Tinkers by Paul Harding

Format: eBook
Pub. Date: 1/1/2009
Publisher: Bellevue Literary Press
Type: Fiction ~ Library Book
Pages: 116
Read: 11/14/2012
Rating: Liked it ♥

The book begins with George Washington Crosby having hallucinations shortly before he dies. He is in a hospital bed in his house with his family around him, wife, children, grandchildren and at least one sister. We travel back in time in George’s memory, thoughts or hallucinations, I was never sure which and learn about his childhood, his parents and the difficulties faced because of poverty and health issues and the conflicts of differing points of view and a lack of understanding.

The descriptions in this book are tactile, the author puts feelings into everything, the pace of this book was slow and meandering, since the main character is dying a slow death it felt appropriate to move through time in a rather hushed and sedate manner. It’s not an adventure story, its not a suspense novel or a thriller. It’s a gentle story about the end of a man’s life and how he got to the place he was. It moves with the steadiness of a ticking clock. If that it the type of book you like, one that brings memory to life and makes you feel rather than think, I think you would like this book.