Reviews for Hourmaster

The average rating for Hourmaster based on 2 reviews is 2 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-06-09 00:00:00 James P. Ralston Jr I wanted to think about this one for a few days after reading it before writing anything about it. I couldn't really decide what I thought of it. Unfortunately, I think I've decided that I was really unimpressed by it. Why? The writing is lyrical and beautiful, with a mythological, fairy-tale cadence to it. The author won a prize for his debut novel, Annam (which I have not read). It kind of seems like there ought to be something significant to take away from this brief novel - like it ought to be symbolic - or at least have something to say. But it doesn't. Other reviewers have described it as a "fable without a moral." But not only does it not have a "moral," it doesn't have a proper plot structure, and it doesn't give any feeling of satisfaction. In 17th century Europe, the duke Gonzaga employs an hourmaster to wind and repair his castle's many clocks. The first hourmaster mysteriously disappears - foul play? Another is hired. He leaves after getting beat up one night. Is someone out to assure that Gonzaga has no hourmaster? We never find out. A third man is hired for the job, Arturo, and most of the book deals with this character, and his relationship to the duke. There seems to be no point at all to the early incidents in the book. The book ends with a tragic crime being committed - but since it happens to a character who was just introduced a few pages before, the emotional impact is very limited. I suppose we are supposed to see it as a betrayal of friendship, rather than as the crime against the individual - but I don't think it really works. There's also a narrator who is none of the characters in the story - there are some few insights into his personality, but why? Who he is doesn't reflect on the events or themes of the book at all. (Which main theme seems to be: 'the rich and powerful are selfish and untrustworthy.' Not too earthshaking a proclamation.) Overall, this story reminded me of something one might find in a somewhat pretentious college literary magazine which was attempting (poorly) to emulate the 19th century salons of Paris.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-11-16 00:00:00 Joel Armstrong An ambitious book that bored me for much ot its length. This book's intent was telling the tale of the impacts of the Industrial Revolution on small-town America as well as telling the personal tale of some of those involved. But the book got bogged down (in parts) by the boring telling of the story of the lead character (Hugh McVey). The character never really progressed (throughout the book), but worst of all he never really got interesting. He took long walks and brooded about how he didn't fit in with society. And he did this a lot. Brooding can be interesting if it is varied and insightful, but it can be really BORING if it is the same thoughts over and over. Hey, the main character was a great inventor, but the author never really showed the excitement of this aspect of the main character's life. The secondary main character (Clara) also lead a life of 'quiet desperation', but at least her thoughts (as one-sided as they were) were sometimes interesting. Her portions of the book were the most interesting to me. As far as the Industrial Revolution goes, this book IS IMO too one-sided to be very impactful. The author is preaching to the choir (with me) when he criticizes the results of business ambitions. But I lost interest in the author's heavy-handed and one-sided railing against businessmen. I don't buy that things were all idyllic and thoughtful in America before the Industrial Revolution came along to make everything about money and 'progress'. I don't buy that things were so great (and spiritual and personal) when people worked long days in the fields. There is some truth in the author's railing against the Industrial Revolution, but the author shows no balance whatsoever in his observations. I liked Winesburg Ohio (the collection of short stories written earlier by this same author) a whole lot. And this book contains that book's sensitivity to social awkwardness and inner purposelessness, but takes the 'negativity' to a whole new level. And it involves the abovementioned social commentary (whereas Winesburg is more personal). It is like the author's world view got a lot bleaker after he wrote Winesburg. Bleak can be OK, but not when it is this one-sided and disinteresting(one-dimensional).