I truly enjoy time travel books, and so I was looking forward to reading this novel. I was utterly disappointed. Rarely have I run across a book where virtually every character just annoyed the crap out of me as much as they did in this one. The people in this book left me cold and I had no feelings for virtually any character, but most especially Clare.
Characters don't have to be likable, that's not what drama is about. The problem here is the author is all about tell not show. The writer tells us that Clare and Henry are devoted beyond all reason but we see few instances. I'm not talking romance novel crap, but hey how about an actual conversation once in a while. But we don't see into Henry or Clare's hearts even though, amazingly, the story is told in their voices. Almost everyone in the book is flatter than slab of sidewalk (except for the a couple of secondary characters who at least had racial cliché to fall back on) and therefore there was little emotional connection for the reader to the characters or for that matter, even between the characters.
The book was an easy read, and the ending exactly what I expected upon starting the book. But I wouldn't call this a love story; rather, it's best likened to reading the blog entries of two of the most affected people ever, rambling on like drunks who believe they have found the meaning of life after 10 shots of tequila. Lots and lots of filler that does nothing to move the story either forward or backwards. Oh, and excruciating detail on paper making. There's no humor, no "everyday" conversation, few emotional connections made between the Henry or Clare. By the end, while I felt sorry for Henry, I mostly didn't care what happened to any of them, particularly the excruciatingly dull Clare.
Henry has a genetic disorder which causes him to spontaneously jump from point to point in time. He basically lives a miserable existence, never knowing where he's going to turn up and in what situation. It's almost always dangerous, he's alone, naked, no money, no friends, and never knowing just where he is or even when. This causes all sorts of problems both small and life-threatening; at one point he becomes severely frostbitten having landed in the dead of winter and it and ultimately leads to other tragedies. This is not a life to be wished on anyone. When in this state Henry steals from other people, which is understandable. Not so understandable, is that despite the fact that he has cheated to win the state lottery and is very well-off, he never makes any effort to repay any of the people he steals from. It's just part of being Henry. But we can forgive him that a little because his life pretty much sucks all the time. But basically Henry's entire life is devoted staying alive (which you would think would be more interesting that it actually is) and of course, lusting after the oh-so-enchanting Clare. Henry was the closest I came to giving a damn about anyone here, simply because his affliction was so awful.
Clare is an artist from a very wealthy family which means she doesn't have to work and can spend all her time making affected and pretentious art out of paper. Clare is one of those fictional heroines that men and women just instantly fall in love with without much explanation why, it just happens because the writer says so, and are usually closely modeled on the author. They're called Mary Sues in Fan Fiction, I don't know what you call them when it's a professional writer.
Clare's apparent magnetism is such that she is also coveted by Gomez, the loutish, chain-smoking, mean-spirited husband of Clare's best friend. Gomez pretends that he's Henry's best friend, but really, he's just hovering in wings hoping that something terrible happens to Henry so that he can have Clare. Nice. Clare's friend is such a loser that she actually knows this and really doesn't care that she's sloppy seconds for Gomez. Clare has sex with Gomez twice, once because she was drunk and once because she was missing Henry (and Gomez is just the kind of pig to take advantage like that) and also, I guess because that's how Clare treats her best friend. Gomez is another character that everyone just seems to love for no apparent reason because he's basically a predatory, pretentious creep.
(Actually now that I think about it Clare and Gomez actually ARE perfect for each other.)
Anyway, the author cobbled together every coffee shop, ex-pat, beatnick poetry reading on the left bank of Paris cliché she could think of and turned them into characters. The only thing missing were the black turtleneck sweaters to accessorize the pretention. In their conversations, I'm reminded of high school where all the cool kids spend much of their time congratulating themselves on their superiority and quoting poetry they don't really understand. Oh one funny thing that stood out was Clare's referring to her genitals by a word that will get bleeped by Amazon so I'll leave it at that. Generally, this is phrase most often uttered by the class of women one sees in an episode of "Cops." But here the writer threw it in to make Care look all the more hip, edgy, too cool, and all left-banky rebellious. It's not the word, that's NBD, it's the problem is the false-feeling writer's manipulation. But when you're working with cliché, I guess you just have to roll with it.
But pretty much everyone is a shallow as a salad plate;A empty plain white salad plate.
So Henry and Clare meet when Clarie is a child and the author tells us they fall in love, although we never really understand why other than because the writer says so. Henry is good enough to wait until Clare is no longer jailbait before pouncing. Henry and Clare are hot for each other and have lots great sex. I'm not turned off by sex in a book (in fact I like it, bring it on!). However, I am turned off by repetitive, BORING sex. When sex becomes as interesting as reading about the characters drinking coffee, something is not right and it's just filler. I've never had book where I was actually skipping past the sex. Other than asounding great sex, Henry and Clare don't seem to really have much connection, emotional bond, shared experiences, conversations, or any other thing that would draw them to each other. Henry and Clare are soul mates `cause the writer says so.
What Henry sees in Clare is beyond me, she unlikeable and whinny and demanding and completely self-involved. Henry decides to ask her to get married after Clare tells him they were having way too much great sex and it hurts to do it that constantly. Henry's solution is to pop the question because I guess giving her the reward of a wedding will enable him to get laid more often without all the complaints. How romantic. And despite the fact that Henry can disappear at any time and especially in times of high stress, Clare plans a huge over-blown wedding, because Clare wants what Clare wants. This of course causes Henry a great deal of stress and you can guess the rest.
Whereupon Clare immediately decides she must have a baby. She must. She must, she must, she must -- Despite the fact that Henry has a dangerous genetic disorder that could be passed on. Does Clare give even the slightest consideration to what may happen to a baby or child that suddenly disappears and is dumped off naked and alone in a strange place? And really, does she not get that this is neither a good idea or in the best interests of a child? Apparently no, she does not. Because Clare is spoiled and thoughtless and gets what she wants. So I'm treated to 200+ pages of Clare's multiple miscarriages and her whining and relentless consuming obsession with having a baby. That is when she's not making paper. Henry's good with this because it enables him to get laid more often. I'm supposed to think this fixation with having a baby is somehow romantic, I guess. What it actually is is selfish, and ultimately, cruel.
So after much ado, Clare finally completes her little science experiment and churns out a kid. And of course, she is wise beyond her years and says all the witty and precocious things that any child of these too-cool-for-school parents would have. (If she had been a boy, they would have named him Che Guevara Detamble!) Oh, and big surprise, she's got the same genetic disorder as her father. So good luck with that whole suddenly appearing naked, alone, and broke in some dark alley when you're seven years old Kid. Do try to avoid being kidnapped, lost, murdered, or molested. But hey, at least Mom got what she wanted--`cause it's all about Clare getting what she wants.
By the end, everyone is unhappy; The perfect nihilistic ending for this vaccuous group. Not the worst book I've ever read, but certainly one of the most non-engaging for a "love story".
