Mitch Albom

The time keeper

The Time Keeper

Annika Arguemore

It was a very lovely collection of stories that intertwined with each other. A lot of lessons were learned in this story. I liked this concept of Father Time. It wasn't a very romanticized version of Father Time which is what I most liked about it. It's just a really nice story to read. I suggest you read it too! It's like a walk in the park, a park that constantly changes its appearance to the different times it went through (if you know what I mean) (no?) (okay, then. just read it! haha)

Ayesha ahmed

I've seen this book thousands of times, but never bought it for some reason. Maybe it's because I kept on convincing myself I'll watch the movie sometime soon. This book is about time: the creator of time, people who want more time and people who do not appreciate the time that they are given. 
Dor, the creator of time, teaches two people the true meaning of time; to free himself from his curse. He will only be saved when they are saved. 
This novel teaches everyone how valuable time is and disappointingly in our era nobody really treasures it. It deserves to be a five star because it makes readers reconsider what is truly worth our time and what isn't.

In this stunning new novel, the inventor of the world's first clock is punished for trying to measure time. He is banished to a cave for centuries and forced to listen to the voices of all who come after him seeking more years for themselves. At last, with his soul nearly broken, Father Time is granted his freedom, along with a mission: a chance to redeem himself by teaching two earthly people the true meaning of time. e returns to our world - now dominated by the obsession with time 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. Gripping, simply told and filled with deep human truth, this unforgettable story will inspire readers everywhere to reconsider their own notions of time, how they spend it and how precious it truly is.

Chelsea Kang

Albom's style seemed borderline amateurish on this book but the contents and storyline remained rich, with a select few powerful quotes.

Savindi Jinasena

Cover Gushing Worthiness: I’m quite neutral when it comes to the cover of The Time Keeper. It doesn't necessarily scream pick me up, but Mitch Albom’s name does, so it’s okay. The cover does work well for the content of the book.

Review: I’ve been a fan of Mitch Albom’s writing since discovering Tuesdays with Morrie nine years ago in Summer School thanks to my Summer School English teacher. What drew me to pick up this book was a quote my friend Sadie had liked on Goodreads and it was this:


  
    Try to imagine life without timekeeping.

You probably can’t. You know the month, the year, the day of the week. There is a clock on your wall or the dashboard of your car. You have a schedule, a calendar, a time for dinner or a movie. Yet all around you, timekeeping is ignored. Birds are not late. A dog does not check its watch. Deer do not fret over passing birthdays.

Man alone measures time

Man alone chimes the hour.

And, because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures.

A fear of time running out.
  


I think this quote is so important these days because we do forget to enjoy the present moment and are always worried about the future. For the future to be great, we have to make sure the present is a good one right?

The Time Keeper follows the lives of Dor who is Father Time who has forgotten how to live, Victor Delamonte; who wants more time, and Sarah Lemon; a teenager who wants time to go by faster. The story portrays how each person values/looks at the human life and the dreaded question which we all happen to ask and can't come up with a good answer is yet again is asked.


  
    Do we live in the moment? Or are we going to spend our lifetime worry about what could have been and what should happen?
  


I enjoyed the plot of this story so much. I enjoyed it because it resonates with the lives we live and we are in a constant state of worrying and rushing. We usually don’t slow down to take a moment to reflect on our lives. Instead we’re like a hamster on a wheel where we’re even too tired to enjoy a moment. I remember when I started university my dad said that you’re going to wish the day had more than 24 hours and yes that was true. I did wish the day had more hours and that I had a time turner so I had enough time to sleep and finish my assignments. None of those things happened of course, but the point is, it’s not only students who want more than twenty-four hours, we all want more time. There is one passage in the book that really made me question of how I live my own life.


  
    Everything man does today to be efficient, to fill the hour? It does not satisfy. It only makes him hungry to do more. Man wants his own existence. But no one owns time. When you are measuring life, you are not living it. I know.
  


Another passage that probably rings true is

  
    With endless time, nothing is special. With no loss or sacrifice, we can’t appreciate what we have.
  


This book has so many great quotes that I could probably fill up this entire review with, but the ones that I’ve mentioned are the ones that have made me question how I view life. I do think the above quote is true to me because of how I’ve grown up. You learn to value the small things in life. You learn to value the ones around you. Sure they aren’t perfect, but neither are you and that’s okay. I think the most important question the book asks is “Do you reader, embrace your life? Or do you watch it go by?”. I think I’m a little bit of both and I think a lifetime is where we find the balance, hopefully. There are no concrete answers to these questions because when it comes to life, each one is to their own I would say.

I liked how the lives of Dor(Father Time), Victor and Sarah intertwined throughout the book which made them understand the value of life by learning through the experience of others. Sometimes as we grow older we have a tendency to believe that we know better than those who are both older and younger than us. This might be true in some circumstances, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to brush aside other people’s life experiences. Our lives may differ, but we might find something valuable and meaningful in someone else’s experience. The pacing of this book was smooth; smooth to the point where I read this book in a matter of hours. I found it hard to put down because I wanted to know what happened to the characters.

It is difficult to say that I was emotionally invested in these characters because I feel like this is a book where you observe the characters without forming an attachment to them. I feel like the point was to watch or rather read and learn. Of course I was glad that the characters did learn their lessons because they taught me something as well. What I will say that what made all of them great characters was their flaws. They’re so flawed, including Father Time which made them feel so much more real. They reminded you of your own life and the struggles you face, but there’s hope in there as well.

The ending of The Time Keeper reminded me of the show Touch which stars Keifer Sutherland. If you haven’t seen it, I suggest you do because it’s very interesting. It looks at how our lives, regardless of the geography, religion, race and all of other variables are interconnected, maybe even in the smallest way.


