Why am I passionate about this?
I’ve always loved stories that rearrange reality in some simple, allusive way, including movies like Groundhog Day or The Truman Show. They remind me of a quote about Italo Calvino that I first read when I was a teenager and have loved ever since: ‘He holds a mirror up to life, then writes about the mirror.’ I tend not to be attracted to stories that simply depict reality and even less so to stories that completely abandon reality for an invented fantasy world. All my favorite fictions take place somewhere in between, in the blending of the real and the impossible.
Sam's book list on making the impossible feel real
Why did Sam love this book?
Time travel is one of those superpowers that I have always found thrilling, yet there are very few convincing examples of it in fiction. The genius of this book is that time travel is presented as a disease. Henry has no control over when or where he is swept away, and every trip revolves around his own life, so he doesn’t ever meet Napoleon or Shakespeare.
What I love most about the story is how it illuminates so many angles of a romantic relationship that are never normally illuminated–and how Henry keeps finding himself naked and throwing up. The last chapter is just so sad and beautiful that it brings tears to my eyes every time I read it.
21 authors picked The Time Traveler's Wife as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
Now a series on HBO starring Rose Leslie and Theo James!
The iconic time travel love story and mega-bestselling first novel from Audrey Niffenegger is "a soaring celebration of the victory of love over time" (Chicago Tribune).
Henry DeTamble is a dashing, adventurous librarian who is at the mercy of his random time time-traveling abilities. Clare Abshire is an artist whose life moves through a natural sequential course. This is the celebrated and timeless tale of their love. Henry and Clare's passionate affair is built and endures across a sea of time and captures them in an impossibly romantic trap…