“The Night Bookmobile” by Audrey Niffenegger

I read this graphic novel about a month ago and never got around to writing about it. I know I enjoyed the story, which turned out to be a bit darker than I expected (not a bad thing). I must say I was less than impressed by the artwork (that's not to say I could have done better . . . although someone could have) but luckily that didn't detract from the story.

I really liked the premise of this book: everyone has a "magical" traveling library that holds every book they've ever read. The more they read, the more books are added. Although my blog obviously doesn't go all the way back to my Dr Seuss days, it's kind of like my very own Night Bookmobile from 2009 on! And much easier for me to find.

"Her Fearful Symmetry" by Audrey Niffenegger

I had heard of this book before, but whatever I'd heard hadn't piqued my interest enough to put it on my list of books to read. It wasn't until Kat read it and blogged about it that I decided I needed to read it. And, lucky me, my local library has a copy!

This book was not nearly as good as Niffenegger's first, The Time Traveler's Wife. Of course, that's been one of my favorite recent reads, and there was a lot to live up to. I wonder if I would have been more appreciative if my expectations hadn't been so high? That being said, this was still a pretty decent book. On the scale from Rhino Ranch to The Amnesiac, this was probably a solid Birth of Venus.

Initially Niffenegger's writing seems much less down-to-earth and much more artificial than in The Time Traveler's Wife, and this book suffers by comparison. The entire book is certainly not as tight, and is less engaging as a result. It took too long for two of the main characters (the twins, Julia and Valentina) to seem like real people. It wasn't until Valentina began attempting to live a separate life from Julia that I got a sense of character development. That may have been intentional on Niffenegger's part, but it didn't work for me. And, speaking of Valentina (and Elspeth, and probably others who aren't coming to mind at the moment), the corny names annoyed me. Nobody named Elspeth is younger than 80 these days. Was this supposed to make them sound more British? (Yes, of course Valentina was American, but her name was chosen by Brits).

Coming to this story with no preconceived notions, I was surprised to find it is a ghost story, although I suppose the supernatural element shouldn't faze me after Niffenegger's first novel involved a very non-science-fiction type of time travel. I was at first kind of disappointed that the ghost element was confirmed so quickly--the possibility introduced in one chapter, and revealed in the chapter immediately following. It would have been interesting to have that drawn out, with a few more clues and suspicions. But I guess I must accept that this is not that kind of ghost story. And, looking back now, had Elspeth's ghost been introduced in the more suspenseful way I'd wished for, that would have bogged the story down and derailed it for a time.

At the beginning of the book, I was strongly and oddly reminded of Ian McEwan's Amsterdam. Both books open (well, this one has 2 other chapters first) with a cold day in an London cemetery (this one is Highgate; I try to remember, but can't, if the location of the crematorium in Amsterdam was named, but the description in my memory firmly matches that of Highgate). Both books also have a Molly (though she is a very minor character in "Symmetry"), and Martin's wife moves to Amsterdam! The similarities ended there, but it was interesting to read that Robert took the twins to Postman's Park, which is where Natalie Portman's character in the movie Closer chose her false name of Alice. (I never knew the name of that place, or even that it was real, until the familiarity I felt upon reading the description in the book encouraged me to google it.)

Robert's thoughts during Elspeth's funeral are poignant: "How will I remember everything about Elspeth? . . . At this moment he knew everything he would ever know of Elspeth, and he urgently needed to stop time so that nothing could escape . . . now he was running past her, losing her. She was already fading. I should write it all down... but nothing would be adequate. Nothing I can write would bring her back." I have known that feeling; the twin sorrows of wanting to write down every memory so I will never forget any of them, and of knowing I can form no new memories with that person. It is peculiar to read what seems to be my own thoughts captured in a book.

Does the fact that I don't quite understand the book's title make me a dummy? I am guessing the "her" is Elspeth, and the "symmetry" refers to the theme of twin-ness running throughout the book, but I'm not sure about that and I wonder if I'm missing something. There are quite a few interesting parallels: Martin, who can't leave his flat due to OCD, and Elspeth as a ghost, who can't leave her flat due to the arbitrary-seeming supernatural rules; Edie, who loses her twin, and Julia, who loses hers; the separation of Edie and Elspeth (or Elspeth and Robert, for that matter), the separation of Martin and Marijke, and the separation Valentina longs for.

