Last Thursday night was the first day that the movie The Time Traveler’s Wife was showing in Singapore and Gelle and I were among the kiasu people who went to watch it that very night. We had both read the book (written by Audrey Niffenegger) months ago, the reason why we were so excited to see it brought to life onscreen.
How I discovered the book – I had heard the DJ on RX 93.1 talk about the film that was being shot then, and how she had read the book and how beautiful it was. Curious, I went online to check if the library had any copies. They did, so I made a reservation and had it delivered to Cheng San, the library nearest to me. Yes, Singapore’s National Libraries can do that. Pretty cool, huh?
The story: Clare has waited for Henry her entire life. She met him when she was six. He met her for the first time in his 20’s. Sounds off? That’s because Henry is a time traveler – cursed with a rare genetic anomaly (chrono-displacement disorder) that causes him to live his life on a shifting timeline, skipping back and forth through his lifespan with no control and (with no clothes). Despite the fact that Henry’s travels force them apart with no warning, Clare desperately tries to build a life and a family with the man she loves, the one she has loved and waited for all her life.
Verdict: I think the movie captured the gist of the book. But if it feels a bit unsubstantial to you, pick up the book to get a more detailed explanation. Here is an excerpt. It was kind of easier to follow Henry’s time traveling scenes in the movie, though, because you get to see when exactly he’s coming from. And oh, don’t forget to bring tissues.
Quotes from the book:
It’s hard being left behind. I wait for Henry, not knowing where he is, wondering if he’s okay. It’s hard to be the one who stays.
I keep myself busy. Time goes faster that way.
I go to sleep alone, and wake up alone. I take walks. I work until I’m tired. I watch the wind play with the trash that’s been under the snow al winter. Everything seems simple until you think about it. Why is love intensified by absence?
Long ago, men went to sea, and women waited for them, standing on the edge of the water, scanning the horizon for the tiny ship. Now I wait for Henry. He vanishes unwillingly, without warning. I wait for him. Each moment that I wait feels like a year, an eternity. Each moment is slow and transparent as glass. Through each moment I can see infinite moments lined up, waiting. Why has he gone where I cannot follow?
I’m at a loss because I am in love with a man who is standing before me with no memories of me at all. Everything is in the future for him. I want to laugh at the weirdness of the whole thing. I’m flooded with years of knowledge of Henry, while he’s looking at me perplexed and fearful.
Don’t you think it’s better to be extremely happy for a short while, even if you lose it, than to be just okay for your whole life?
I hate to be where she is not, when she is not. And yet, I am always going.
But you know: you know that if I could have stayed, if I could have gone on, that I would have clutched every second: whatever it was, this death, you know that it came and took me, like a child carried away by goblins.
There is only one page left to write on. I will fill it with words of only one syllable. I love. I have loved. I will love.
It’s dark now and I am very tired. I love you, always. Time is nothing.
“I’m afraid of losing you.”
Clare smiles. “How could you lose me? I’m not going anywhere.”
“I worry that you will get tired of putting up with my undependableness and you will leave me.”
“But I never want to leave you.”
Clare puts her sketchbook aside. I sit up. “I won’t ever leave you,” she says. “Even though you’re always leaving me.”
“But I never want to leave you.”