RandomThots tries a Book Review - The Time Traveller's Wife

My eyes are red and raw and I've just finished The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Prompted by watching Benjamin Button, it was a book that Aaron said i JUST HAD TO READ and i'm so so very glad that i did.

It is possibly the most touching love story i have read. EVER. (well, i guess that's not saying much since my literary repertoire of late has included life in war-torn Sudan: What is the What by Dave Eggers, a fantasy world of a boy who lives among ghosts The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, the twisted and irony-clad life of a bomber Catch-22 by Joseph Heller and, i suppose, the closest thing to romance Marley and Me)


You may have gathered from the title that the Time Traveller's Wife is the story of a time traveller and his wife. (No duh) The catch is that he cannot control when and where he time travels and thus you can guess the backbone for a love story that really does transcend time and physicality (because i think that sounds more apt than space).

I stayed up too late too many nights not wanting to put the book down and grew extremely attached to the characters. I'm unashamed to admit that I was bawling at the end, wishing for some twist in the plot that would keep them safe forever. But i think that is the mark of a good book, no?

In any case, I think Audrey has really done an excellent job - weaving what is already a touching love story in with the rather foreign concept of time travel and balancing it with a touch of the everyday. So while the notion of a time travelling man is utterly fantastic, i think every reader can relate to it somehow.

I really do urge you to find the book and read it because I've come out of it with a new appreciation for mortality and the biting reality that time passed is not retrievable. You can't do it over again but you can do it good the one chance you have. (And don't worry, it doesn't get you all confused about how time travel works and all those abstract theories. You just have to read it and enjoy )

For the lazy, i've just found out that a movie version is due to be released this year. And it's starring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams. As with all movies though, i do urge you to read the book first.

Eric Bana does look quite delectable, though.

If i did stars, i'd probably give this book all of them for sheer emotive power. But i'm quite generous. So here's a generous heaping of thanks to Aaron for sharing the book with me. I promise that's not the reason why i love the book so! (well, maybe a teensy bit)