Tinkers

By: Paul Harding

Narrated by: Christian Rummel

Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 2010

An old man lies dying. Confined to bed in his living room, he sees the walls around him begin to collapse, the windows come loose from their sashes, and the ceiling plaster fall off in great chunks, showering him with a lifetime of debris: newspaper clippings, old photographs, wool jackets, rusty tools, and the mangled brass works of antique clocks. Soon, the clouds from the sky above plummet down on top of him, followed by the stars, till the black night covers him like a shroud. He is hallucinating, in death throes from cancer and kidney failure.

A methodical repairer of clocks, he is now finally released from the usual constraints of time and memory to rejoin his father, an epileptic, itinerant peddler, whom he had lost seven decades before. In his return to the wonder and pain of his impoverished childhood in the backwoods of Maine, he recovers a natural world that is at once indifferent to man and inseparable from him, menacing and awe inspiring.

Tinkers is about the legacy of consciousness and the porousness of identity from one generation the next. At once heartbreaking and life affirming, it is an elegiac meditation on love, loss, and the fierce beauty of nature.

©2009 Paul Harding (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"An outstanding debut.... The real star is Harding's language, which dazzles whether he's describing the workings of clocks, sensory images of nature, the many engaging side characters who populate the book, or even a short passage on how to build a bird nest. This is an especially gorgeous example of novelistic craftsmanship." ( Publishers Weekly)

"This compact, adamantine debut dips in and out of the consciousness of a New England patriarch named George Washington Crosby as he lies dying on a hospital bed in his living room.... In Harding's skillful evocation, Crosby's life, seen from its final moments, becomes a mosaic of memories, 'showing him a different self every time he tried to make an assessment.'" ( The New Yorker)

Really could not finish it.

I am just not a reader of wonderful imagery. I need a story, with an interesting plot or reason to continue.

Annoying and pretentious

This book has some problems. While the premise for the story is that a man is dying and therefore everything that follows is a hallucination, this may serve more as an excuse for strained and exaggerated writing that quickly becomes annoying. "Tinkers" is a convoluted series of episodes reaching back in time to the grandfather and father (as a young boy, and later as an adult) of the main character. It is a lot of sound and fury, eventually signifying very little. I found myself not caring about any of these characters and their overwrought problems - again the language got in the way of any character development. The point of view shifts from first person to third person, throughout, the language is overblown and affected. The audio narration is expressive and fairly well done, with the exception of the performer's attempt at women's voices -- most of them sounding like drag queens. I cannot recommend this audio book; it was frustrating and irritating to listen to and really had trouble just finding a story to tell.

I gave it 2 stars simply because the technical aspects of this production are good.

Beautifully written

This is a very good story, and the writing is fabulous. I was surprised that the other reviews complained about the language getting in the way of the story. I personally do not understand or care for poetry, but this book's style is very melodic(?) and really puts your imagination to work. The story is strong, and the descriptions are vivid. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

Not much of a story

Although the book had some deep reflective moments, the story (if there is one) is disjointed and heavily laden with detailed descriptions of clockwork and scenery. I found it hard to care for the main characters (three generations of fathers and sons). Even with its brevity, I had to force myself to listen till the end, mostly to put a check mark on another Pulitzer winner.

Where has this book been hiding?

A great story with an important message; unfortunately, the narrator had a very unpleasant manner--he reads in a choppy way that is unsettling on the ears.

good book. bad audio book

didn't get far before quiting. I appreciate the books ability to move poetry from one moment in time to the next in any given paragraph. it doesn't work in audio form and is poorly read

Hard to follow the audio

This is a spectacular, beautiful book but Rummel (the narrator) reads too quickly! I had to go back and read it in print to get the full impact of Harding's gorgeous language. The only way I could listen to this audiobook was to play it at 1/2 speed. I highly recommend the novel but not the audio.

Didn't Quite "Get" It

I'm sorry, but I just didn't understand this book. There were some well written parts but overall it was a tedious listen. I pushed myself to listen to it all.

Good, but not for me...

This book is a style of book (like American Pastoral) that many people seem to like but does little for me. There are pleasant little characters and evocative images, vignettes, and analogies. It even has a meaning worth revealing, yet for me, much of this might be done in a poem or short story with more intensity than in a novel.

Basically unlistenable

I tried.
Maybe this book works in print, where you can re-read, or pause and think about what you just read. But as an audiobook, it begs the question: Is there a difference between a 200-page poem and a novel? Because this piece, while filled with flowery metaphors, amazing descriptions, and complex sentences, is missing one aspect generally expected in novels: A plot.

I tried. I listened to about 2/3 of this about a year ago, until I realized, "I have no clue what is going on," and put it away. Tried it again last week, having absolutely zero memory of the first attempt, and gave up with 90 minutes left.

Life is too short.