Book Review
The Time Traveler’s Wife
A classic tale of love across time
Rating: 4/5
“Time is priceless, but it’s Free. You can’t own it, you can use it. You can spend it. But you can’t keep it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.”
A boy meets girl classic love story, with time playing an imperative part in their lives. Henry was diagnosed with a curious chronic impairment disease which allows him to be misplaced in time beyond his control. He meets Claire, fell in love, and lives a joy-filled life only to face the inevitable fate — the time. Through this entire time travel saga, naked and nauseated, Henry craves only for Claire — his loving wife. The curse of knowing the future and yet being unable to change it and yet trying to find happiness in every stage portrays their life attractively.
A love story, science fiction, or a fantasy — a blend of all. A classic tale of romance that travels across time, bringing up joyful tears in the readers.
Characters
The story unfolds from Henry’s and Claire’s points of view. The love for Henry through Claire’s eyes is mesmerizing, and most men would fall for that love. Henry’s time travel was random with no pattern, and he could not change any events in his life. Claire’s desperation was clearly visible when Henry hides the future from her. After her mother's demise, she looked no more lovely and charming. The loss drives her to depression, and it reflects on Henry. He looks at Claire as an empty entity, void of emotions.
Their love for each other has no bounds and they both triumph in revealing that to the readers. The struggle Henry endures in failing to prevent his mother’s death was too painful and his inability to change the past adds more misery. Both Claire and Henry were too careful not to tamper with time.
Story
The story moves on an interesting premise. However, the timelines are hard to remember in the initial part of the story. At some point, the story becomes unusually dragging with avoidable events, but the love track between Henry and Claire held back the audience. Though the pace is too slow with unnecessary facts, the plot is intriguing. From the second part, the story gathers pace, and time stamps travel fast.
The book was more a journey than travel, where every moment of their life was delightful. There was no rush shown in the writing, neither a spike nor a plunge in the story graph, but only a constant flow of words.
Their life was extremely happy, but the knowledge of the future drags them down. The premonition of something disaster was waiting, drove them to depression. The phase where they know the end was too horrid was connecting with the readers. Henry’s desperate effort to save his daughter from the same fate was too pathetic to read.
Claire’s unexplainable weak relationship with Gomez could be the only flaw that didn’t sit well with the story. The ending has the potential to bring tears, pleasant or sorrow no one would care.
Conclusion
A timeless lingering romance that would stay in the heart of the readers forever.
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