The Time Traveler's Wife

By: Audrey Niffenegger

Narrated by: Fred Berman, Phoebe Strole

Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Clare and Henry have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was 36. They were married when Clare was 23 and Henry was 31. Impossible but true, because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder: periodically his genetic clock resets and he finds himself misplaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity from his life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous, his experiences unpredictable, alternately harrowing and amusing.

Clare and Henry's story unfolds from both points of view, depicting the effects of time travel on their marriage and their passionate love for each other. They attempt to live normal lives, pursuing familiar goals: steady jobs, good friends, children of their own. All of this is threatened by something they can neither prevent nor control, making their story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.

©2003 Audrey Niffenegger; 2005 HighBridge Company (P)2003 BBC Audiobooks Ltd.

Critic reviews

• Alex Award Winner, 2004

"Highly original first novel....Niffenegger has written a soaring love story illuminated by dozens of finely observed details and scenes....It is a fair tribute to her skill and sensibility to say that the book leaves a reader with the impression of life's riches and strangeness rather than of easy thrills." (Publishers Weekly)

Interesting Time Travel Tale

For those who haven't read this book yet, some quick tips:
* You might feel like you missed something early on, and feel the need to back it up and listen again... Don't bother. You will quickly get used to the author's approach to the time traveling technique.
* It's more of a love story than a real sci-fi time travel story.
* The author must have felt her readers need to have vulgar, graphicly described sexual acts for us to picture a love making scene. Sadly, her high-schoolish and flagrant use of "locker room language" served to detract from scenes. She used words I haven't heard in real conversatoins since I was 16 years old.
* Her originality in her take on time travel is wonderful.
* The story begins well, and continues to build and keep your attention until about 3/4 of the way through and then she seems to lose focus and starts to fill in with artsy/craftsy stuff that add nothing to the plot. I found my self yelling at my MP3 player to "hurry up and get back to the story". I can find a book some other time on how to make paper.
* Be prepared to be left hanging on a couple of things that are never resolved.
* The story is read well, but the female narrator doesn't do men's voices that well and there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to when they switch from male to female narrators.
That being said, it was one of the better books I have listened to this year.

Interesting Premise

I like reading (listening) to unabridged versions of books because I don't like others deciding for me what I should or shouldn't be exposed to.

That said, the premise of this book was very interesting and the story quite compelling. However, I was very put off by some of the language and what I considered to be gratuitous sexual content. In my view, it is simply unnecessary. Many fine and outstanding books have been written without ever putting a foul word or sexually explicit scene on paper. The difference between the unabridged and the abridged versions is more than five hours. Honestly, five hours of tripe is a tad excessive. Let this serve as fair warning.

I also admit to being somewhat put off by some of the mispronunciations by the narrators but, other than that, the narration was quite good. It was appropriately emoted.

As for the story itself, it was quite interesting. What I kept hoping for, but never got though, was an explanations as to why the individual travelled in time. Or at least, why he went back to the times that he did. After all, how did he end up in the meadow in the first place if he'd never been there before?

Overall, an interesting story with a fairly fresh premise. As a love story, it is wonderful. As science fiction, not so much.

Star-crossed lovers trapped in time

This is a 5-star read categorized as science fiction. However, Audrey Niffenneger's writing is so intelligent, characters so well developed and the plot so compelling I could not put down this "genie in a bottle". It has it all, a story, characters, humor, love and the heart rending sadness that lingers for days. This is a MUST READ. I will not go see the movie (coming out in Aug. '09) as there is no way it can capture this wondrous, detailed and never dull read as we walk through the lives of two people, and those they love, trapped by something which cannot be tamed - time.

Get the Abridged Version

While I loved this book, I found the woman's narration of Claire's voice so annoying, I winced as though hearing fingernails dragged down a chalkboard every time it was her turn. The guy who narrates Henry's portions of the book was fine, although not stellar, but at least I breathed a sigh of relief during his chapters. The woman's portrayal of Claire, especially in the teen years, was so overdone and sickeningly false--it reminded me of watching the kids that sing and dance on the Barney show my children watched as preschoolers. As Claire ages throughout the book, the narration gets slightly better and more tolerable, although only going from perhaps a D- grade to a D+.

