The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom

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One of the reasons why Mitch Albom is still one of my favorite authors is because he never fails to amaze. I’m serious here (without trying to throw this out there to suck up to him). I really liked the style of this book and the concept of time presented. Even if he had used a figure that was often discussed in the past, but he managed to create his own version of “Father Time” so vividly and convincingly. Going back to the style a bit, I liked how the story flipped back and forth to the major characters of the story until the end. It showed their perception and/or perspectives of things, not just telling readers what happened and how it was supposed to be. But I shouldn’t be too surprised because all of Mitch Albom’s past works had focused on capturing the feelings of each character so that we were able to relate to what was going on throughout–regardless if it were real recounts of what happened in his life or the fictional characters’.

Father Time was known as Dor in this book; and as the book’s flap had described, he was imprisoned in a dark cave because he had invented ways to measure time. He was forced to live through all the agonizing moments since mankind measured every moment of their passing lives. Living in tortures for over thousands of years, he was finally released and was told he had to go complete a mission before his journey would end–whatever that had meant.

At times, I was frustrated to see what was unfolding, especially what happened to the girl. However, I must admit those feelings were not too off with what the character was going through. It was a phase and it was easy to relate to (as of high school environment and whatnot). Then there was also the suspense killing me with what was going to happen after Dor was released and was given the ability to slow time down. But the ending result was quite a phenomenon with the process and how the theme of cherishing was brought forth once again. Sometimes, what you were looking for was just right there. And fighting to seek for other alternatives or attention elsewhere was just another foolish move.

What I found even more interesting was how the concept of preserving the body to wait for a possible cure in the distant future called cryonics. YES, I practically live under a rock regarding that method hence not looking up for further information until now. Though it was another way out, was not encouraged toward in this book because the theme of this book was to cherish those around you and live in the “now.” However, the author had stressed in the after notes that he wasn’t against the idea, just that the direction of the book was different.

What got me a bit annoyed (yes, I had those moments aside from what I said earlier) was by the concept of being punished for curiosity. YES, curiosity does kill the cat as the saying goes. Yet I felt that Dor was just an intelligent being. If he had to be punished for that, it seemed to discourage intellectual minds or creative thinking. Sorry, I knew I missed the point. But I felt a tad uneasy regarding those situations. Yet, it was an enjoyable read all in all about human relations and learning to cherish those important people in your life.

The interesting thing about the whole experience was several days after I finished the book, I was on the bus going somewhere and spotted a store having these words in front “A Gift of Time”, which of course was a clock shop. I suspected it had antique clocks of all sorts from the view. It got me thinking about the book. Strange or what?

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