I finally read a Mitch Albom book! I know, I should read Tuesdays with Morrie because it probably changed your life.
I found this one by accident, looking up books with interesting or unique views of time. The Time Keeper has that, for sure.
The book is about Father Time (whose name is Dor), but not in a cheesy cartoonish way. In fact, he takes several opportunities to be sure you know that all the cheesy cartoons are BASED on Dor's real life experiences.
The descriptions of this book are super misleading, saying that God punished this man for trying to number his moments. It's the same way people say God punished Jonah by making him spend three days in the whale. What would have happened to Jonah WITHOUT the whale? He would have drowned. Same thing here... what they are calling God's 'punishment' is a lesson-learning opportunity brought about by human failing that book-God seized to teach the character something.
I liked it. Mitch's words are so sparse. The book is a fast read, mostly because there's a lot of blank space. I mean that as high praise; what I would use a thousand words to almost describe, he uses 16 to nail perfectly. He's very gifted.
There are two stories woven in with Dor's -- a younger high school girl and a man about to die. The author has a depressing view of where humanity is heading in the future scenes, but not one that I hold against him. The story's "moral" if you will (which the reader watches all three main characters learn) is to cherish each moment.
Sad, but not in a depressing way. Bittersweet, possibly. You mostly know where the story is going from the first chapter, but that doesn't mean you won't want to keep reading. This story isn't a boring hike to a beautiful view; it's a beautiful hike that just goes in a circle.
