The 13 Clocks

I'm pretty sure that everyone will label me as a nerdy loser after this post but I figured that I should share it anyway.

So, this last Friday I was really bored and decided to go somewhere like a park or the library to read (call me a loser, whatev). I was going to head over to a park but I remembered that I lost my sunglasses and since it's been unusually bright here in Happy Valley I decided to go to the Provo library with the intention of finding a corner to sit and read.

First, because I was bored, I explored the old section of the building then went down to the children's section in the hopes that the chairs would be softer and more comfortable (again, call me a loser - I can handle it). I wondered around listening to little kids run around and parents chasing after them. One little family was especially fun to watch and listen to as they were really loud and speaking Korean or something. I looked around the shelves to see if any books caught my eye.

And one did.

The 13 Clocks by James Thurber (author of Many Moons for those of you in my family) is such a good book. I picked it up, read the back, then read the first few words of the introduction and was hooked. I think I read the whole first chapter while standing there in the stacks before I finally went to find my corner and sat down. Yes, it's a children's book and is very short but quite enjoyable. The illustrations and wonderful and look like those Disneyland ads from the 50s if you have ever seen those.

There were passages that I had to read aloud to myself because of their poetic quality and several sections where I laughed outloud (much to the frustration of the guy studying a few chairs over, I'm sure). I didn't leave the library until two and a half hours after I entered. I didn't even check out the book, but sat and read until the story was over. Neil Gaiman, who wrote the introduction, said that once a friend was complaining to him about her problems with her boyfriend and her family, how she hated her job, and to top it off her dog was in the hospital. Everything Gaiman said to try and help her just made it worse so finally he picked up a copy of The 13 Clocks and started reading it. He said that soon the girl was laughing and smiling and they read the entire book together. I liked Neil Gaiman's point that this is a feel-good book - one in which to escape reality for a bit and enter the world which such characters as the Todal, a minstral Prince, the Golux, and an evil Duke that believes he has slain time.

Anyway, call me a nerdy loser for spending my Friday night alone in a library but this book was excellent. :D