Finally, in regard to the ending, I am left wondering: where did Robert go? What did he do? What decision had he made when he "laughed out loud at the obviousness of it"? (Gosh, is it supposed to be obvious to me, too??) Did he have death in mind (because why else would he have left his unfinished manuscript behind)? Was the manuscript actually his thesis or did he rewrite it to explain everything? (And if so, why can't I read that?) He seemed no longer attached either to Valentina or to Elspeth by the end, so I don't believe he left Elspeth in order to try to be with Valentina.

Ambiguity! Sometimes it kills me.

"The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger

This book was amazing. I was pretty sure it would be great, just based on the premise I'd gathered in a blurb online, and happily as I read I found it certainly measured up to my expectations, at some points even exceeding them. It didn't take long into the book for me to decide that I thought this was even better than The Amnesiac. 'Nuff said.

The book turned out to be a little bit different than I expected. I guess I didn't expect Henry to have a completely separate life from Clare up until he, that he knows of, first meets her at age 28; and, to be honest, I didn't expect Henry's life before Clare to be so full of vice. But it worked well anyway. Especially with the inexplicable chicken-or-egg cycle presented: Clare grows up to be a better woman than she would have, due to 30- and 40-year-old Henry's positive influence in her childhood, as a tutor of both her intellect and character; and because Clare is a better woman, she is able to take degenerate 20-something Henry and help him change into the better man he needs to be in order to exert that positive influence on Clare as a child. Have I blown your mind yet? Just wait until you read the book!

I was afraid that this was going to be one of those books that I couldn't wait to finish, and then once it was over I would hate that it went by so fast. Well, I got the first part right; I was so eager to read this book, and to get all the pieces put together, but once I finished it I was almost relieved. Not glad it was over, really, but satisfied. Of course that may be in part because I still have a lovely stack of books waiting on me, instead of my usual feeling of waaaaaaaah, what am I going to read now?

It is unusual that I feel ambivalent about seeing the movie which is now in theaters. Most times if I've read a book and I know they've made a movie of it, I am driven with curiosity to see what they've done with it. This time, not so much. This is partly because I am just about certain that it can't be anywhere near as good as the book and I don't want to be disappointed; partly because I worry that with all the scrambled chronology it will either be too confusing or insultingly dumbed-down to keep it simple; partly because somehow I don't feel a need to see the characters as anyone but who I picture in my mind--especially because, judging from the movie poster, Clare's hair is mousy brown. It's not as if Niffenegger barely mentioned Clare's hair. We hear multiple times about her beautiful long red curls; this doesn't seem optional to me. If they didn't even pay enough attention to detail to get that part right, I worry for the remainder of the movie. Not only that, but Hud told me he saw a preview for the movie, and it was just a bunch of guy-picks-up-girl-and-swings-her-around, and the book is NOTHING like that. The book is a beautiful love story but not the least bit corny, and guy-picks-up-girl-and-swings-her-around is nothing if not corny.

I have certainly read books with hokey bits in them before, and although those bits tend to disrupt the story with a little bit of literary indigestion, I can usually choke them down and move on, but I don't recall having to do that once in this book. In fact, the only part I remember that rang a little false was at the very beginning, when Henry is first introduced, and it seemed obvious to me that the author was a woman; it was hard to believe that section was truly being narrated by a man. However, I either got used to it quickly, or the rest of the book was not flawed in that manner, because after that first part I no longer noticed it.

I just finished reading the book moments ago and I want to savor it and think over it a little before I jump into my next book. In fact, I ended up re-reading the first 50 or so pages just in order to pick up on all the little hints dropped there, now that I know what all of those hints are alluding to. But even after looking back and reflecting on the story, I can't discern a single plot hole (although at first the time traveling was mind-boggling to me, until I learned and became more accustomed to all the "rules") and all of the questions raised in my mind throughout the book seem to have been answered. I think that is what has given me such a feeling of satisfaction. Nothing was left open or unanswered, and this was made even more fulfilling because the answers were doled out bit by bit and I had to work a little to earn them, rather than being handed a neatly wrapped package at the conclusion.

This book is definitely a keeper! I won't be donating this one to the library.