The Time Traveller's Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)

I quite enjoyed the puzzle-knot nature of the plot, and was intrigued to see how it all unravelled, but did not really find myself empathising with any of the main characters.

In fact in some places the love story was just slightly creepy!

I have two apologies; the first is that I could not attend the session where this book was discussed and the second is for mentioning this book at the previous session (when we were discussing P & P & Zombies.

I first suspected that I would not like this book when I realised that Claire and Audrey Niffenegger were both red haired paper artist who like punk (for some reason cannot stand fictitious biographical books). I then began to resent all of the characters for their privileged existence and quickly realised that Henry was a smug ***** and a vehicle for the author to be an opinionated **** e.g. all that **** about punk music. All the characters in this story were so self-obsessed and unlike-able that I felt like I was reading a book version of Big Brother. Unbelievably the book got worse. It continued to disappoint with glib remarks about revolutionaries and capitalism, totally out of context and unsubstantiated, and, at best, only paid the shallowest of lip services to causality and determination, surly a cardinal sin for a book about time travel.

To conclude this book was unfunny at every point where it was meant to be funny, it was far too long and thoroughly un-enjoyable with the exception of two parts; the letter, which Claire finds after Henrys death and the relationship between Henry, and his mother, which unfortunately was not discussed in any meaningful length. Just like P & P & Zombies another great concept badly executed.

Truly one of the worst books I have ever read. Absolute mush. Ms Nifenegger was incredibly lucky that someone agreed to publish it. I would have given it a zero but the ratings start at one.

Pauline

Enjoyable and interesting but ultimately flawed love story about (as the title suggests) a time travelling man and his wife. The time travel plot was very cleverlly written and completely absorbing but I found the characters curiously emotionless and un-interesting (especially him). The way she deals with the paradoxes of time travel are ingenious to say the least but I was left wondering why nobody at any point tried to change anything at all. Obviously she was trying to make a point about the nature of fate and the linear, "It's already happened man... You can't change it!", nature of time but it felt a bit forced to me.

Loses one star for it's gratuitous, clunky and slightly embarassing 9/11 reference. Am I trying to say that 9/11 didn't change everything man! EVERYTHING!!! Yes I am. I also began to wish she'd shut up about her favourite punk bands. Yes we get it, you like punk, your characters like punk, you get pissed off with kids these days who don't understand punk but think they do. Guess what... we don't care!