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The Time Keeper
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The Time Keeper
Unavailable
The Time Keeper
Audiobook4 hours

The Time Keeper

Written by Mitch Albom

Narrated by Dan Stevens

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

From the author who's inspired millions worldwide with books like Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven comes his most imaginative novel yet, The Time Keeper--a compelling fable about the first man on earth to count the hours.

The man who became Father Time.

In Mitch Albom's newest work of fiction, the inventor of the world's first clock is punished for trying to measure God's greatest gift. He is banished to a cave for centuries and forced to listen to the voices of all who come after him seeking more days, more years. Eventually, with his soul nearly broken, Father Time is granted his freedom, along with a magical hourglass and a mission: a chance to redeem himself by teaching two earthly people the true meaning of time.

He returns to our world--now dominated by the hour-counting he so innocently began--and commences a journey with two unlikely partners: one a teenage girl who is about to give up on life, the other a wealthy old businessman who wants to live forever. To save himself, he must save them both. And stop the world to do so.

Told in Albom's signature spare, evocative prose, this remarkably original tale will inspire readers everywhere to reconsider their own notions of time, how they spend it and how precious it truly is.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 4, 2012
ISBN9781401326364
Unavailable
The Time Keeper
Author

Mitch Albom

Mitch Albom is the author of numerous books of fiction and nonfiction, which have collectively sold more than forty million copies in forty-seven languages worldwide. He has written seven number-one New York Times bestsellers – including Tuesdays with Morrie, the bestselling memoir of all time, which topped the list for four straight years – award-winning TV films, stage plays, screenplays, a nationally syndicated newspaper column, and a musical. Through his work at the Detroit Free Press, he was inducted into both the National Sports Media Association and Michigan Sports halls of fame and is the recipient of the 2010 Red Smith Award for lifetime achievement. After bestselling memoir Finding Chika and “Human Touch,” the weekly serial written and published online in real-time to raise funds for pandemic relief, his latest work is a return to fiction with The Stranger in the Lifeboat (Harper, November 2021). He founded and oversees SAY Detroit, a consortium of nine different charitable operations in his hometown, including a nonprofit dessert shop and food product line to fund programs for Detroit’s most underserved citizens. He also operates an orphanage in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, which he visits monthly. He lives with his wife, Janine, in Michigan. Learn more at www.mitchalbom.com, www.saydetroit.org, and www.havefaithaiti.org.

