The Clockwork Man

TITLE: The Clockwork Man
AUTHOR: William Jablonsky
PUBLISHER: Grey Oak Publishers in association with westland ltd.
ISBN: 978-93-81626-53-5
GENRE: Fiction
PAGES: 231        
SOURCE: Blogadda
RATING: 3.5/5

BACK COVER SAYS:

Karl Gruber, a world-famous builder of automated clocks, has reached the pinnacle of his art in Ernst-a man constructed entirely of clockwork. 

Educated and raised in the Gruber household to be a gentle caring soul, Ernst begins to discover a profound love for his master’s daughter, Giselle. Just as their relationship becomes intimate, however, tragedy strikes and the family falls apart. Abandoned, knowing no other life but the one he has led, Ernst allows himself to wind down in a kind of suicide. 

Over a hundred years later, he awakens in a strange new land, the world he’s known now long gone. Along with his mentor and guide, a well-meaning if slightly unstable homeless man, Ernst attempts to piece together the events that brought him to his new home- and to let go of the century old tragedy that still haunts him.

RAUMALI’S VIEWS:

I have never read a Science fiction before. As I started reading this book, I thought it was some kind of Sci-fi. After going through a few pages, I realised I was wrong. The book is much more than that.

As I started reading the book, I thought it would be boring. But as I traversed through the pages, it grew more and more interesting and a time came when I just couldn’t put the book down without completing it.

The book is basically the diary of Ernst, the main protagonist of the tale, a clockwork man built by the world famous clockmaker Karl Gruber. Gruber educated Ernst in theoretical subjects, language, history and geography as well as raised him to be gentle and caring. Ernst helps Gruber with his projects and also takes care of his family. He cannot stop himself from falling in love with his master’s daughter. Soon tragedy strikes the family and the course of events lead to the family falling apart. Unable to cope with the pain and loss, Ernst winds himself down to some kind of suicide.

He wakes up a hundred years later in a strange unknown land and his wish to know about the trail of events that led him there triggers his instincts for survival. But he is not really able to forget the century old tragedy that still haunts him.

The main attraction of the story is the character of Ernst. He is humble, gentle, caring, patient and with a conscience. Jablonsky very deftly portrayed Ernst’s character which makes the book all the more interesting.

The best part about the book I liked is that the author makes the readers think. Sometimes it seems as all of it is real and I really had to turn back to check whether it was a work of fiction. The narration seems real and the events flash before our eyes. At some parts, it even made me cry. The sentiments, the feelings said by the mechanical man all seemed real.

The only disappointment I faced was that even though the book was interesting, some parts were so boring that I didn’t feel like continuing to read. But then again it regained it’s former glory. Also few incidents are too real to be true for a mechanical man.

Nonetheless it’s a great read for sure. 

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com