Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom

3 Star

The man who became Father Time.

In Mitch Albom’s newest work of fiction, the inventor of the world’s first clock is punished for trying to measure God’s greatest gift. He is banished to a cave for centuries and forced to listen to the voices of all who come after him seeking more days, more years. Eventually, with his soul nearly broken, Father Time is granted his freedom, along with a magical hourglass and a mission: a chance to redeem himself by teaching two earthly people the true meaning of time.

He returns to our world—now dominated by the hour-counting he so innocently began—and commences a journey with two unlikely partners: one a teenage girl who is about to give up on life, the other a wealthy old businessman who wants to live forever. To save himself, he must save them both. And stop the world to do so.

Lydia - 3 Star

This was my first Mitch Albom novel. Somehow I’ve never gotten around to reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven or any of his others so I jumped at the chance to review The Time Keeper when it appeared on Netgalley. I can see how prolific Albom has become, but The Time Keeper didn’t resonate with me as much as I wished it had and I love me a good fable (The Alchemist, my all time fave).
 
The concept of The Time Keeper fascinated me. Time. I never have enough of it. Or I waste it. Or I wish there was more. Or I want perfect moments to slow down to savour or to speed up terrible moments to avoid the pain. How all these thoughts and feelings are all encompassed in this novel fascinated me and is utterly relatable, but eventually I found myself wanting more. Slow down and enjoy the moments as a theme is a predictable one and one I had hoped Albom would explore further, but when this ultimate theme is revealed, the novel ends and I was left feeling a bit ripped off.
 
I knew from the epilogue how things wrapped up, but I wanted to see it and feel it. I wished that the novel went further and showed Sarah and Victor when they returned back to their lives. It would have given this novel so much more punch in my opinion. I didn’t care as much for Dor, Father Time, as I did the two mortals, Sarah and Victor, so maybe that’s why. My heart did lift at the end though.
 
This is a ridiculously quick read, at only 240 pages, many of which have sections that have great gaps in spacing as well as many chapter endings, so it’s probably under 200 with all the spacing. I read this in a day, probably under two hours and because of this, it really made me want more from the ending.  

Thank you to Hyperion for our review copy!  All Opinions are our own. 

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