The 13 Clocks

The 13 Clocks by James Thurber

››› Download audio book for free. ‹‹‹ Original Title: The 13 Clocks ISBN: 0440405823 ISBN13: 9780440405825 Autor: James Thurber/Marc Simont (Illustrator) Rating: 3.8 of 5 stars (723) counts Original Format: Paperback, 128 pages Download Format: PDF, FB2, MOBI, MP3. Published: February 1st 1992 / by Yearling / (first published 1950) Language: English Genre(s): Fantasy- 171 users Fiction- 81 users Childrens- 42 users

Classics- 39 users

Description: How can anyone describe this book? It isn't a parable, a fairy story, or a poem, but rather a mixture of all three. It is beautiful and it is comic. It is philosophical and it is cheery. What we suppose we are trying fumblingly to say is, in a word, that it is Thurber. There are only a few reasons why everybody has always wanted to read this kind of story: if you have always wanted to love a Princess; if you always wanted to be a Prince; if you always wanted the wicked Duke to be punished; or if you always wanted to live happily ever after. Too little of this kind of thing is going on in the world today. But all of it is going on valorously in The 13 Clocks.

About Author:

Thurber was born in Columbus, Ohio to Charles L. Thurber and Mary Agnes (Mame) Fisher Thurber. Both of his parents greatly influenced his work. His father, a sporadically employed clerk and minor politician who dreamed of being a lawyer or an actor, is said to have been the inspiration for the small, timid protagonist typical of many of his stories. Thurber described his mother as a "born comedienne" and "one of the finest comic talents I think I have ever known." She was a practical joker, on one occasion pretending to be crippled and attending a faith healer revival, only to jump up and proclaim herself healed. Thurber had two brothers, William and Robert. Once, while playing a game of William Tell, his brother William shot James in the eye with an arrow. Because of the lack of medical technology, Thurber lost his eye. This injury would later cause him to be almost entirely blind. During his childhood he was unable to participate in sports and activities because of his injury, and instead

developed a creative imagination, which he shared in his writings. From 1913 to 1918, Thurber attended The Ohio State University, where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity. He never graduated from the University because his poor eyesight prevented him from taking a mandatory ROTC course. In 1995 he was posthumously awarded a degree. From 1918 to 1920, at the close of World War I, Thurber worked as a code clerk for the Department of State, first in Washington, D.C. and then at the American Embassy in Paris, France. After this Thurber returned to Columbus, where he began his writing career as a reporter for the Columbus Dispatch from 1921 to 1924. During part of this time, he reviewed current books, films, and plays in a weekly column called "Credos and Curios," a title that later would be given to a posthumous collection of his work. Thurber also returned to Paris in this period, where he wrote for the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers. In 1925, he moved to Greenwich Village in New York City, getting a job as a reporter for the New York Evening Post. He joined the staff of The New Yorker in 1927 as an editor with the help of his friend and fellow New Yorker contributor, E.B. White. His career as a cartoonist began in 1930 when White found some of Thurber's drawings in a trash can and submitted them for publication. Thurber would contribute both his writings and his drawings to The New Yorker until the 1950s. Thurber was married twice. In 1922, Thurber married Althea Adams. The marriage was troubled and ended in divorce in May 1935. Adams gave Thurber his only child, his daughter Rosemary. Thurber remarried in June, 1935 to Helen Wismer. His second marriage lasted until he died in 1961, at the age of 66, due to complications from pneumonia, which followed upon a stroke suffered at his home. His last words, aside from the repeated word "God," were "God bless... God damn," according to Helen Thurber.

Other Editions:

- The 13 Clocks (Hardcover)

- The 13 Clocks (Hardcover)

- The 13 Clocks (Hardcover)

- The Thirteen Clocks (Audio CD)

- The 13 Clocks: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

Books By Author:

- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

- Many Moons

- The Thurber Carnival

- My Life and Hard Times

- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Other Pieces

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Rewiews:

Sep 21, 2008 RandomAnthony Rated it: really liked it Oh my god, "The 13 Clocks" is genius. How did this book stay off my radar for so long? Who can I blame? I only heard of the book because Neil Gaiman wrote an introduction (I think) to a new edition in which he highly praises "13 Clocks". I ordered a copy from the library (an older copy, without the Gaiman introduction...our library system doesn't have the new edition yet) and I read the entire text in about an hour, maybe a little less. "13 Clocks" reads like a lovely meld of "The Phantom Tollbo Oh my god, "The 13 Clocks" is genius. How did this book stay off my radar for so long? Who can I blame? I only heard of the book because Neil Gaiman wrote an introduction (I think) to a new edition in which he highly praises "13 Clocks". I ordered a copy from the library (an older copy, without the Gaiman introduction...our library system doesn't have the new edition yet) and I read the entire text in about an hour, maybe a little less. "13 Clocks" reads like a lovely meld of "The Phantom Tollbooth" and Gaiman's novels; in fact, Thurber's influence on Gaiman is startling. The book is dark, like much of Gaiman's work, and Thurber clearly thinks younger readers can handle a little blood and guts. But the book is packed with funny and inventive passages and Thurber's flawless storytelling shines through on every page. For example...here's a brief, spoiler-free passage: The Duke limped because his legs were of different lengths. The right one had otugrown the left because, when he was young, he had spent his mornings place-kicking pups and punting kittens. He would say to a suitor, "What is the difference in the length of my legs?" and if the youth replied, "Why, one is shorter than the other," the Duke would run him through with the sword he carried in

his swordcane and feed him to the geese. The suitor was supposed to say, "Why, one is longer than the other." Many a prince had been run through for naming the wrong difference. Others had been slain for offenses equally trivial; trampling the Duke's camllias, failing to praise his wines, staring too long at his gloves, gazing too long at his niece. Those who survived his scorn and sword were given incredible labors to perform in order to win his niece's hand, the only warm hand in the castle, where time had frozen to death at ten minutes to five one snowy night. They were told to cut a slice of moon, or change the ocean into wine. They were set to finding things that never were, and building things that could not be. They came and tried and failed and disappeared and never came again. And some, as I have said, were slain, for using names that start X, or dropping spoons, or wearing rings, or speaking disrespectfully of sin." Brilliant. If you want to remember why some books aimed at younger readers pulse with joy and energy, check out "The 13 Clocks." I'm buying the new edition ASAP. 25 likes 3 comments