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Reviews for The Time Keeper

Rating: 4.146341463414634 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I loved this story!!! Mitch Albom is a great storyteller. I thought the narration was well done.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The reader was great with all the character voices. Enjoys this book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Read this book last week and loved loved loved it. In the vein of the Shack. Really makes you think about how you use your time and to live in the present. I also bought the audio book.
    This is the same author as Tuesday's with Morrie. Only a 200 page book and reads fast. Fantasy play on Father Time and how God deals with him and two people who count their minutes and focus to much on "need more time" Loved it!!!!!!!!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A "gentle" read, easy to follow, and very enjoyable. I found many meaningful passages - thought provoking in relation to our current pace of life and priorities.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Contrived but sweet fable about Father Time.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The story begins six thousand years ago when Dor places two stones on the ground to measure (though he doesn’t call it that) a shadow. Later on, he realized the shadow no longer is the same length. The next day he sees the shadow return in the same dimension. He has discovered time and soon develops the world’s first clock, measuring the passage of time through the speed of water drops.In THE TIME KEEPER Mitch Albom calls time “God’s greatest gift.” It is something for which everyone asks for more. For some people, it moves too quickly; for others, too slowly.As a punishment for measuring time–in future generations it can control people’s lives– he is banished to a cave where he must hear every request for more time. He cannot leave until he can teach two people the real meaning of time.He returns in the present time to complete his task with an eighty-five year old man who wants to live forever and a seventeen-year-old girl who has given up on her life. It ends a few hundred years from now when the world is a very different place.The book is written in very short chapters, following the three main characters as the reader learns how they arrive at their current situations and how Dor shows them the role time should play in their lives. As he states, “When you are measuring time, you are not living it.”I gave the book four stars because he raises an interesting concept but the book lacks serious depth (which is probably fine for his audience which isn’t looking for deep philosophy).
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very powerful in many ways, but hard to define. Dor, Victor and Sarah all share the novel. Sarah is a teenager, Dor's age is greater than....and Victor is an old man dying of cancer. Sarah goes thru the travail of being rejected and attempts suicide--only to save herself and become the doctor who discovers a cure for cancer. Victor attempts cryonics, changes his mind and finally helps Sarah to become a great scientist, and Dor goes back to his love, Alli and his children. Very touching.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Whereas Mitch Albom's other book covers are rather plain & simple, there is something about clocks that never fails to intrigue me, so I wanted to read this one simply because the cover sucked me in. This book, simply, is about how man began measuring time and thus, how our obsession with time (wanting more time, wishing time would go by faster) ultimately changes our world.The story starts out somewhat slow & picks up momentum about halfway through the book. It is rather fable-like, and deals primarily with the man who first began measuring time (who ultimately becomes Father Time) and two other main characters, a teenage girl and an old dying man. There is a mild biblical undertone with references to the Tower of Babel and a being one would assume is God, and I enjoyed the way these elements were blended into the story.Overall, I enjoyed this story. It's a quick read and in similar Mitch Albom style, it makes the reader think and re-evaluate what's important in life. It's simply written but is able to convey a deeper meaning, and could be enjoyed by multiple age groups.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This is a Christian-based fable that tells the story of an old man with liver cancer and a teen girl with family problems who struggle with their desires for time. Dor, a man and husband from the time of the old testament, was the first to discover how to measure time. As a punishment for being the first scientist and acting in such a subversive manner (being curious about the world), God punishes him for his abhorrent sin by turning him into "Father Time" and forcing him to listen to the pleas of the people who are impacted by his discovery for 6,000 years. To escape his punishment, he must set things right with the old man and the girl. Though there was at least one touching moment, I did not enjoy this transparent and contrived little novel. I felt like I was being forced to sit though a badly written sunday school lesson about the perils of placing value on science or time with the warning that one might be doomed to hell for 6,000 years for .... creating a crude clock? Placing value on time over relationships? It was like a bad after-school special, 1970'sTV (but with current technology). I know I will probably be the only one in my book club who did not enjoy this one, but it was a little too churchy and melodramatic for me. Fortunately, it was short and not a big time-waster ;)
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    i read this book in one night. It is definitely s book to ponder over. I enjoyed the stories as they unraveled and how the characters intersected. It is a bit simplistic and the characters do not have a lot of development, but if you take it at face value for what it is, then it is a very enjoyable read. The author compels the reader to contemplate their relationship with time and the prevailing message is to, of course, live each moment fully and appreciate it for what it is. The majority of the message could be summed up by a magnet on my refrigerator, "Don't waste today worrying about yesterday" (or tomorrow). Would recommend it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I haven’t read Mitch Albom’s other books, they aren’t in a genre I usually read but after seeing the great write up this audiobook got in Audiofile magazine this one sounded like something I would like, and I wasn’t wrong!This book is very relevant to the world we live in because it seems everyone is in a rush to get where they are going and wanting more time to get it done, but be careful what you wish for. As Dor found out the hard way, 100’s of centuries ago he designed the first clock but God (or some such person) is not happy with him for this and banishes him to a cave for centuries where he becomes Father Time. Now centuries later God (or some such person) has a deal for him if he can save 2 people he can have his freedom. The 2 people he chooses are a teenage girl, Sarah, who wants to give up her time because she has gotten her heart broken and an old man, Victor, in kidney failure who wants more time, can he save these two people and in turn save himself?