through time. He could be sitting down, drinking a cup of coffee, crossing the street, working, and all the sudden disappears and wakes up in a new time, totally naked, with no idea where or when he is.

The only thing that remains constant in his crazy, mixed-up life, is his wife Clare. As he's married to her, her often time-travels into a younger Clare's backyard, and gets to know the girl he will eventually marry.

With a plot like that, you would think the story would be convoluted and confusing. It definitely gets intertwined, but is never confusing. It is clearly dated, and even tells the character's ages to help keep the facts straight. I laugh when I see headings such as, Henry is 33 and 7, because Henry also visits his younger self, acts as a mentor to the younger Henry, teaching him about how to survive in such a crazy life.

But the story, really belongs to Clare, the girl who can never follow. It's about waiting for him, worrying about him, making sense of their life together, and loving him.

The story is really well-written, with engaging characters and a plot that never grows dull. It moves between the two characters, and switches between the vantage points. It is interesting, because Niffenegger will write one scene twice - with Clare's perspective when she was a little girl, and again when Henry is older and time-travels to that moment.

I read this entire 500+ page book in one weekend. Of course, I was doing quite a bit of traveling myself then (the regular kind, fortunately) and had some free time, but it is still gripping.

Now, if only the movie will measure up. I'm withholding judgment until I learn more about it . . .