Wednesday, August 10, 2005
The Time Traveler's Wife
This is the classic story of the seafarer’s wife perched on her widow’s walk, looking out onto the sea, waiting for her Odysseus to sail over the horizon. It is the story of Clare the time traveler’s wife waiting for Henry, her husband, to return. Henry has Chrono-Displacement Disorder—a condition that causes him, through uncontrollable epileptic fits, to time travel. When Henry time travels he wakes up naked, hungry and confused having to resort to crime and thuggery in order to survive (an older Henry teaches a younger Henry how to pick pockets and locks—he has several outstanding warrants with the Chicago police).
Through the “wonders” of time travel Clare grows up with Henry, meeting him in secret in a meadow behind her childhood home, but Henry doesn’t meet her till he is older. His younger life is spent falling apart, searching for oblivion in alcoholism and meaningless sex. Clare loves Henry and becomes his anchor—I know, it sounds kind of sappy, but the writer pulls it off without overdoing the sentimental factor. I liked the book’s honesty and how the Author managed to keep the whole plot from unraveling under the weight of its crazy twists and turns.
Through the “wonders” of time travel Clare grows up with Henry, meeting him in secret in a meadow behind her childhood home, but Henry doesn’t meet her till he is older. His younger life is spent falling apart, searching for oblivion in alcoholism and meaningless sex. Clare loves Henry and becomes his anchor—I know, it sounds kind of sappy, but the writer pulls it off without overdoing the sentimental factor. I liked the book’s honesty and how the Author managed to keep the whole plot from unraveling under the weight of its crazy twists and turns.
# posted by Tom Smith @ 12:42 PM 
