Author: Paul Harding
George is not a hero. He lives in a comfortable house, and it would seem has had fulfilling life. He has a loving family, and is surrounded by the evidence of his passion for clocks.
In this densely written book Harding sets out to challenge our assessment of people like George. He certainly does not set out to prove that George is a hero, but does an extraordinary job in showing how rich and complex an ordinary life can be, how deeply connected to others, and fascinating any human would become if we were able to see through their eyes, and listen in to their thoughts.
This is not a simple book, though unlike Andrew Davidson (The Gargoyle) he has not felt the need to immerse the reader in overwhelming details of pain, savagery, mysticism and sex. All of these dimensions are there in the stories we read about George and his father, but we experience the pain all the more poignantly for being vectored in rather than directly immersed.
It is no book to skim read. Large and complex stories are often told in as little as a paragraph or a page, rich with imagery and haunting evocations of other's lives and struggles. The voice and focus flicks between George (who is in the last hours of his life), his family who surround him, and for a good part of the book, an independently told tale about his father.
George's father was a backwoods tinker... who carried a small general store in a carriage from farm to farm and did odd jobs as well. Tragically, he suffered from epilepsy with potentially terrible consequences in an age when this was treated as a form of insanity.
It is not usual for me to finish a relatively small book, set in normal type, less than 200 pages long, and feel as though I have been running in a mental marathon. I will read this again. Once you finish and realise the scope and breadth of the story, you are ready to read again from the start as a more understanding reader. This is suitable for any age but the complex and redolent writing suggests only older teens with some staying power will really enjoy this book.
Andrew Lack
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