Like this book! | The Thirteen Clocks

classic for a reason | The Thirteen Clocks | James Thurber

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	• The Thirteen Clocks James Thurber Donald I. Fine, 1990 - 124 pages average customer review:based on 35 reviews
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highly recommended

one of the cutest books

I had not heard of James Thurber (I'm not from Northern America :)) until one of my friends on a study abroad program brought this book to our apartment and we started reading it out loud to each other. I loved it so much that I've read it three times already. Thurber's playing with the language is so amazing, cute and fascinating that it makes you speak "his way" after you read the book. :) And all his ideas are wonderful! This all makes the book one of a kind, really.

Like this book!

I really do like this book. I like fairy tales, especially the kind like Ella Enchanted and Fairest by Gail Carson Levine. In the pictures the wicked duke looks so hilarilously silly! The prince is handsome and the princess pretty, of course! The Golux's hat is indeed indescribable and the woman Hagga cries jewels instead of tears. He! He! He!

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classic for a reason

read it, lest you end up being slit from your guzzle to your zatch! a book for all ages, and any age. Fairy stories with a twist of Thurber.

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Timeless Perfection For Young And Old

The Thirteen Clocks, by James Thurber, is a perfect book. The only way it could be better would be by being longer. The story is classic in its simplicity, so elemental that anyone can easily find a way inside. The big setting - a castle - the big players - a Prince, Princess, and wicked Duke (very wicked) - the big themes - courage, redemption, selfless sacrifice, and just a whiff of magic. Best of all, the big problem - time is frozen. Our enterprising Prince must do the impossible to win the hand of Princess Saralinda. This is road-tested material but Thurber breathes new life into it, making it fresh and irresistible. The musicality of his language is delightful, there is so much joy and play in the words, they giggle and dance like water gliding over stones in a stream. His rogue's gallery of secondary characters is just too good; each is slightly more improbable and splendidly cracked than the last. Most of all, this story ends exactly as it should, the resolution is not forced, it's simply correct. The Thirteen Clocks is a slice of heaven that can be enjoyed by anyone able to read. Thurber, it turns out, really was as good as he claimed. This lasting jewel proves it.

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Watch Out For the Todal, by Rory Haglund

Watch out for the Todal

James Thurber's The Thirteen Clocks is a delightful tale for people of all ages. I was first introduced to this seemingly conventional story at age five when my father read it to me as a pleasant bedtime story. It was not until I could read for myself that I began to notice what sets this story apart from so many other children's stories--its characters and great dialogue. Even re-reading it now, as a college student, I immensely enjoy its refreshing humor. Thurber uses a simple storyline, poetic devices, and clever characterization to make The Thirteen Clocks enjoyable to any and all ears.

The Thirteen Clocks is enjoyable for kids of all ages (meaning grown-ups as well) because it follows the basic and familiar "prince saves princess" storyline. Prince Zorn of Zorna must win the hand of Princess Saralinda by bringing back a thousand jewels to her uncle in "six and sixty days" (32). Though it seems that six and sixty days are not ample time for him to complete such a task, Zorn of Zorna miraculously succeeds. This follows the plot of most classic fairy tales I can think of (excluding Rumplestiltzkin and Beauty & the Beast). There are so many prince-princess stories because every child (and deep down, every adult, too) wants to be a prince or princess. There is something appealing to human nature about glory, fame, wealth, beauty, and general happiness, all of which are presented as direct benefits of being royalty. Also, everyone loves a happy ending where justice is served--the good guys win and the bad guys suffer. The Thirteen Clocks does indeed include a happy ending of this nature. Not only is the story simple enough, but it is also relatively short (my copy is seventy pages with fairly large text) and includes pictures. Bedtime stories are, by nature, short stories. When parents concede to read just "one more bedtime story," they do not want it to take all night. Furthermore, it is simply easier to understand a story when you sit down and read the entire thing at once. Children admittedly have short attention spans. The rest of us adults do too, but we pretend to have a more mature mind, especially when it comes to paying attention. The Thirteen Clocks appeals to everyone, young and old because it is a familiar and somewhat simple tale.

All audiences can also appreciate The Thirteen Clocks for its musical language as seen by the poetic devices of rhyme and rhythm. In the beginning of the story, Prince Zorn of Zorna disguises himself as a minstrel and sings of various things whose mention are forbidden by the evil Duke. A villager tells the Prince that one of the Duke's spies will "die because to name your sins, he'll have to mention mittens. I leave at once for other lands, since I have mentioned mittens...You'll never live to wed his niece. You'll only die to feed his geese" (17). The rhyme combined with the absolute hilarity of this statement amuses the reader and is rhythmically pleasing. Smaller children may not catch or understand the substance of this passage completely, but they will enjoy hearing the rhyme scheme (AAABB) and rhythm pattern (8-7, 8-7). Literary enthusiasts will take note and admire the patterns evident in Thurber's writing. Another great example of Thurber's amusing and rhyming style is, "'It's odd,' the Golux muttered to himself. 'I could have sworn that she had died. This is the only time my stomach ever lied'" (54). Here again, Thurber amuses his audience by using this constant pattern of rhyme and rhythm. Humans love to find patterns--it brings sense and order to the sometimes chaotic world we live in. By creating this literary and somewhat musical pattern, Thurber's tale appeals to both the young and old.

The Thirteen Clocks is appealing because its characters, the likes of which have never been seen before in literature, add excitement and flavor to this familiar story. There are three truly out-of-the ordinary characters--the Golux, who is "always on hand when people are in peril" (18), Hagga, the weeper of jewels; and the unpleasant Todal. Of these, the Todal is the most outrageous character. The Todal is "made of lip," "looks like a blob of gulp," and "smells of old, unopened rooms" (36, 29). This creature is "waiting for the Duke to fail in some endeavour such as setting you a task that you can do" and is "an agent of the devil, sent to punish evil-doers for having done less evil than they should" (29, 30). There is no monster as quirky, interesting, and terrifying as the Todal in real life or in a book. By presenting his readers with such bizarre characters, Thurber appeals to their sense of humor, as well as to their sense of terror. The creativity and flair for language possessed by Thurber are most obvious in the descriptions of his characters. This sets his tale apart from others with similar, but seemingly less lively stories. More than anything else, The Thirteen Clocks is enjoyable because of its uniqueness in characterization.

This truly wonderful and shockingly good fairy tale is full of enough excitement and goodness to be appropriate for a bedtime story. Yet Thurber's true talent lies in his creative and imaginative abilities which allow for readers and listeners alike to enjoy this book. It is set apart from other fairy tales by its clever use of words and unparalleled characters. Buy this book (though I would suggest the hardcover edition with colored illustrations) or run to your local library before the Todal gulps you!

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