Momof3: Entered room.
JulieO: Hi Momof3 - thanks for joining!
Momof3: I am early for a change!!
JulieO: that's great. have you joined any of our other book club discussions before?
Momof3: one
JulieO: which one?
Momof3: Chinese Balzac or something...I have a bad memory of all the books I have read!!!
Courtenay: that was a good book
Momof3: I loved it too
JulieO: yes it was great and we had a really great discussion
Courtenay: so what did you think of TTW?
Momof3: there were so many people in that discussion that it was hard to get a word in
Momof3: I could not keep up with the different conversations
JulieO: Hi yorkshirelass - glad that you could join us again
Momof3: really enjoyed the Time Travelers Wife....
chibismum: what is topic please?
JulieO: We're discussing the Time Traveler's Wife - have you read the book? yorkshirelass: Did anybody not like it
chibismum: 'fraid not, sorry ...
chibismum: i'll listen in though.
yorkshirelass: I borrowed it from a friend and liked it so much, I bought it
Courtenay: it's a wonderful book
JulieO: I personally really liked it - it was a refreshing change from the typical love story
chibismum: hi OVR
chibismum: getting quite a crowd in here!
JulieO: the more the better!
chibismum: nice change from the usual afternoon desert.
JulieO: So, for those of you who read the book, what did you think? Did you like it?
Momof3: I loved the book...some people I know did not like it because I felt they over analysed it
chibismum: quickie summary please someone?
chibismum: brb, need to make ice run to office kitchenette ...
JulieO: the following is from the publisher: The Time Traveler's Wife, is the story of Clare, a beautiful art student, and Henry, an adventuresome librarian, who have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-three and Henry thirty-one. Impossible but true, because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder: periodically his genetic clock resets and he finds himself misplaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity
Momof3: I liked how I had to keep track of the dates to follow the overlapping when he time traveled
Courtenay: it was a little confusing at first!
OVRO1: I enjoyed the book as it was different but did anyone find that they were unable to keep abreast of who was "talking" in the various sections.
JulieO: interesting - about 2/3 of the way through the book I started to get a bit tired of having to constantly keep track of what was going on
JulieO: with the time traveling I mean
Momof3: that is the part I enjoyed
Courtenay: OVR, i agree with your point about trying to remember who was narrating
JulieO: Hi Rosehip - glad you could join us again
JulieO: not a problem - we're just getting started. Did you read the book?
Rosehip: I LOVED this book!
chibismum: book sounds intriguing
Courtenay: you are obviously not part of the book club chibis! :)
chibismum: alas that my TBR pile is so high and deep
OVRO1: Did anyone try to put Henry's bits into chronalogical order.
chibismum: i get so worn out by summer heat that i do not read as much
JulieO: Ok, I have a question. If you had the ability to time travel like Henry - would you?
chibismum: past only, future only, or both?
Rosehip: YES! I think it was more a gift than a curse
JulieO: both
Momof3: No I would not like to time travel
Courtenay: me neither
JulieO: I don't think I would either
Rosehip: In many ways it was a more powerful version of normal memories... and the riches you could have!
chibismum: i'd like to find out answers to a few great historical questions, but otherwise ... i dunno, i like my creature comforts
Momof3: I would be travelling and missing an important event in the present
Rosehip: But you'd be able to see people you'd loved and lost
Courtenay: that's true
OVRO1: Wouldn't it be nice to go back and try to change all the embarressing things we remember doing
Momof3: if you see the people you lost you would be losing them many times over...to hurtful
JulieO: True - there were some definite pros but think of the hurt and anxiety one would cause to those left behind. Clare certainly didn't love it when Henry traveled
chibismum: i dunno abt people . . . i tend to go along with rod serling that it's not so much you cant go home again as you shouldnt go home again.
Rosehip: I thought the ending was very optimistic, like evolution was going to take a giant leap with his daughter
Rosehip: She said she could sometimes choose where to go
Rosehip: Maybe I'd like to be a 3rd or 4th generation traveller, after the creases have been ironed out
JulieO: I really loved it when Henry met his daughter at the museum - could you imagine experiencing that??!
Momof3: the hurt does not diminish after any generation
Rosehip: If he hadn't traveled he never would have seen her beyond five!
Rosehip: Does hurt diminish over time anyway though?
chibismum: you bear it better
Momof3: no but time travel would compound the hurt
Rosehip: Don't you just learn to live with it?
JulieO: Something that I really liked about the book was that the time traveling was very believable - do you agree?
Rosehip: I thought it was nice he could go back and see his parents in happier times
Momof3: or sure you would live with it but we are talking about a choice if we would want to
Rosehip: I totally suspended belief
Ly: is this the time traveller's wife forum?
JulieO: Yes
JulieO: Did you read the book?
chibismum: discussing the time travelers wife
Ly: yup
Ly: although it's been a while
JulieO: what did you think?
