The Time Traveler's Wife

I had just finished reading this book by Audrey Niffenegger. I got it a month or two ago during the MPH sales. I'd picked the book up idly, read the preview on the back-cover and thought it'd make an interesting read. Time-travel, afterall, is most exciting and intriguing. However, despite what most of the online reviews say about the book, I didn't like it. In fact, I plainly hate certain parts of the book, and couldn't care less for most other parts. The only thing I'd give credit to the author for, is the novel idea of a person who time-travels as a result of a genetic disorder. It is also rather sensible of Ms Niffenegger to write that Henry, the time-traveler, takes nothing with him when he time travels - not even his tooth-filling (which is why he appears naked a lot of times in the book). However, at one part, Clare, his wife, found him beaten-up and bleeding on the kitchen floor, naked of course, back from one of his time-travels. The description of him included "dirt under his fingernails". Hey, the dirt was not supposed to have followed him home through time, remember? (unless she meant the dirt was from the kitchen itself, and had somehow ended up under Henry's fingernails after he returned *rolling eyes*)

Anyway, what I really hated about this book was that although the author did not describe any sexual activities explicitly, she used words that I found most displeasing, most downright distasteful - words that should never have found their way into a book, what more a book that's supposed to be on love and endurance, and patience and cherishing the now and here - they're just so, SO inappropriate! Amongst these words which I despise, the awful four-lettered "f**k" can be considered one of the not-so-rude ones (in my opinion). Imagine! I am not about to list the rest and stain my blog.

Other than utter rudeness in diction and crudeness in style, certain parts of the book are just plain boring - over-describing of petty events (no-head-nor-tail meetings / outings that leave you "Huh?!?") and stuff (a list of 20 or so grocery items Henry bought).

Reader, if you're thinking of getting this book and reading it, for whatever the reason, I will not advise you against it. Perhaps you'd enjoy the rude shock better than I did. Seriously.