book vs. movie part II: The Time Traveler's Wife

by Audrey Niffenegger
Rating: 4.0
Format: fiction
Reason for Reading: 999 challenge, to compare with movie

i saw the movie recently and found it disappointing. i thought it was well acted but i felt like the story fell short somehow. it felt like significant parts were left out. or at the very least the transition from book to movie was choppy. i hadn't read the book so i didn't have any preconceived notions. it just felt like something was missing, which made me want to read the book.

the time traveler's wife is the story of henry and claire. henry has a genetic disposition that makes it difficult for him to stay in the present. he is a time traveler and finds himself revisting the past. it is there that he meets claire as a little girl. when she grows up, they meet in the present, fall in love and get married. the story explores their life together, their struggles and their triumphs, and the eternal nature of love.

i found the book to be much more satisfying. the characters were three dimensional. i found myself completely invested in them emotionally. i found myself disappointed at times in their actions. i cared about them. they felt so completely real. the story really sat with me after i finished the last page. i wanted there to be more. but of course there couldn't be. it was done.
i found the time traveling aspect to be interesting. i liked that this was really explored in the book. i suspected it might be, based on the few tidbits in the movie. and that is what i felt the movie lacked. it seemed like there was more story there, more to tell about the why's of henry's condition that they touched upon but didn't fully explore. and somehow the story didn't work. it felt like a tease or a throwaway. like ok, this was in the book but we can't really explore this in the movie because it would be too long, but hey let's just mention it. oh and we'll mix things up a bit while we're at it.

i suppose the only part i wasn't satisfied with was the exploration of henry's condition. it was definitely much deeper than the movie hinted at, but i still wanted to know more! i recognize though that this is just me being greedy. my curiosity was piqued once his time traveling started crossing over with his daughter's. i wanted to know when and how it came about that there was an official diagnosis that the public was made aware of. this wasn't really integral to the story and it would have made for an even longer book.