Ly: it was fantastic!
Ly: :)
Ly: i'm assuming all you guys have read the book as well, right?
yorkshirelass: I liked the it that the time travel was supposed to be based on a chromosone disorder rather than "magic"
JulieO: that seems to be the consensus here
Momof3: the best thing about the book was the hard life the 2 of them had, their love endured...not like present relationships that end in divorce at will
Ly: so true
JulieO: Yes - i agree yorkshirelass - it made it all the more believable
Rosehip: You really felt for the characters
Courtenay: And with Henry having to scramble for clothes etc... it wasn't like a sci-fi movie where he arrived in a ship in tip-top shape!
chibismum: any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. i forget who said that.
yorkshirelass: i liked it that henry was supposed to have a chromosone disorder rather than it being magic
JulieO: yes, the obviously were totally in love with each other. I wonder if they would have found each other if Henry never time traveled.
Rosehip: The time travel bit was also a clever device to keep you reading... glimpses into the future
JulieO: yes, otherwise the story would have been a bit bland - defintley the time travel was the hook
Rosehip: Maybe I'm just a cynic but I did wonder if the lawyer might end up fathering Clare's baby
Ly: at first i thought that it was a sci fiction book
Ly: but in the end, it's more of a romance novel, really!
chibismum: it's not sci fic ??
Rosehip: Did anyone find out what was going on when Henry crashed into the kitchen bleeding?
Rosehip: I couldn't quite place it
Momof3: wasnt that when he was stabbed???
yorkshirelass: sorry don't know why it sent that twice
Momof3: oh no....that was when he was beaten up...
OVRO1: Or when he was shot
Rosehip: I can't remember him being stabbed!
Momof3: oops shot
Rosehip: Do you mean when Clare's in the cafe and Celia tells her he's being beaten up?
OVRO1: Did Henry know that about his daughter when he met her with his previous girl friend?
Rosehip: No, but I think Ingrid did
OVRO1: Yes I think she guessed
yorkshirelass: why would ingrid know that
Rosehip: She must have known from this they didnt have a future
yorkshirelass: was ingrid aware that henry time travelled
Rosehip: She calls him stupid after the encounter. Maybe she looked like him... she has his black hair
JulieO: what did you think about the part when Clare slept with her friend - was she betraying Henry or was it out of sheer grief and loneliness?
Rosehip: Yes, Ingrid knew. She lets us know this before she dies
Rosehip: Do you mean before he meets her?
Rosehip: Before H meets C, I mean?
OVRO1: I'm sure she did know that Henry time travelled and that she was more astute than Henry gave her credit for
yorkshirelass: i think that once henry and clare reached the point where they had got married in real time, when he disappeared she started to feel lonely
yorkshirelass: because he was going back into the past to meet her but she was stuck in the present
Rosehip: Doesn't she sleep with him once when she's 18?
JulieO: Hmm, I don't remember.
Rosehip: I thought she only slept with him once as a teen, and then almost sleeps with him after he dies
Rosehip: But shes interrupted by her friend and the kids
OVRO1: When she has sex with Gomez she is out of her mind with grief
OVRO1: But should Gomez have taken advantage of her like that
yorkshirelass: I wonder why henry could only get to see her again, once when she is an old woman, and why he can get to see his daughter but not clare
Rosehip: OVRO1 have I remembered this wrong?!
yorkshirelass: after he dies i mean
JulieO: good question. you'd think that he would have visited Clare all the time when she was older as well as his daughter
Momof3: Henry did not have a choice where to travel
Rosehip: Do you think his destinations were linked to his subconscious?
Rosehip: He visists his mum's death over and over
Courtenay: I definitely think so
OVRO1: I don't remember her sleeping with Gomez after she leaves her home town but she might have done but I do think she slept with someone between losing her virginity and meeting Henry again
Momof3: his visits were linked to foreshadowing what was coming up in the story
Rosehip: Thinking about it, there are a lot of children in this book... Henry is somewhat obsessessed by it
Courtenay: So what about the different narratives - what did you think of switching back & forth between Henry & Clare's perspectives?
Rosehip: The child maketh the man... maybe he's just trying to work himself out
Rosehip: The novel gained much by being stuctured in this way
yorkshirelass: Do you think there could be a sequel, with henrys daughter as the main character
JulieO: but the reason he wanted Clare to stop was for her own protection - he saw what the miscarriages were doing to Clare
Momof3: switching back and forth between the 2 helped us, the reader, to understand what time period things were happening
Rosehip: I would LOVE to read more about the daughter
Momof3: and how life would be for them in the future/present/past
Rosehip: More obsessed by his own childhood, I suppose
OVRO1: Claire seems to have been honest with the authorities about her daughters condition
Rosehip: She probably had a lot of explaining to do!
