The Time Traveler's Wife: October 2011

Critical Article: One

The Geek, Oil on panel 20” x 26” 1995
By: Audrey Niffenegger

This first article Allen Papinchak discusses Audrey Niffenegger style of writing and her use of art which came from her early ages as young girl. He states that her involvement in becoming a professor and teaching graphic arts has allowed her to be able to convey her style of work and use it in her writing. This article shows Allen’s point of view on how Audrey is able to write such symmetry and emotion in her novels. Her background in the graphic arts gives her the ability to picture and visualize her characters before she begins to write, it allows her to understand the movement and dialogue of the people in the novel. Being an artist makes it difficult to write a novel front to back her writing is out of order. The Time Traveler’s Wife started with the title and image of the characters in the book she then continued from that and asks herself questions of how, when, where and what. Audrey style of graphic art will continue to be shown and used by her as she writes future novels. The visualization and chaotic thought of ideas and story lines will allow her to create art in a piece of writing, as writing is nothing but a mere canvas she can show the world.

Critical Article: Two

In this article named Reader recommended Gabrielle Gayagoy, gives a few books that you can add to your summer relaxing reading list. Gabrielle states that The Time Traveler’s Wife is “This impossibly romantic tale features a sci-fi twist that'll make you think twice about the true bonds of love. “ (Gabrielle Gayagoy) Gabrielle might be too much of a critic in this statement but her open attitude can become very beneficial. Being a critic allows people to see your point of view and own opinion on a type of novel. With critics it allows books to be discussed weather between friends or in book clubs. Being a critic can help people evaluate a novel and allow people to become interested in a certain pieces of writing. Her criticism and own view of the book is directly related to the books theme allowing people to know exactly what they are expecting when they pick up The Time Traveler’s Wife. With Gabrielle and others giving recommendations of books that they found as a fun or relaxing read allows people to have help in deciding what book they

Audrey Niffenegger teaching a writing class.

should read next and be able to recommend for other people. Without critics books would not be passed down to friends and family and novels would not become bestsellers without people being critics. With Gabrielle’s recommendations people will be encourage to read this romantic tale and twist of science fiction The Time Traveler’s Wife.

Gayagoy, Gabrielle. "READER-RECOMMENDED." Joe Weider's Shape. 01 Jul. 2005: 38. eLibrary. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculumca/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1
&requestid=lib_canada&resultid=182&edition=&ts=7FE2AEA93CAA81316870A8313E1946E9_
1319064200388&start=176&publicationId=&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B115877688

Critical Article: Three

Niffenegger appeared at the Aurora Public Library,
where she sat behind the wheel of the library’s bookmobile.

This article discusses the setting and theme of The Time Traveler’s Wife. Charles de Lint describes the overall relationship that is focused on the entire novel between Clare and Henry, focusing on Henry who time travels and the struggle that the two characters have to go through. He describes how Audrey is able write back and forth between the two viewpoints of the characters and travel in time. Charles gives his criticism and describes what he enjoyed, from the heartbreaks, the small truths and large issues, with humour and violence and even the moment of love and peace. He compliments Audrey’s writing with saying that it was able to keep great attention to detail through the entire novel. Charles even concludes it with saying The Time Traveler’s Wife is an overall great novel and delivers on its promise, that you should appreciate love when you have found it. Audrey’s novel is for sure a great read and allows for love, adventure and a little time travel to keep a reader’s attention.

de Lint, Charles. "The Time Traveler's Wife." Fantasy & Science Fiction. 01 May. 2004: 28. eLibrary. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculumca/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_canada&resultid=200&edition=&ts=7FE2AEA93CAA81316870A8313E1946E9_1319064200388&start=176&publicationId=&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B94097053

Author: Audrey Niffenegger

Book: The Time Traveler’s Wife

The author’s writing is what amazes me the most and keeps me wanting to read more. Her ability to skip from the past to the present and change the setting five or three times a chapter can be utterly confusing to a reader. But following her writing seems simple she makes the story flow with such ease. The story of time traveling can bring a reader from year to year and switching the point of view from Henry to Clare can confuse the story line. But Audrey uses Henry and Clare’s epic love story for the main plot. Following the relationship of Clare and Henry allows the mystery and overall passion between the two to overpower the time traveling. She is able to keep the story flowing from start to finish.

Evanston, Illinois Audrey
Niffenegger's home town.

Audrey Niffenegger was born 1963 in Evanston, Illinois. As a young girl she spent most of her time alone in her room finger painting her stories she created in her head. Niffenegger later got her bachelor’s in 1985 from the Art Institute of Chicago, and then received her master’s in 1991 from Northwestern University. She works as a professor for the Interdisciplinary Book Arts program at Columbia College. Her first novel she published was The Time Traveler’s Wife.

Produce: A Cautionary Tale for Picky Eaters published in 2005 (left)

The Three Incestuous Sisters published in 2005 (middle)

The Adventuress published in 2006 (right)

Following the novel The Time Traveler’s Wife Audrey wrote The Three Incestuous Sisters an illustrated novel which was published in 2005 and was a fairy tale of three orphaned sisters. In 2006 she published the novel The Adventuress, as well in 2005 she published a short story Prudence: A Cautionary Tale for Picky Eaters. All the novels relate along the same genres varying a little but not by much, Audrey liked to write about love, mutations, death, sex, and time for most of her novels.

Audrey Niffenegger Themes:
Love, Death Sex, Paranormal

She continues to write these love, time and sex genre books, but she has started to go darker as she is writing about superstitions and paranormal activity she is going more in-depth and using more detailed writing to be able to express her love for the arts. Writing and making art since she was little girl it was in her perspective that all her novels were merely pointless but she does it out of pure joy and it can be a way of recording daydreams in a more dynamic way. With no schedule and set time to write and usually losing her rough notes. The writing usually only happened when she had a deadline or she knew she had a little time from her crazy life to just sit at the computer and write a little.

Audrey Niffenegger working on some of her own art.

Major themes Audrey is known for are her very in-depth artsy work using sex, love, time, and even now the darker influence to catch a reader’s eye of the supernatural. By spreading the variety of different themes it allows for a broader range of readers. She has also illustrated novels using more of the art visual to express more of her talented writing.

Source for Literary Biography

Papinchak, Allen. "Audrey Niffenegger." ProQuest Learning:Literature 123.7 Jul 2010. 50. Copyright Kalmbach . Database. 11 Oct 2011. <http://literature.proquestlearning.com/quick/displayMultiItem.do?Multi=yes&ResultsID=1325B51BD5A&forAuthor=0&QueryName=criticism&ItemNumber=2>.

Critical Authors, Secondary Sources

Papinchak, Allen. "Audrey Niffenegger." Writer 7(2010):50. eLibrary. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculumca/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_canada&resultid=20&edition=&ts=3CD4279E73C24A22C0491D75DA326D33_1319056477513&start=1&publicationId=&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B181637122&pdfflag=y#citation

Gayagoy, Gabrielle. "READER-RECOMMENDED." Joe Weider's Shape. 01 Jul. 2005: 38. eLibrary. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculumca/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_canada&resultid=182&edition=&ts=7FE2AEA93CAA81316870A8313E1946E9_1319064200388&start=176&publicationId=&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B115877688

de Lint, Charles. "The Time Traveler's Wife." Fantasy & Science Fiction. 01 May. 2004: 28. eLibrary. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculumca/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_canada&resultid=200&edition=&ts=7FE2AEA93CAA81316870A8313E1946E9_1319064200388&start=176&publicationId=&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B94097053

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