The Time Traveler's Wife - Post #2

At first, time traveling sounds like a good time. An unknown adventure that many dream of. It seems like a super power: the ability to revisit past experiences and live future events before they occur. But in this book, time traveling is not presented with this positive spin. Henry goes through so much pain and suffering as a result of his time traveling. He strives to have a normal life. He finds a faithful doctor, Dr. Kendrick, who unsuccessfully attempts at formulating a drug to help Henry remain in the present.

Henry's most recent issue happens when he time travels on a freezing night. He finds himself alone, without clothes and in an unfamiliar time period. This is one thing that can be confusing about the book, but Henry actually calls his own self who is living in the present at this time. When the current Henry and Clare go to rescue time-traveling Henry, they cannot find him. Aware of the difficulties associated with time traveling, Clare says, "We are seemingly unscathed, but sooner or later there will be hell to pay" (450). Because they could not find Henry that night, he ends up getting hypothermia and needs to have both feet amputated. Yet because Henry was time traveling when this happens, he and Clare will not know about the pain he is going through until the future.

Obviously, the story can get very complicated. Many problems become tangled up in the hard-to-follow time sequences. It is very important to pay close attention to the date and time for each chapter. Also, the reader constantly has to make connections between chapters to realize that Henry is living through these events multiple times. This book definitely is not a happy fantasy about a hero with super human abilities. Rather, it tells the story of one very different man trying to live a simple life. As the reader, they must realize that the complicated book layout truly reflects the difficult life Henry must endure.