JulieO: oh good thought - perhaps Alba could time travel back in time to be with her parents
Momof3: nope..no sequel....too much anaylse will kill the "feeling" the author was trying to portray
yorkshirelass: I think the authorities must have known others, otherwise they would not have accepted Alba and probably had her to be scientifically studied
JulieO: true - it would be a bit much. the essence of the story wasn't about the time traveling, it was about the love between
Clare and Henry, at least that's what I think
Rosehip: But they can't force anyone to undergo experimental treatment!
OVRO1: Maybe the time travel was pre-ordained and they could only travel to certain events
Momof3: I agree Julie
Rosehip: But the concept is such a great one
Momof3: time travel was just the setting for the love story
yorkshirelass: its a book that i will definitely re read and maybe understand it a bit more
OVRO1: Yes which was what Henry's father was worried about
Rosehip: What do you mean OV?
JulieO: what was Henry's father worried about?
OVRO1: That Henry would be concidered as public property if anyone found out about him
yorkshirelass: I think if someone claimed to scientists that they could time travel, they would be locked us as insane
Courtenay: exactly
Rosehip: Do you think that the fact that hisAlba had a label meant that other travelers had been found?
Momof3: anyone who has a opinion different then the "norm" is considered insane....we are a very close minded society
yorkshirelass: just to digress a minute has anyone read Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercey,
Rosehip: No. similar thenme?
yorkshirelass: I think so Rosehip,
Rosehip: What does she call the condition? I can't remember
Rosehip: It's something like 'CIC
Rosehip: 'Chromosomal...
JulieO: I loved the relationship that Henry had with Kimy - she brought a bit of humour to the book
OVRO1: I thought that their marriage was fraught but funny
yorkshirelass: It was a bag lady who time travelled to the future she left a physical body behind but had a different body in the future
Rosehip: Was the physical body she left behind asleep then?
yorkshirelass: she didn't know but assumed it was in a coma like state
Rosehip: Was it as good as this book?
yorkshirelass: It wasn't a love story but showed what society could be like in the future
JulieO: Why was Henry so obsessed with running?
Rosehip: Utopia or dystopia?
yorkshirelass: I liked it but it was a bit darker than this book
Rosehip: He probably liked feeling in control
yorkshirelass: there were 2 versions utopian and dystopian and she visited both,
OVRO1: He seemed to have a lot of energy to get rid of he also liked sex a lot
JulieO: do you think it was a metaphor for always being on the run?
yorkshirelass: anyway this isn't helping the discussion if nobody else has read it
Rosehip: So the future wasn't set? Sounds fascinating yorkie
Rosehip: Was H a stereotypical man then, in that he had an evolutionary desire to soread his seed?
Rosehip: Maybe Ingrid had suffered miscarriages
Rosehip: Why was Celia and Claire's other girlfriends so against him? 'You don't know what he's like
OVRO1: But wouldn't that have made him more wary about Clair getting pregnant
Momof3: because they were jealous of H and C relationship
Rosehip: Maybe he didn't know about it
JulieO: yes, it seems that Henry had a bad rep before he met Clare
OVRO1: They didn't know what Claire knew and she had never told them
Rosehip: It was Claire who wanted to keep trying. It wasn't all H's decision to make
Rosehip: Maybe Claire grounds him
Rosehip: Maybe he couldn't see a future before he met her.
Rosehip: Do you think that when he was with Ingrid he visited her past too?
OVRO1: But she can't stop the stress that causes him to travel
Rosehip: He doesn't visit Claire's past until he's met her in real time
JulieO: No. I think it was the love that he and Clare had that instigated his time travel
Rosehip: Extreme fight or flight, isn't it?!
Rosehip: Good point OV
JulieO: could you see this book being made into a movie?
Rosehip: It would be interesting to get Ingrid's version of events.
Momof3: not many men would like it
Rosehip: There would be more guns in it!
Rosehip: And girls, probably!
Rosehip: Or am I just showing my cynicism?
JulieO: perhaps a little but I think you're right!
OVRO1: Henry seems to let history happen, he doesn't try to warn about 9/11 at anytime
Rosehip: Excellent point... I wonder if his daughter will have a different attitude?
Courtenay: Sounds like everyone really enjoyed TTW - thank you very much for coming to the chat today! As usual feel free to continue talking. Watch your inbox for our next exciting pick, and good luck in your travels.
Momof3: thank you for your time Courtenay and Julie
JulieO: thanks for coming. until next time...
OVRO1: It's what the military would probably use her for if they could.
Rosehip: Thanks for the ideas, chaps... I'm going to spend some time with my daughter now! Toodle-oo!
OVRO1: A lovely discussion thank you everyone
JulieO: thanks OVR01 for coming. see you next time.

[Book Club Main]