Something I think many should see

Another plot that I think does time travel extremely well can be found in The Time Traveler's Wife (the book more so than the movie). The male protagonist has a genetic disorder that causes him to spontaneously become displaced through time, generally into the past (but not always) and generally to a person or event that is familiar to him (but not always). He eventually concludes that he has no free will while time traveling and that he can neither change the past or the future and is only responsible for his actions in his present. Everything in this universe is predetermined, which is in some ways depressing, but also freeing. It also means that the author doesn't have to constantly stop the narrative to explain why the male protagonist doesn't go kill a baby Hitler, or worry about paradoxes.

That kind of gives off Thirteen Reasons Why vibes. Thanks for the rec.

 

From what I remember, the movie isn't as good. The book is more of a romance, or rather a look into the lives of the two protagonists, than an in-depth dissection of time travel theory, but it does bring up some interesting issues. It's also interesting, to me anyway, because the time travel isn't for a purpose- the protagonist isn't trying to change or fix anything. It's just something that happens to him and its impact is on a personal level (it sometimes puts him in danger, it worries his relatives, it shapes his personality and his relationships with others) rather than a "save the world" level.

 

Kind of? His sort of time travel is of the Terminator "you can't take anything with you" brand, so he often ends up in places he is unfamiliar with, naked, with no ID and typically no support network. He usually ends up having to steal clothing or break into places to get safe, and has been violently attacked in the past, as well as arrested multiple times (although he's always managed to snap back to the present before his identity is revealed). It also effects his health in other ways. But his ability also introduced him to his wife and helped him reconnect with other members of his family, as well as gain closure regarding some traumatic events in his life, so it's not all bad.

 

It's a genetic disorder that the book likens to Huntingtons. It started randomly when he was five but happens more and more often as he gets older, especially when he is feeling stressed. There are triggers similar to epilepsy. He also travels across greater moments of time as he gets older- from a few minutes as a child to decades as an adult.

Now I want to reread this book and I don't have the time. >_<