Summary
In the following sections and pages and the book, Henry starts off by walking over to his old apartment to visit his father. When he arrives, he meets Mrs. Kim, who's pretty much raised him since he was a child. They start having a nice conversation and Mrs. Kim learns that Henry is with Claire, and now is anxious to meet her. Then, Mrs. Kim found out that the real reason Henry went to visit was to ask his father to give him his mom's rings, and thus she found out that Henry is getting married to Clare. As the conversation continued, Henry learns that his father hasn't been paying his rent, hasn't been working and has been throwing things around and screaming. This is due to him missing Henry's mother and not being able to work anymore because his hands shake a lot. The chapter concludes with Henry's father giving him the rings.
In the chapters that follow, Clare and Henry are together on her twenty- first birthday. On her birthday, Henry asks Clare to marry him, and she says yes. Then, a week later, Henry takes Clare to meet his father and Mrs. Kim. They both loved her. Also, when Clare was in a cafe, she encountered Cecilia, who is a friend of Henry's ex Ingrid. She took her to see her, and when Ingrid found out she was getting married to Henry, she got very upset and left. However, that's not all that happened. In future events, Henry is looking for a drug to somehow alter his time travelling for at least a few hours so he won't disappear when his wedding day comes. Unfortunately, he took the a drug that had the wrong response in his body, and so he ends up in the hospital. Less than a month later, it is time for Henry and Clare's wedding, and on their wedding day, just a few moments before Henry has to go and marry Clare, he time travels for a bit, but then he comes back quickly.
So much has happened that it wouldn't be enough to explain. Something really important that hasn't been mentioned though is that Clare ends up pregnant, but has at least 6 miscarriages, which leaves her mentally, physically and emotionally destroyed. She does end up finally having a baby without no miscarriage, and Henry disappeared very briefly just before she gave birth. When he travelled in the future, he saw his daughter when she was older yet still a child, and in this time travel he learns that she time travels too, but that he is dead. Also, around the time of Clare's miscarriages, Henry is seeing a doctor that will help him figure out what is wrong with him that causes him to time travel. The last thing mentioned was how Claire lost her virginity to Henry on her eighteenth birthday.
Quote
"'She was a very emotional person, Annette. She brought that out in other people. After she died I don't think I ever really felt anything again'"( Niffenegger 238).
Reaction
In these sections of the book, so much happens that it can really keep the reader interested. It doesn't seem as if one is flying through the pages, because it feels as if one is time travelling with Henry and it feels as if one is in the adventures as well. The author hasn't lost the details and essence of the true romance between Henry and Clare that keeps growing. The author is also still stating some things that are explained later in the book, which is what keeps the reading going and it's what catches the attentions of readers as well.
I chose this quote because I like the honesty Richard (Henry's father) portrayed in talking about Henry's mother Annette. He did say more but I liked this particular part because it's very easy to tell that Richard was very in love with Annette and that they were very happy together, and even if she died, he's still in love with her. Through this I learned that this is where Richard fell apart, because he may feel as if he could have stopped her from getting killed but he couldn't. Through his words I also learned that Richard lost a huge part of himself in losing his wife, and I find it sweet how it takes one conversation about Annette to make him be somewhat himself again. It shows the sincere love they have, which is similar to what Henry and Clare have.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
The Time Traveler's Wife (Pgs.1-218)
Summary
The Time Traveler's Wife tells the love story between librarian Henry DeTamble and Clare Abshire. Henry travels through time practially involuntarily, and during his time travelling he meets Clare, only he meets her at the age of six. When he time travels, his ages vary depending on the year he is relocated to. Also, when he time travels, once he arrives, he arrives naked. In the pages read, readers are introduced to Clare, when she is the age of 20 and Henry the age of 28, which is the real age difference between them. Clare tells readers how she first saw Henry, and the excitement she felt, although he had not a clue who she was. She reminisces on the memories she shared with Henry while she grew up, and how she's hoping he loves her in this present as he has in her past and their future. She asks Henry out on a date, and he relunctantly agrees. In this date Clare tells Henry everything they have gone through in their past, but then they have a normal date and talk. The date ends with Clare going to Henry's apartment, and they spend the night together.
The rest of the pages proceed with readers learning about both Clare and Henry's childhood. Clare grew up living a good life. Her father was a lawyer, and her brother Mark was on his way to becoming a lawyer himself. She also had a younger sister named Alicia. She mainly got along with her mother and her housekeeper, Etta. Meanwhile, Henry was an only child. His mother was a famous singer and his father a violinist. His mother died in a car accident when he was a child, and the relationship between Henry and his father has been strained ever since. Henry doesn't ever say much to Clare about his past, but eventually he does, and she learns how he feels he should have died along with his mother. He tells her that when they crashed into the truck, "I was watching us plow into this truck, and then I was in the hospital...I was completely abscent from the scene for ten minutes and forty-seven seconds. I don't remember where I went"(Niffenegger 113-114). This shows that this was the second time Henry had time travelled, and that's why he survived the accident.
The last things that happen in the pages read were that Henry goes and visits Clare while she grows up, and through this they fall in love with each other. Later in the future, Henry visits her family for the first time, along with meeting her friends. He spends time with her family during Christmas break, which is a sad time for his because this was when his mother died.
