I just finished this book by Audrey Niffenegger, and I must say that I have mixed feelings about it. It was a good story, but it was also very confusing. I don’t see how the author herself kept everything straight in a story where the main character, Henry, was constantly jumping from one time to another. He goes back in time and talks to himself as a boy. He goes forward in time and encounters people who are still alive after he’s already died. He meets people in the past who will be part of his adult life, but because he meets them when he is actually, say, 40 years old going back in time, he doesn’t know them when he meets them in chronological time at age 20. Henry time travels involuntarily; it’s like a genetic defect. He never knows when he will suddenly be thrown into a different time and place, and he’s not allowed to take anything with him. So he always shows up in a different time stark naked. This naked-you-came-into-this-world-and-naked-you-shall-return rule creates some serious problems as you can imagine.

The other thing that bothered me about this novel was the sex. Sex is very important to Henry and his girlfriend/wife, Clare. Call me a prude, but I just skimmed all the many, many, many descriptions of Henry’s and Clare’s sex life. The fact that this physical connection was important to both of them was a significant idea in the story. Since Henry is always leaving and coming back unexpectedly, I can understand that physical intimacy might be even more vital to their relationship than it is in a “normal” marriage. Nevertheless, spare me the details next time, O.K.?

There’s also an Odysseus and Penelope theme carried throughout the novel. Henry is Odysseus, always leaving, having adventures, returning to hearth and home frequently, but sometimes much too briefly. Clare is Penelope, waiting for Henry to come to her as a child in the meadow near her home, as a young adult when she and Henry meet for the first time (for him), as a wife when Henry time travels to unknown destinations. Instead of weaving, Clare builds paper sculptures. Henry, like Odysseus, must face and overcome all sorts of obstacles to come home to his patient and loving wife. I don’t know if Henry is a hero or not, but Clare is certainly a Persistent Penelope. When a friend tells Clare that she can’t just sit around waiting for Henry to appear for the rest of her life, Clare replies, “Watch me.”

In the end, the theme of faithfulness to a relationship in the face of suffering and great difficulty is probably the redeeming feature in this novel. And trying to figure out the chronology of the novel in a non-chronological world is kind of fun –when it’s not frustrating. The graphic sex and the decadent lifestyles of some of the characters are the downsides. I’m not sure whether or not it was worth it, but I usually finish whatever I start.