The 13 Clocks by James Thurber
I have to say that I have never read a children's story quite like this before. Reading it gave me the palatable sense that reading it has forever and unalterably changed something. It reminds me of the first time I heard Gerard Manly Hopkins. That distinct "no going back" feeling keeps sneaking up on me and staying just behind corners that I have just turned.
The 13 Clocks is an old fashioned fairy tale in the tradition of Andrew Lang. It leans heavily and unabashedly on the traditional fairy tale and it does it well and inventively. But that is not what makes it stand out. What makes it stand out is the prose. The prose is like boisterous Russian Dancing Men. It is as playful and joyful as a two day old foal chasing a butterfly just emerged from its cocoon. At times it takes on the rhythm and feel of a great epic poem, and in other places it yanks a smile onto your face quite unexpectedly. Even if you are just reading this one to yourself, make sure that you read it out loud This one not only gets five stars. This whole blog gets its name, and yea its very purpose, from Thurber's masterpiece.
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