BOOK REVIEW: The Time Keeper

Critics have labeled Mitch Albom’s books “maudlin”, “sentimental”, and “filled with obvious truths”. They may be right. I like what I have read by him, and I think that I have read them all, starting with Tuesdays with Morrie.

Albom’s most recent book, THE TIME KEEPER is written in a different style than his earlier works, but I am guessing that the critics will still be saying “maudlin”, “sentimental”, and “ full of obvious truths”.  Sometimes the obvious truths are the ones that need to be brought to our attention regularly.

Long, long ago, Alli and her two best friends, Dor and Nim, are playing on a hill. Dor is doing something never done before; he is counting-- his fingers, his breaths, everything. He is a good, gentle, obedient child, but his mind goes deeper than the others. For this reason, God is watching him.

The children grow. Dor and Alli marry. Nim begins to build a tower that he believes will touch the Heavens and give him untold powers. Instead, he changes the language of the world into many languages and changes Dor’s life.

Although Dor loves Alli very much, he continues to count and soon discovers that Time can be measured. This is dangerous knowledge and for his punishment God places him in a cave where Dor has to listen to people praying for more time, for less time, or for time to stand still.

Centuries pass. Finally he is visited by a very old man who tells him that he must go back to Earth and fix two lives.

In modern America we meet Sarah Lemon and Victor Delamonte. Sarah is an unhappy teenager and Victor, wealthy beyond imagination, is dying. Both feel that Time is running out for them.

THE TIME KEEPER is written in a sparse, minimalistic style, unlike Albom’s other books. It took me several pages to adjust, but I felt it a good choice for the fable. The characters of Sarah and Victor may have seemed stereotypical, but it is a fine line between Everyman and stereotype.

I picked this book at the library simply on the author’s name. I was not prepared for the style or the subject and as I said, it took a bit of a mind adjustment. It is a very quick read and if you are a Mitch Albom fan, worthwhile. He makes me feel good, so I will always try his efforts as they are published.

The message of the book was simple. “There is a reason God limits our time.” Maudlin, sentimental, obvious? Maybe, but it is a message that we need to hear now and then.