Thursday, February 11, 2010

The Time Traveler's Wife


In January I read the book The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I saw the previews for the movie so I decided I would read the book before seeing the movie. The book is about a man who can literally time travel. He doesn't have any control over it and he finds out it is a genetic disorder. The book was hard to follow because there was "future Henry" and "present Henry" and they could both be in the same time at once. The book jumped around from all different eras, always centering around Henry's love - Claire.

I was determined to finish the book even though it took be a bit longer to get through because I would have to go back and reread parts. Finally when I finished I was very mad and upset all at the same time. I had no idea how it was going to end and when it did, I was crushed. But don't worry, I won't spoil it for you.

After I finally finished the book I was anxious to see the movie. It finally came out this week so I headed over to my trusty Red Box to rent it for only a $1 and sadness- it hadn't made it there yet! After being bummed out (I was on my way home from work and was not going to turn around to go to a Blockbuster) Ryan tells me I can just "rent" it on OnDemand through Cox. Genius! I didn't even know I could do that.

So I got home and sure enough for only $4.99 I got to see my movie (it is 5 times more expensive then the Red Box but Ryan told me I better watch it then because he REFUSED to watch it with me).

Surprisingly, I LOVED the movie. It was so much better than the book. And I usually don't say that. The books are always better but not this time. The movie starred Rachel McAddams and Eric Bana - two actors I love. I was able to follow the movie when Henry was jumping around in time and the movie had a slightly different ending so it made me happy. I even cried during it. And those of you who know me, KNOW I don't cry in movies. The only ones I have cried in were Armageddon (I lost it when Bruce Willis was telling Liv that he wasn't coming back to earth) and The Notebook (coincidentally, also with Rachel McAdams).

If you haven't read the book or seen the movie I would first rent the movie and then read the book. You are more likely to understand what is going on in the book that way. That will probably be a movie I have to own.

2 comments:

Kendall Jones said...

I agree!! I loved both. The movie is just so sweet and I definitely wish I had watched the movie before reading. I had to re-read parts of the book a lot, too!

Sarah said...

Oh I'm so glad to know! I read the book one year in Florida and anticipated the ending much too soon and it made finishing it even more difficult. I was a mess by the time it was done. So I'd thought I wouldn't watch the movie b/c I didn't think I could go through it again. Do you think Nathan will watch it with me ;)