Survey of Authors and Secondary Sources

1.     Author: Audrey Niffenegger Title: The Time Traveller's Wife

2.     I became interested in this author because I originally saw the movie The Time Traveller's Wife, I have not read any other book written by Audrey Niffenegger. Although through my reading of the book I have enjoyed her writing styles and use of imagery, it makes me interested in finding other texts by her.


3.     Niffenegger was born in the summer of 1963. Her first publishing was, The Spinster in 1986. Following this first publishing she attended the Institute of the Arts of Chicago in 1991, and received her Master's in Fine Arts. Throughout her years following her Master's she has been a speaker at many institutions and currently works as a professor at Columbia College Center for Books and Paper Arts. She's also received an award for the book I am currently reading The Time Traveller's Wife, this reward is; the Popular Fiction Award in 2006.

4.     Niffenegger has written a series of books, including her popular book,  The Time Traveller’s Wife. Her book range from 1986-2010, with not only novels but also 2 graphic novels.

Audrey Niffenegger

Novels:

·      The Spinster – 1986

·      The Time Traveller’s Wife – 2003

·      The Three Incestuous Sisters – 2005

·      Her Fearful Symmetry – 2009

Graphic Novels:

·      The Adventuress – 2006

·      The Night Bookmobile – 2010

5.     Niffenegger is not a full time author, as she is also a teacher/ professor of the arts in University. She has influences from artists who have inspired her in her arts but she also has influences from authors. She does not choose to write similarly to the authors she admires, simply enjoys their work. And these authors are: Richard Powers, Dorothy Sayers, Rainer Maria Rilke, Henry James, David Foster Wallace, Edgar Allan Poe, and Anne Rice. Another influence that would I could see relating her life to The Time Traveler’s Wife is family. The families seen in the book are not necessarily the closest but are there for each other when needed; perhaps her real life families are similar or guided her to seeing a different view upon lives of others. The family aspect of a story can sometimes be the most relatable. She also demonstrates her artistic ability through her writing everything flows smoothly, like paint on a canvas.

When love overcomes all...
Even a disappearing husband

6.     Throughout Niffenegger’s writings her novels all carry a very similar and prominent theme; love. Her novels are not the same perspectives or storylines of love each time, rather she shows a different view each time. The main character are not the same, they have their own backgrounds, emotions, feelings, and lives. She shows how they love separately in each book, while some author’s will have a very similar character type through their texts.

Cassandra Clares
Mortal Instruments:
City of Bones

Suzzane Collins:
The Hunger Games

7.     In my mind I have not read another book with a similar writing style as Niffenegger’s. The closest comparison I could make is either The Mortal Instrument series by Cassandra Clare, or The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. Though these two books share a sense of adventure and excitement, the relationship between the main characters and emotions passed between the two are very similar to that of Henry and Clare. Of course the main characters haven’t known each other, since 36 and 6, they share a deep bond which draws them together and just seems right. The relationship between Gale and Katniss is more similar because they had known each other since childhood, looked out for one another and were best friends. But the difference was they were not the same “romantic” that Henry and Clare were, who only wanted to be with each other once they first met, the first time Henry actually meets Clare at age 20.

Critical Article #1:

Glazebrook, Olivia. "Forward to the past.." infotrac.galegroup. January 31, 2004.  . undefined.

<http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/LitRC?vrsn=3&OP=contains&locID=ko_k12hs_d21&srchtp=athr&ca=1&c=34&ste=18&stab=2048&tab=2&tbst=arp&ai=U16829218&n=10&docNum=A113378192&ST=audrey+niffenegger&bConts=2191>.

Critical Article #2:

Merrit, Stephanie. "A modern fairy tale: Audrey Niffenegger's first novel, a runaway success in America, fails to work its magic on Stephanie Merritt." New Statesmen. January 19, 2004.  . undefined. <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/LitRC?vrsn=3&OP=contains&locID=ko_k12hs_d21&srchtp=athr&ca=1&c=35&ste=18&stab=2048&tab=2&tbst=arp&ai=U16829218&n=10&docNum=A112794075&ST=audrey+niffenegger&bConts=2191>.

Critical Article #3:

Regal, Joe. "Niffenegger, Audrey The Time Traveler's Wife.." Kirkus Reviews. August 1, 2003.  . undefined. <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/LitRC?vrsn=3&OP=contains&locID=ko_k12hs_d21&srchtp=athr&ca=1&c=41&ste=18&stab=2048&tab=2&tbst=arp&ai=U16829218&n=10&docNum=A107489676&ST=audrey+niffenegger&bConts=2191>.