Claire is supposed to be fluent in French, but the narrator's pathetic French accent was also hard to listen to. Do narrators not get any coaching or direction?? Also, both narrators try to do a Korean accent when speaking the voice of Kimmy--but they obviously didn't do even 10 minutes of research, because Korean accents are very different from Chinese, which is what I believe they were actually trying to mimic.

Although bad narration can definitely ruin a good audiobook, I still found the book entertaining and well-written. The first 20 minutes were a little confusing, but when I got the hang of the time sequence, or lack thereof, it all fell into place. The romance between Henry and Claire was very poignant and well-rounded--not just high ups, but some low lows.

There were times when I thought the author was a bit self-indulgent. For example, she goes on at some length about Claire's paper making projects. I know the author is herself an artist in different mediums, but the paper making segment of the book did nothing to further the story.

Overall, I'd recommend the book--and although I haven't heard the narration in the abridged version (two different readers), it would definitely be worth listening to the sample before you make your purchase.

Disappointed

So. I will begin by saying that this is one of my absolute favorite books. I've read it at least 4 times, if not more. Each time I've read it, I find new details and become emotionally attached to all the characters and plot line. And yes, end up ugly crying in despair and in happiness over the last 1/3 of the book. It is a book I consistently recommend to my reader friends.

Needless to say, I was excited about the audible version so I can experience the story again during my commute and free time. I couldn't put my finger on what I didn't like about the book. It's the same book, same words, etc. yes I'm older now (last time I read it was 5 years ago) so maybe I'm experiencing it from a new stand point, or something. I don't know. But I'm sorely disappointed. And sad that it is such a disappointment.

The narrators are awful and I'm wanting the book to be over so I can start a new one. I've been spoiled by Davina Porter (The Outlander series) and Rosamund Pike (Pride and Prejudice) in their narrations over the past 395 hours of listening. The narrators of The Time Travelers Wife grate my nerves. "Claire" is obnoxious and annoying and "Henry" is a complete jerk, not just in his 20's stage either, and makes me hate his character. They may be great and wonderful narrators (clear voices and pronunciations are wonderful) but not suited for this story. Sorry.

Wonderful Book

Although I was expecting something completely different, I was delighted with this wonderful book!
Perfectly read by William Hope and Laurel Lefkow.
Highly recommended !

Fascinating

The narrators were sufficient, but some of the material was somewhere between uncomfortable and frustrating.

Her take on time travel is quite fascinating. The unraveling story of a couple collecting shared memories in different orders was quite fun. Some of the memories themselves I could have lived without, and I don't just mean the unpleasant memories, but some of the episodes were either pointless or vulgar and could have been rewritten more to my taste than to hers. Not done poorly, but not to my preference.

One of the main characters does things you don't want or expect hero characters to do, which to me really spoiled the book, even after all the good in it. I would love to see a PG or PG-13 revised version of the storyline with those segments removed, which to me would tighten the story a bit.

Absolutely captivating

This was one of my first audio-books. I had recently changed jobs, and faced a new 45 minute commute each way. The book had been recommended, but I'd neglected to read it. Bored with my commute, I decided to try audiobooks. I enjoyed the first couple, and they made the commute pass nicely, but this one blew me away! I was willing to go back out to the drugstore, to the post office, anywhere, even after my long day was done, just to have a few more minutes to listen to this story. The narrators are superb,and the story is beyond engrossing. I have a teen-aged son and daughter, who were both so intrigued by my fascination with this book that they each downloaded the book, and asked for hard copies for Christmas. I never believed I would be so enamored of an audiobook, but this one has made me a stalwart champion.

My only caution is that the author does not seem to have any further titles available.

LONG!

I made it through the first half no problem, the second lasted for an eternity! This could have ended much sooner. It was a nice ending though!

This was fascinating!

This is unlike other books I have read. It is a tad disjointed, but I still followed the nuisances fairly well. At times, I thought alternate realities might be a gift. At other times, it was super creepy. The story definitely opens your mind to thinking that there is more to the world than your own narrow tunnel.

And lastly, I thought, "I never, ever want my long passed husband to see me at 80!" Yikes! No, no, no!