The Time Keeper

Author:  Mitch Albom

One-sentence summary: Father Time must help two different people sort out their problems with time before he can escape hearing the infinite pleas of humans about time.  

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 6

Our favorite thing about it:  The overall message about time was a good message.

Our least favorite thing about it: That it was formulaic in style and story.

Main Topics of Discussion: Time, Power, Human frailty, Emotions, Consequences

Our favorite quote: “Man alone measures time. Man alone chimes the hour. And, because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures. A fear of time running out.”

Notes: Our overall thoughts about this book were that it had a good message about time and a decent story, but it was a little too simplistic compared to the expectations we had. The story had its authentic moments when discussing our relationship with time and how we often want more or less of it depending on our situations. The characters were sometimes moving and realistic. And we liked that the story was not drawn out since the message did not call for an overly-complicated plot. Had the book been longer, our opinion of it would have moved down a few notches. One thing that turned some of us off was that the writing seemed a little formulaic. The emotions were sometimes spelled out literally rather than implied through a character’s actions or words.

We discussed the book mainly by each character’s story. For Sarah’s story, we felt that her emotions and reactions were realistic, although they were drastic. We really thought that the author (a man) did a pretty good job of capturing how a teenage girl in this digital/social media age would think and act. The themes of isolation, loneliness, and hopelessness were realistic.

Victor’s story was not as relatable to us but did seem plausible, although it was drastic too. His will to live did not depend on being with someone he loved but was driven purely by power and money.

Dor’s story was interesting, but we thought his punishment was harsh for his “crime.” His story was all about how man was better off not counting the minutes of our lives and how that leads us to despair and tragedy.

Memorable Meeting Moments: We had our first potluck meal, which was made up of all our favorite Thanksgiving dishes.

What We Ate: Honeybaked Ham, Rolls, Mandarin Salad, Green Bean Casserole, Cauliflower Casserole, Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Corn Casserole and Pumpkin Dump Cake for dessert.