The Time Traveler's Wife and I have a bit of history. Word of mouth about the book spread fairly early to me because of the time travel element, shortly after it had gone to second printing. I struggled through those first, awkward pages of a dual first-person narrative, convinced I could rise above it because the premise was so me. Ultimately, I fell in love with Niffenegger's rich prose, dimensional and imperfect characters, and the complexities of a love story told through the lens of fractured time. I had conversations with my agent about the path it took from tiny print to bestseller and its potential impact the same market I was aiming for. I wanted so much for the movie to find Titantic success, both for selfish I-want-to-adore-this-film reasons and for market reasons. It became important to me to find out how Audrey Niffenegger felt about the movie. It became my must-see for the year.
Brad Pitt, the actor tied to it at the movie's inception, would have come closer to my Henry. The at-times clunky dialogue would never have wormed its way into Niffenegger's prose. Because of those time constraints, we were only privy to Claire's fully-realized life through the lens of Henry's scenes and the moments that advanced the love story. The story of The Time Traveler's Wife became The Time Traveler's Love Affair and her character became all but lost. The tears I shed at the book's end were nowhere to be found amidst the sweeping cinematic music meant to evoke some cathartic emotion I didn't feel because I hadn't re-visited the depth and scope of their relationship together. In the book, Claire has moments where she wrestles with fidelity to a lover she doesn't see for years at a time. We witness her grow into a woman, not exclusively in Henry's shadow, but through her art and other relationships. In the movie, all we see is Clare's unyielding adoration from age six. Passionate? Yes. Deep Tragedy of Struggling Lovers? Not so much.
The movie Forrest Gump was much better than the book. The movie was tighter and less wandering than the the book.
I would have thought you'd want Depp or McGyver for the time traveler.
So sorry the movie wasn't all that it could or should have been.
And I can't think of an example because I almost always see the movie and then learn it's based on a book, which I rarely, if ever, go back to read.
Maybe The Notebook and Gone With the Wind.
At risk of losing my sister-from-another-mother here, I have to say I haven't read the book or seen the movie. Don't know why--just haven't. (Ditto Bridges of Madison County and The Notebook.) I do hear you about the book to movie conundrum and think there are very few movies that do justice to the books from spawned them. I was going to say Harry Potter was the exception, but I have to admit disappointment to the last movie and hope they pull it back with #7 (parts one and two!)
Now, when they make a movie of one of your books, L.A., I think that's going to be my new standard for *awesome!* Cause it will be. 🙂
I almost picked up this book the other day. Something stopped me. Maybe just some doubts that it would be my cup of tea.
I loved, loved, loved TTTW as a novel and had about 5,000 issues with the film. I saw it in the theater and suspected the story would be too hard to depict visually. For me, it was just a mess. But, to be fair, it wasn't as though I could figure out how how to fix it had I been the director. I just don't think it EVER should have been a film.
On the other hand, I read and had some issues with The Jane Austen Book Club, but I really appreciated the changes the director made to the movie that, for me, highlighted the aspects of the story I liked best. Others probably disagreed with that interpretation, but it was one of the few situations where I truly preferred the film to the novel.
did not see the flick nor read the book, so can't comment...
I couldn't wrap my mind around the book...I love time travel, and am an avid Doctor Who watcher, and all that fun stuff, but for some reason...I couldn't get into her writing style! It made me sad, because I've heard brilliant things about the book.
The movie, I watched and thought it was fair, but as I haven't read the book, I can't really compare...