Author : Mitch Albom
What is it about : The first dude who had a vague sense of Time (as opposed to his peers who thought the Sun - day time god and the Moon - night time god, each took turns to rule over them) and eventually discovered how to go about measuring Time, was banished in a cave for 6 thousand years by God for having made this discovery. During this time, he was made to listen to all human requests for "more time, faster, slower, sooner, later, delays, punctual, on schedule, out of time, spare time etc.); two voices stood out louder than the rest, a teenage girl who was in and out of luv and wanted to cut short her time on Earth by gassing herself to death; and a dying old man who wanted more time (another life) by planning on freezing himself for a couple of hundred years when medical science would raise him from such state and cure his many illnesses. These three characters were eventually to meet up and realize the true meaning of TIME.
Some thoughts after having read the book : As per the Author's previous books which I had the pleasure of reading - Tuesdays With Morrie and The Five People You Meet In Heaven, he wrote this book with the same consistent and characteristic approach, tone and style; basically, straight forward conversations, simple scenarios with ordinary people living next-door to you, over an IMPORTANT subject and delivering the BIG message. As in his previous books, the Author left much space and alternative scenes for the readers to imagine, interpret and conclude the message ourselves. This was done by exactly the way he had written this book - keeping it short, concise and not convoluted. The BIG Subject called into question was : TIME. Of course, we all know why human had endeavoured for so long for precision and measurement of Time; just look at our GPS, high speed trains, stock markets and so on. But is Time a good measurement for feelings, emotions and experiences ? Are we all enslaved by Time ? Why are we all making secret wishes so often for more time, faster, slower, sooner, later, delays, punctual, on schedule, out of time, spare time etc. ? Yes, the Author had successfully got the readers thinking.
Would I recommend this book to you : Despite the fact that the book lacked flair, high drama, one-paced and the ending predictable, I cannot give more credit to the Author because the readers were then left with enough breathing space to think over and reflect on the Subject (Time) - always the sign of a good book when the readers were made to think, interpret and learn - this book did all that to me.
