The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom - [Book review]

 Book Details:

Title: The Time Keeper

Author: Mitch Albom

Genre: Metaphysical Fiction, Science Fiction

Publisher: Sphere

Print length: 239 pages

Source: A copy from the local library

Blurb :

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.

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.

Purchase Link:

Amazon

My Review :

The Timekeeper is not a timepass read, but a story/concept with a moral. It is science fiction that takes us through the lives of 3 people Dor, the inventor of time, an old businessman, and a teenage girl.

While Dor is a curious person exploring and measuring the time for the first time in this world, Victor is a millionaire who is trying to defeat his death to cancer. Sarah is an intelligent girl best in academics, but dealing with her insecurities and struggling to keep up with everything going on.

It is interesting to learn about Dor, his experiments to measure time with sticks, water, and shadows. The love between Dor and Alli seems eternal. I feel pity for girls like Sarah who are intelligent but feel insecure when they don't meet society's standards.

Victor is an ambitious businessman. At last, he realizes that he cannot defeat death with money/power and only love can give the satisfaction needed for any human being. 

The moral at the end of the story and how these stories connect to each other is an interesting premise.

Even though the theme is interesting, the execution doesn't seem to be great. The narrative and the shift between characters and time periods are a bit confusing. There are a lot of sci-fi elements that are unbelievable. 

There is some clarity missing about the characters and their intentions. That is the reason I am not very much impressed. 

I loved the climax though and it is a very satisfying end to the reader. I found it an interesting read. 

My Rating:

4/5

About the Author:

Mitch Albom is the author of numerous books of fiction and nonfiction, which have collectively sold more than forty million copies in forty-seven languages worldwide. 

He has written seven number-one New York Times bestsellers – including TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE, the bestselling memoir of all time, which topped the list for four straight years – award-winning TV films, stage plays, screenplays, a nationally syndicated newspaper column, and a musical. 

Through his work at the Detroit Free Press, he was inducted into both the National Sports Media Association and Michigan Sports halls of fame and is the recipient of the 2010 Red Smith Award for lifetime achievement. After bestselling memoir FINDING CHIKA and “Human Touch,” the weekly serial written and published online in real-time to raise funds for pandemic relief, his latest work is a return to fiction with THE STRANGER IN THE LIFEBOAT (Harper, November 2021). 

He founded and oversees SAY Detroit, a consortium of nine different charitable operations in his hometown, including a nonprofit dessert shop and food product line to fund programs for Detroit’s most underserved citizens. He also operates an orphanage in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, which he visits monthly. He lives with his wife, Janine, in Michigan. Learn more at www.mitchalbom.com, www.saydetroit.org, and www.havefaithaiti.org.

Until next time,