One of my favorite books is "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger. I worked at the library six years ago and when I would put the books away, this book would always attract my eyes. For some reason I kept ignoring it. Then one day I picked it up and read the synopsis, then I put it back. I think around that time, there were so many books that would attract me and then I would feel let down after reading it that for a while I was sticking with authors I knew. But one day I finally took it home. It was one of the best books I had ever read. I cried, I laughed, I hoped, I despaired, I FELT.
It is about a man named Henry DeTamble who was born with a genetic disorder which causes him to spontaneously shift in time. He never knows how long these "trips" will last nor where in time he will go. In one of these shifts he meets his future wife, Clare Abshire, when she is just five/six years old and Henry is in his forties (although Henry was born in 1963 and Clare in 1971). When they finally do meet as adults when Clare is 20 and Henry is in his late twenties, he has no idea who she is, but she is very much aware of who he is. And so begins one of the most poignant love stories that I have ever read. But this book is more than a romantic novel. It is a story of life. Of the frequent trials encountered by ordinary and extraordinary people and the way they face these trials. This is not a novel you can read and forget or put down. You become completely involved in the lives and emotions of the different characters. You connect. It is a rich novel. And I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I found out recently that a movie based on this novel is coming out in the beginning of August. I was very excited. But then I begin to think, "can they really do it justice?" Can they take the flavor of the words and transform it into a profound, unforgettable visual story? Either way, I am for sure going to watch it and pray that I will not be disappointed. But I beg you all to please, please, please give this book a chance. It is not a chickflick. It is a peopleflick (corny, I know, but true;)
