Stop The Story Here Please
(Caution - Time Traveler’s Wife Spoilers)
I am on page 440 for the first time. This chapter is titled “An Unpleasant Scene” and I would like to pretend the book ends one page earlier. At 339, I have just finished reading about Henry’s perfect 43rd birthday. I suspect (no, I am sure, but we’re supposed to pretend we don’t know the future) that this is Henry’s last chronological birthday. And I can’t cry while I’m at work. I have closed the book without my bookmark. (It’s a ticket stub from the Canadian War Museum.)
I love to start things, think up ideas, muse thoughts with my friends. Usually, I “st...” things but don’t “..art” them. A few years ago I picked up “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger and I set it down to read Yann Martel’s “Life of Pi” instead. Now, with all the buzz, I’m starting it again so it doesn’t get spoiled by the movie. And it is so beautiful. A terribly fabulous book. I hate it.
When I read books, I am slow to get going. I get distracted by my copies of Harry Potter and the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, that are following me around the house and trying to tempt me in to the bathtub or a cozy chair. I have a shameful stash of books (mostly Margaret Atwood, I am a bad Canadian) that are secretly unfinished. But, once I get into something, I am insatiable. I read and read and read until they are done or I absolutely have to put clothes and live a real life. I started time traveling with Henry a few days ago, and now there are less than a hundred pages left to be revealed.
But I don’t want them to be. I’ve already shed my near hysterical tears last night, when I learned that Henry will be leaving Clare so soon. And because this book can be so cruel, this is revealed to the readers through an exquisite little scene with Henry and Alba. It is heartbreaking. Earlier in the book, Clare tells Henry’s father that it is better to have lived a life punctuated by blinding happiness, than to spend a whole life on middle ground. Even if that means the bad parts are as bad as the amazing parts are amazing. This book is like that too. Of course, I have to agree with Clare. I just don’t like it. Would you take the edge off of all your good times, if it meant the downs weren’t as much of a plummet? No, no you wouldn’t.
I’ll finish this book after work. So I can safely drive home first. And then, then we will WoW.