The Time Traveler's Wife

[Llama]

Just finished reading the book - loved it! I can't remember the last time a book made me cry (I am so mucho...)

Anyway, I hear that they've filmed a movie version staring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams. It was supposed to be released in 2008, but now it seems it will be delayed until 2010...

does anyone know what the deal is? when will this movie be released?

(I hope they don't ruin the story too much in the film)

 

[Neroon]

I read the book about three years ago, and wondered if it was ever going to be made into a film. Then word came down about the film you've mentioned with Bana and McAdams. I've been wondering what was going on with it, because I'd really love to see the film. I'm never encouraged when there's a delay like this.

 

[Mark de Vries]

Last I heard was that Brad Pitt was in the running for the lead. But in hindsight I guess that was his role in Benjamin Button, rather than this.

I have no clue, and I won't mind if it remains unfilmed. Great story.

 

[Shawnster]

The movie is completed and in the can. I'm not sure what the delay is.

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0452694/

I read it. I thought it was a really good book. Great story. Someone on here mentioned that an episode of Dr. Who may have been inspired by the book so I looked the book up.

 

[TrekkieMonster]

Nice to see others who enjoyed this book, perhaps as much as I did.

Unfortunately, whenever I've liked a book as much as I did The Time Traveler's Wife I'm always a little reluctant when I hear they made it into a movie. Could be a good one, though, and I can absolutely understand the casting.

Will be interesting to see if/when it's released.

 

[Checkmate]

According to this article, it's due for release in August of this year.

 

[Neroon]

According to this article, it's due for release in August of this year.

Cool! Thanks for finding that.
Are there any other other sites that can corroborate this story?

 

[Starbreaker]

http://www.cinematical.com/2009/03/17/time-travelers-wife-gets-a-date/

on a side note... Niffenger just received a $5 million advance for her second novel.

 

[Twilight]

Yeah, it's a really beautiful book -

I look forward to the film, I hope it does the book justice.

Actually, there are three really extraordinary books being turned into films right now: The Road, The Lovely Bones, and TTW ... if pulled off correctly all of them could be great films.

 

[Neroon]

Excellent! This makes it all the more encouraging.

Way back before there was any word of a film being made, a good friend & I were discussing who ought to be cast in the eventual film. Our favorite combination was Robert Downey Jr. and Kate Winslet (as a redhead).

 

[Sakrysta]

I've been meaning to pick up this book ever since people pointed its shared elements with my beloved Journeyman. I'll have to hit the library sometime soon and check it out.

 

[Agent Richard07]

^ I've read up on the movie/book and it sounds exactly like Journeyman.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Read it as a romance, not as a science-fiction novel.

As a love story, the book really works. (Which is surprising. This was clearly plotted out to within an inch of its life, and that sometimes sucks the life out of a story.)

As a science-fiction novel, it doesn't stand up to any sort of logical scrutiny. There are points where you'll want to throw the book across the room.

I'm curious about the movie. Long delays from initial release dates typically don't bode well, and I don't really see Eric Bana as Henry in any sort of way. Lee Pace would have been far better. But I'm willing to give it a shot.

Again, read it for a romance. Not for a science-fiction story.

 

[Cain]

Read it as a romance, not as a science-fiction novel.

As a love story, the book really works. (Which is surprising. This was clearly plotted out to within an inch of its life, and that sometimes sucks the life out of a story.)

As a science-fiction novel, it doesn't stand up to any sort of logical scrutiny. There are points where you'll want to throw the book across the room.

I'm curious about the movie. Long delays from initial release dates typically don't bode well, and I don't really see Eric Bana as Henry in any sort of way. Lee Pace would have been far better. But I'm willing to give it a shot.

Again, read it for a romance. Not for a science-fiction story.

I actually found that it worked well as both a romance novel and a science-fiction. IMO, the time travel aspects were logically consistent. The author set rules for how the time travel works and from my view, never broke those rules. At least it was more logically consistent than time travel stories like Back to the Future or many of them in Star Trek.

 

[Sakrysta]

This thread motivated me - last night I checked it out of the library and read the first couple chapters. I'm captivated.

 

[Evil_Kirkneivel]

I'll add my voice to those who loved this book - it's a fantastic blend of romance and science fiction/fantasy.

Personally, the book felt so perfect that I doubt if I will get much out of the movie.

 

[Sakrysta]

Oh, and speaking of Journeyman similarities, having just read a little of the book, the book's Henry reminds me more of Ethan in "Perfidia," forever chasing lost love. I know that's not really what the book's about, but the two characters felt closer in my mind than Dan and Henry do. At least, so far.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

IMO, the time travel aspects were logically consistent. The author set rules for how the time travel works and from my view, never broke those rules. At least it was more logically consistent than time travel stories like Back to the Future or many of them in Star Trek.

There were a couple of points where I felt like the author had overlooked or underthought some of the implications of the way Henry's chrono-displacement worked.

For instance, I'm still trying to figure out why the seminal fluid Henry left throughout time stayed wherever he left it.

And I wonder why Henry doesn't leave his undigested food behind when he "leaps." (If it's because it's "inside" him, by that logic, he should be ingesting condoms filled with money on a daily basis, on the chance that he's going to need it very very soon.)

The fatalism of the book also bothered me, and never more so than with the 9-11 scene. Henry simply accepted that history was written and couldn't be changed. I would have liked to have seen Henry use 9-11, for instance, as a spur to see if he could, in fact, alter his fate.

 

[Shawnster]

He tried to change history several times before 9-11. The most tragic event in his life was the death of his mother and he kept trying to change it. Each time he failed. He even states that he gave coffee to the police workers (or someone) one time when he went back.

One could assume that he grew frustrated at the number of failed attempts of changing that particular moment in his past that he gave up and simply accepted fate.

You bring up a good point about the undigested food and swallowing condoms. Maybe he never thought about doing that, though. Plus he never really knew enough in advance that he would time leap so it may have been impractical. Not to mention that he may not have been able to make himself puke the condoms up after leaping (of course after all the other things he had to do, making himself puke shouldn't have been a problem).

I think the seminal fluid works the same way the undigested food does. Since the seminal fluid was outside of his body then it didn't leap with him. The food was inside his body so it did. This also explains why he left the pool of blood the one time he lept away after being cut by all that glass.

 

[Reverend]

I don't think the swallowing money trick would have worked since if I remember correctly (it's been ages since I read the book mind!) didn't his dental fillings stay behind, or was it a metal pin in one of his bones?