Quote
"I hear a muffled sniffling noise and glancing at Clare I am astonished to see that tears are streaming across her face towards her ears. 'What's wrong Clare?'...It comes out so quietly that I have to ask her to repeat it: It's just that I thought maybe you were married to me.'"(Niffenegger 71).
Reaction
In this book, the author makes it known when the narrators are changing, like when Henry will be narrating or when Clare will be narrating. This story is different from other stories because it doesn't just mention an event and then start telling how it happened from that exact moment. Instead, the author mentions the event and doesn't get into it until later in the book, which can really leave readers curious and makes them want to keep reading so they can figure out how exactly it happened. An example of this is when readers find out Henry's mother dies when he's young. They never learn how it happens because it's never told in detail at that precise moment. Instead, readers find out much later in the book, and they learn the detail of how she died, which was in a car accident. This book is amazing so far as far details. Something that does get confusing is when Henry time travels and is different ages, including seeing himself both either at the same age or younger/ older.
I chose this quote because I like the connection Henry and Clare have, even if she is just a child. She is upset because she has asked Henry if he has a wife, to which he responded yes. This upsets her because, while at a sleepover with friends and playing a game in the Ouija board, she learns that Henry is her husband, or rather will be. What she's unaware of is that she is the wife that Henry speaks of, only in the future. I think this quote is really cute because it foreshadows how Clare and Henry will be together in the future, and how from such a young age, she knows that he's the one she wants to be with. I think the connection her and Henry share at this point is already past an older man and a little girl, and that the love they will share in the future comes from this lovable connection they share now. The last thing this quote shows is that they will be together practially forever, because of the non-ending encounters between them and how their feelings increase more and more throughout the change of time and time travels.
The Time Traveler's Wife tells the love story between librarian Henry DeTamble and Clare Abshire. Henry travels through time practially involuntarily, and during his time travelling he meets Clare, only he meets her at the age of six. When he time travels, his ages vary depending on the year he is relocated to. Also, when he time travels, once he arrives, he arrives naked. In the pages read, readers are introduced to Clare, when she is the age of 20 and Henry the age of 28, which is the real age difference between them. Clare tells readers how she first saw Henry, and the excitement she felt, although he had not a clue who she was. She reminisces on the memories she shared with Henry while she grew up, and how she's hoping he loves her in this present as he has in her past and their future. She asks Henry out on a date, and he relunctantly agrees. In this date Clare tells Henry everything they have gone through in their past, but then they have a normal date and talk. The date ends with Clare going to Henry's apartment, and they spend the night together.
The rest of the pages proceed with readers learning about both Clare and Henry's childhood. Clare grew up living a good life. Her father was a lawyer, and her brother Mark was on his way to becoming a lawyer himself. She also had a younger sister named Alicia. She mainly got along with her mother and her housekeeper, Etta. Meanwhile, Henry was an only child. His mother was a famous singer and his father a violinist. His mother died in a car accident when he was a child, and the relationship between Henry and his father has been strained ever since. Henry doesn't ever say much to Clare about his past, but eventually he does, and she learns how he feels he should have died along with his mother. He tells her that when they crashed into the truck, "I was watching us plow into this truck, and then I was in the hospital...I was completely abscent from the scene for ten minutes and forty-seven seconds. I don't remember where I went"(Niffenegger 113-114). This shows that this was the second time Henry had time travelled, and that's why he survived the accident.
The last things that happen in the pages read were that Henry goes and visits Clare while she grows up, and through this they fall in love with each other. Later in the future, Henry visits her family for the first time, along with meeting her friends. He spends time with her family during Christmas break, which is a sad time for his because this was when his mother died.
Quote
"I hear a muffled sniffling noise and glancing at Clare I am astonished to see that tears are streaming across her face towards her ears. 'What's wrong Clare?'...It comes out so quietly that I have to ask her to repeat it: It's just that I thought maybe you were married to me.'"(Niffenegger 71).
Reaction
In this book, the author makes it known when the narrators are changing, like when Henry will be narrating or when Clare will be narrating. This story is different from other stories because it doesn't just mention an event and then start telling how it happened from that exact moment. Instead, the author mentions the event and doesn't get into it until later in the book, which can really leave readers curious and makes them want to keep reading so they can figure out how exactly it happened. An example of this is when readers find out Henry's mother dies when he's young. They never learn how it happens because it's never told in detail at that precise moment. Instead, readers find out much later in the book, and they learn the detail of how she died, which was in a car accident. This book is amazing so far as far details. Something that does get confusing is when Henry time travels and is different ages, including seeing himself both either at the same age or younger/ older.
I chose this quote because I like the connection Henry and Clare have, even if she is just a child. She is upset because she has asked Henry if he has a wife, to which he responded yes. This upsets her because, while at a sleepover with friends and playing a game in the Ouija board, she learns that Henry is her husband, or rather will be. What she's unaware of is that she is the wife that Henry speaks of, only in the future. I think this quote is really cute because it foreshadows how Clare and Henry will be together in the future, and how from such a young age, she knows that he's the one she wants to be with. I think the connection her and Henry share at this point is already past an older man and a little girl, and that the love they will share in the future comes from this lovable connection they share now. The last thing this quote shows is that they will be together practially forever, because of the non-ending encounters between them and how their feelings increase more and more throughout the change of time and time travels.
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