Book Review: The Time Traveler's Wife By Audrey Niffenegger

   I have decided to review one of my favourite novels which somehow manages to blend two separate genres that don't usually go together; that of time travel and science fiction. Since being published back in 2004 there have been many nods to this story in various forms of media, the most obvious being in recent episodes of Doctor Who. The Girl in the fireplace, An episode first broadcast in 2006, is a virtual rewrite of the novel and the concept  is again revisited with the introduction of Amy Pond in 2010 series opener The Eleventh Hour. Homages of this nature are the greatest compliment a writer can get and is ultimately a testament to the novels success.

   The novel is an extraordinary love story of Clare and Henry who first meet when Clare is just six years old and he thirty six. They are married when Clare is twenty two and Henry thirty. "Hang on a minute, that can't be right" I hear you cry, and to be honest you're confusion is justified but it just so happens that Henry suffers from a rare condition where his genetic clock re-sets itself and any given moment he will find himself flung into his past or indeed his future. This unique concept actually works in the novel's favour, and while it has the potential to be confusing strangely this is never the case. The story is told from the point of view of both Clare and Henry and it is refreshing to see the stories events from two different perspectives; The girl who has no choice but to wait and the man who is constantly time travelling. Normally when I read anything that involves time travel I find myself debating the science behind the concept, but in this case I ignored the science and simply accepted the fact that a person can be born with a condition that enables them to travel through their own life at any given moment. This book has also inspired a feature film adaption of the same name, but my advice would be to read the novel and then see the film and not the other war round as it makes more sense that way. It's one of those rare books that rewards you on multiple reads and the experience is never a dull on. Well worth checking out if you're a hopeless romantic or simply someone who longs to travel through time. Well worth the time (Sorry couldn't resist). 

The Day Terror won!

   It was a day the world came to a standstill. A day when the world stopped and mourned as one. September 11 2011 will mark the tenth anniversary of what I like to call the day Terror won, or at least they thought they had. They struck a large blow and won for a day, but the human spirit is a very difficult thing to break and when events of this nature occur, and unfortunately they will continue to do so, our spirit will grow and somehow the light will shine again.

 
  Everyone has their memories of that day and I'd like to share mine with you, and although I was nowhere near New York at the time of the attack I saw first hand how people pull together in the face of adversity. At the time I was working for International Directory at Optus Communications and I usually did the 06:00 am start, and when I arrived to begin my shift that morning it was very apparent that something big had happened during the night. Normally at that hour of morning it was quiet and next to zero calls, but as soon as our bums hit our chairs we did not stop. Most of the calls were generated by people overcome with concern for relatives who happened to be in New York at the time. As the morning progressed everyone did whatever we could to connect people to loved ones who happened to be in Ground zero and the pure joy expressed whenever this was achieved was indescribable. Every one pitched in to help, to do whatever they could to combat the feeling of helplessness we all felt whenever we looked up at a television screen and saw what was unfolding before our eyes. People on annual leave and holidays gave up their time willingly and manned the phones to assist their under siege colleagues. My main memory of that day, however is that out of the calls we handled during that time not one contained a message of hate, they all messages of love and compassion. People willing to do whatever they could to help out fellow human beings who were at their lowest.
 
  So while Terror scored a hit on 9/11, the human spirit won out in the end and proved that if you kick us we'll simply get up and hobble on. This is how I remember 9/11, not for the actual event but how everyone pulled together in the aftermath. That is truly worth remembering and ultimately worth celebrating.