I am re-reading The Time-Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger. This is my second time through. I've seen bits and pieces of the movie, but read the book first. I've always been intrigued by time-travel stories, but this is by far the best I've read. The prose is elegant, the storyline heartrending, the characters fully-fleshed and ready to jump from the page into real life. I am a speedy reader: I skim, I rush, I read with one part of my brain while solving problems and re-hashing conversations in other parts. Those who know me, know that I am an unrepentant multi-tasker. With this book, I long to slow down. Savor. Immerse myself. Alas, if I am reading silently I seem unable to read slowly, and I have no one who wants to be read to, at least no one older than my grandchildren, and this would not be an appropriate bedtime story for two- to six-year-olds. = )
This is writing that begs to be heard. If I could speak the words as I read them, it would force me to linger, to infuse the prose with all the meaning the author intended to convey. The story is written alternately in the voices of its two main characters. It would be especially lovely to read the book aloud with a man, who would read Henry's parts as I read Clare's.
I don't know why this particular book has affected me so, but I will read it again now, and will read it again in the future, I am certain. Each time I read it, I will take something new from it. Maybe one day I will even watch the entire movie...
