Monday, May 20, 2013

WEEKEND REadCAP: Mitch Albom's The Time Keeper


Welcome to the first ever 
WEEKEND REadCAP
where I'll be discussing the book(s) I read over the weekend.



#SpoilerAlert: Please note that this is more of a discussion than a review.


The Time Keeper
This week, we're discussing Mitch Albom's The Time Keeper.


"In this fable, the first man on earth to count the hours becomes Father Time. 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." (Via Goodreads




Several summer ago, I read The Time Traveler's Wife and a month later read The Memory Keeper's Daughter. When The Time Keeper came out last year, I assumed I had read it already. Finally, I picked it up for a Goodreads book club. Anyways...

Dor's exposition reminded me of a fable - a man creates time and must spend eternity alone and ageless. Action taken, consequence given, lesson learned. Does Dor really learn his lesson, though? He's punished for  creating time; yet, when he's let out into the world again the first thing he does is manipulate time. Dor freezes time in order to catch up with everything he's missed. Then, in order to save Sarah and Victor's lives, he freezes time to show them what they're not seeing. Didn't he try to freeze time to keep Ali from dying and end up in a cave for eternity? How is this any different? 

If Dor hadn't started counting time, do you think someone else would? It's hard for me to imagine that anyone could observe the sun rising and falling every day without noticing a pattern to it. Has anyone seen Stranger Than Fiction? What would Dor do if he met Harold Crick, a man who lived by a very strict schedule, down to the number of brushes in every teeth-washing? Imagine Dor was responsible for Harold's broken watch - what lesson would he teach Harold?

Victor's story is so fantastical, while Sarah's is real, raw emotion. Why juxtapose these two stories? Yes, Victor wants to extend his life, while Sarah wants to end hers, but my question is why don't we get as much description about Victor's pain? Could it be a reflection of Victor's character - he's too tough to really show his emotions (Whereas Sarah is a teenage girl whose emotions are constantly gushing)?




The above are the prominent thoughts on mind 
after reading The Time Keeper. 
What's on your mind?




3 comments:

  1. I haven't read one of Mitch Albom's books in a while. I should.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This was actually the first of his I've read. I should probably read Tuesday With Morrie at some point, ha.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I haven't heard of this book... and I don't think I've heard of Mr. Alborn either. I'll have to get hold of this one.

    ReplyDelete