Customer Reviews: Read 834 more reviews...
 The Time Travelers Wife - Audrey Niffenegger January 10, 2009
This is a truly remarkable book that i have read for the second time - and loved just as much this time as the first. An unconventional story of unconventional love between two people, absolutey heart warming and wrenching at the same time.
Few books have been able to reduce me to tears, but this one had me sobbing so hard when i was reading it on the way home from work, that someone on the train came and asked me if i was ok! The completely original tale of Henry and Clare will never leave me, firstly for the emotion that it has quite clearly raised up in me, and secondly for the amazing mixture of feelings that are stirred up between our two main characters - caring, dependance, expectancy but more than anything, love makes this book an absolute treasure to experience.
A tour de force through time, space and the human heart - an amazing read.
I will never forget this book January 8, 2009
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I don't post reviews often. I feel so strongly about this book that I wanted to share with others my thoughts on it. I don't think I have ever read a more amazing 'first novel' than this. I have read a few reviews on here and I can relate to the difficulty of getting your head round it - I too almost put it down when I started having difficulty with the different dates, believing that I had to remember them all. In fact you don't need to remember them all- you may find yourself skipping back through pages later on to look at the dates more closely. I kept with the book and I am so glad.
One reviewer says she feel deeply in love with the character of Henry and spent days depressed after finishing the novel.
I can tell you I finished the book on Monday and it's now Thursday and the last three days I have 'missed' Henry so much. My heart aches actually - (but maybe I'm coming down with something!). In fact I haven't thought about much else other than Henry (and Clare and that last chapter).
I cried because, well, because it's just amazing - I hate the word amazing because it's too inadequate. I borrowed the book out of the library and will now buy it because I want it on my bookshelf for the rest of my life.
Give it a chance. Maybe you wont love it as much as some of us do, but perhaps you'll finish it feeling like the majority of us. Audrey Niffenegger, you are truly gifted.
 for yuppie's December 31, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book is: pop culture, swearing and annoying characters. It's a 'yuppies' book, for people who think they are hip and cool.
Don't read this book if you don't like books that contain:
-pop culture: Nirvana, Tom Cruise, Peter Pan, Oreo's (the biscuit)...the list is endless.
-swearing; the book contains lots of the 'F' word, most of them are unjustifiable. There are also tons of: "Christ", "oh god", etc.
-vanity; the author continually describes what people are wearing, and it's to a point that it serves no point to the story.
-cheesiness; the father plays the violin, lets visit the museum, he's a librarian, she's an artist, i've got 800 books, massive house, "lets go to the opera..."; total overload.
-drunkenness; just to much, they drink for pleasure and get drunk, thats it...
-sex; quickly gets tiresome.
-immorality; cheat at lottery - they want money!
None of the characters are totally likable. There was one scene that made me really dislike the lead character: he is attacked, he fights back, he over powers his attacker but then he doesn't stop, he starts to beat the attacker to a 'pulp'. And then we get the lamest excuse to try to justify his actions...
The writing style is simple, cant call it bad.
The books plot is ok, it was the only thing that kept me reading, just to find out what happens next. But everything else is just annoying.
A story needs to be interesting to be worth telling, just not like this.
An all-time classic - must read December 28, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I never write reviews on Amazon but I feel so strongly about this book that I must urge everyone to read it. I read this book about a year ago, during the early chapters I found the story and style of writing quite confusing and difficult to keep track of...do not be put off though. Once I had read a few chapters I was hooked and read the whole book in a matter of days.
Be prepared for a heart-warming, emotional read and possibly even a few tears along the way. This is by far the best and most intelligently written book I have read since To Kill A Mockingbird. I have since passed my copy around all my friends and family, including my literature-buff Dad and my non-reader Mum and all have loved it - so much in fact that I am now searching for a new copy to replace my worn out one!
A book to read over and over... December 15, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This has to be one of my favourite books - as soon as I had finished reading it I went back to the beginning and started all over again. Three years later its is still the book I will pick up to reread when I have nothing new to hand.
It's a wonderful love story with a unique twist - the main character, Henry, jumps through time with no way of controlling when or where he goes. Because of this, the storyline perhaps jumps around but I think it helps to show how Henry's life progresses. I've read some other reviews where people complain about the sex in the book and the language used to describe it, but I have to say I didn't find it offensive in any way. I think it helps to get across the passion that Clare and Henry have for each other.
It's a book which stayed with me for weeks if not months after the first reading (and rereading!). I think that is surely the mark of a good, if not great, book.
Be warned - you will know pretty early that the ending won't be a happy one. It makes me shed a few tears every time!
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