  
    We all yearn for what we have lost. But sometimes we forget what we have.
  


Overall The Time Keeper is enchanting read with a valuable lesson; learn how to be present and alive. What will come will come. In true Mitch Albom form the writing was perfect and the story is one that will stay with me for a long time.

My Rating: 5/5

Would I recommend it? Yes

a very interesting and truthful view on time and how since we have time, we’re always counting it. I liked how in the end, they said that God numbers our days because each day of ours, is precious. A very deep and meaningful story entwined with the true meaning of life and about using time well. I think it was very well written, and although I didn’t highlight anything, there were many quotes that should have been highlighted. 

Haley

A very quick paced book with short chapters that I loved. As I was reading it almost felt like I had to read quickly unless I run out of time which keeps in theme of the book. Incredible descriptive writing, but a lot of the pretext was boring and didn’t add anything to the book. The ending felt rushed, but maybe if there was anymore it would’ve been overkill. The perfect book for a rainy afternoon

Maria Davis 

From the author who's inspired millions worldwide with books like Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven comes his most imaginative novel yet, The Time Keeper--a compelling fable about the first man on Earth to count the hours. The man who became Father Time. In Mitch Albom's newest work of fiction, 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. Told in Albom's signature spare, evocative prose, this remarkably original tale will inspire readers everywhere to reconsider their own notions of time, how they spend it, and how precious it truly is.

Emelie

So this was weird! 

Dors story was slow, Victors stort was boring and Sarahs stort was ridiculous! 

It Did made you think about time though, and how it would've been if things were different... I guess that was the point?

Shrouk Shafie

Beautiful :)! 
Time has always been something that attracts me the most. Something that is always always of interest. 
It's such an attractive novel, with all the quotes within it and how the events are combined together. 
Mitch Albom is still my favorite writer :) !

Amanda

Time flies with you......... 

This is amazing story about time, about how precious life can be. Mitch Albom brings an awesome moral with this book that makes you realize you need to live each day,

Sanat Gersappa

Omar AlHashmi

*SPOILERS*

You have been warned. Okay to sum up my experience with this book briefly i would say the first 100 pages are a 2/5, from 100 till 150 its a 4/5 and the last 70 pages are 5/5 or 10/10 even. That was my experience. 

The first 100 pages were so boring to be honest. I know it is important to give background on characters like Sarah and Victor, but their parts (especially Sarah's) were so boring to read. Not only that but we have such an interesting character as Dor doing nothing in the beginning but just sitting in the cave. I dont know maybe if the writer could have extended the "Stillness" part. I dont know maybe he wanted us to experience Dor's wait with him, but i didnt enjoy the first 100 pages. 

After that all that came was so heartwarming. Time is such an important thing that we take for granted. Something that i have told my self recently is to not let time get the better of me. Whenever I am sad or depressed, all i do now is just think, why should i be depressed, the world is still turning, i am still alive and healthy, i shouldnt waste these moments with sadness over stuff that dont matter. All in all it really opened my eyes. This is a very special topic for me and it was great to read something that reminded me of how special it was. 

4.5/5

Stefanie Sugia

"Try to imagine a life without timekeeping.
 You probably can't. You know the month, the year, the day of the week. There is a clock on your wall or the dashboard of your car. You have a schedule, a calendar, a time for dinner or a movie. Yet all around you, timekeeping is ignored. Birds are not late. A dog does not check its watch. Deer do not fret over passing birthdays.
 Man alone measures time.
 Man alone chimes the hour.
 And, because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures:
 A fear of time running out." 

This story begins with a man named Dor; when long ago, nobody ever take note of time. He is the first person on Earth who started counting, making numbers. Starting from counting his breaths, measuring things, and remembering moments. As he grew older, he started time measurement by measuring water. Dor invented the first clock, but nobody understood what he was doing. But he never expected, that by trying to measure God's greatest gift, Dor would be punished...

Read the complete book review here:
http://thebookielooker.blogspot.com/2...

Terri Arnold

While I did really enjoy this book, I felt like the story itself was lacking. The writing was wonderful and the message was great but it was a book about a message, not a book about a story and that kind of bothered me and didnt really draw me in. And a lot of Sarahs story had me cringing, I swear I developed a sunburn because my face was burning with second hand embarrassment the whole time.

From the author who's inspired millions worldwide with books like Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven comes his most imaginative novel yet, The Time Keeper--a compelling fable about the first man on Earth to count the hours. The man who became Father Time. In Mitch Albom's exceptional work of fiction, 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. Told in Albom's signature spare, evocative prose, this remarkably original tale will inspire readers everywhere to reconsider their own notions of time, how they spend it, and how precious it truly is.

This is my third Mitch Albom book. This one is kinda different. Although most of his books centered on time as the main feat, this book is more enthralling. I kinda noticed that this one somehow has a Paulo Coelho vibe. I love this book all in all. 

Olivia McDaniel

I loved this! It was so easy to put yourself into the story.

Jade Flynn

“With endless time, nothing is special. With no loss or sacrifice, we can’t appreciate what we have." 

I'll definitely be reading another one of Mitch Albom's novels by the end of this year. This book was really fantastic.

Laura Mitchell Hutchinson

Gripping and a super short and easy read for a weekend. I love the idea of the very early humans verses today. So many great quotes to pull out of this novel too.

Amy Buckle

I’ve never really thought about ‘time’ before, well certainly not in the way this book does, but while reading this it made me realise how constraining man’s subjugation to worshipping time actually is. Albom’s fifth novel follows the story of Dor, a simple man who lived thousands of years ago, and who becomes fascinated with the concept of time. He creates instruments to measure the passing of time, but as a consequence, God banishes him to a cave to live alone... read the full review here: https://www.amybucklesbookshelf.co.uk...

The time keeper

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