“When you are measuring time you are not living it.” So very true! A very well written cautionary tale about time and not taking it for granted or wasting it, loved the epilogue. Actually I just really liked this whole book. I have seen some reviews saying this book was choppy but I never got that feeling at all and that may be because I listened to it on audio. I thought the story was great and felt like any “choppiness” just made me feel more of what Dor was feeling being in this new world and to really explore it he had to slow time because our world moves so fast. I think this book will appeal to a different audience than Albom’s previous books, yes people who liked his past books will probably like this one but because of the fantasy element of Father Time I think this will appeal to people who read fantasy or enjoy fairytales re-told.Dan Stevens narration of this book is fabulous! Every voice is spot on, you never question who is talking each voice has its own inflection and tone. I see why this performance has won a well-deserved earphones award and would not be at all surprised if this one wins big at the Audies too! I just can’t say enough about how great the narration of this book is. If you are thinking of reading this one I highly recommend it on audio! Dan Stevens will be a narrator to look for in the future!4 ½ Stars5+++ Stars for the narration
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Well, I requested to review this book via Netgalley as I have heard so many people talking about it. I have to be honest and say that I have very mixed feelings, hence the 3 star rating. While I like the premise of the story, I found it a little hard to get into in the beginning. The book is shorter, only 240 pages, so it is a quick read if you want something that you will get through quickly. I cannot really comment as to format and editing, something I would normally comment on, as this was an uncorrected advanced reader's proof, so there is no guarantee that what I saw is what you will see. The concept of the history of time was intriguing, and I found that I could easily relate with Sarah Lemon, having see quite a bit of myself in the character. I found the characters mostly believable, although Victor seemed a little...off. I really do not know how to quantify that, but something about the character bothered me. The story is well written, of that I am sure. If you like looking at the history of things (whether real or fictional), this book is entertaining and intriguing and it does make you think about how you have lived your life and how you should be living. The point of view/plotline were slightly disjointed, and this is probably why I had trouble with it. Admittedly, I have ADHD, and sometimes story lines that jump back and forth are difficult for me to follow along with, and that could be a big part of why this book just did not seem to grab me like I hoped it would. If you are intrigued by the cover or the description, I would give it a shot. It was an interesting read, just was not my thing.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    How often have you heard yourself say " I wish there was more time in the day. I just need more time. Where does the time go?"Our days and lives are measured against time - calendars and clocks. But what about the first person to measure time? Albom spins a fable about Dor - the first man to map the passage of the moon and sun, to track the minutes, hours, days and years. And how angry he made God with his measuring. For that, Dor is imprisoned in a cave for thousands of years. His chance at redemption lies with the fate of two very disparate people. Sarah - a teenager determined to end her time on earth. And Victor - a terminally ill senior who desperately wants to prolong his time.I chose to listen to The Time Keeper. Dan Stevens was the reader. He has a British accent, but is easily understood. He has a very versatile voice, conjuring up three very different voices for the characters. Albom's prose are quite spare and Steven's interpretation of the book really suited. In retrospect, I was glad I chose to listen rather than read. Listening was more like being told a story. The book is quite short and easily read in one sitting. Albom has written a book that is sure to make you stop and re-evaluate the passage of time in your own life. And to appreciate what we have and how precious it is.....
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A short inspirational read about the meaning of life, love and suicide
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    "When you are measuring life, you are not living it. I know."
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Don't buy this book. Get it from the library, and only if you have nothing better to read. It is pretty dull and exceedingly predictible. Summed up -- time is precious, don't waste a moment on foolish things. Now you don't need to read it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Dor, a man from the time of the building of the Tower of Babel, is fascinated with measuring time. Unfortunately his fascination leads to his being banished to a cave. In this cave he is forced to spend eons listening to mankind's request for more time. After spending six thousand years in this cave, Dor is released for his final mission, teach two humans about time. Needless to say, Dor's release into the twentieth century is somewhat of a shock. He must learn modern languages, man's history, and achieve an understanding of all modernity has to offer. While Dor is learning all he can about mankind and new ways to measure time, the reader is introduced to Victor Delamonte is an elderly business man who has received a death sentence. His cancer has metastasized and is no longer treatable; at best he has a few months to live. Victor decides to use his wealth and attempt to cheat death. Sarah Lemon is an introverted and academically gifted teenage girl. She has no close friends and latches onto the first person to show her any signs of friendship, a popular boy from her high school.Mr. Albom has done an excellent job in portraying the lives and motivations for the actions of the man characters, Dor, Victor and Sarah. He has also deftly tied their stories together, in that the lessons that Victor and Sarah learn about time (wanting more and giving up on it) also impart a lesson to Dor. The Time Keeper is a modern and inspirational moral tale or fable about the precious value and sanctity of time. I found The Time Keeper to be a somewhat fast read, although it did go a little slow in the passages discussing Dor's life. However, the story would not have made as much sense without those passages as they were necessary in order to understand the overall message.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A powerful book, especially for someone who had thoughts of suicide in the past. I also liked it because it touched upon the philosophy of time. I couldn't stop reading this. Half a point taken off because of religious issues.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    As Einstein once showed, time is relative. For most people, there is never enough, for a few, there is too much, but it is the rare soul who feels they have the right amount. In this newest book by Mitch Albom, he explores our relationship to time and, in his usual beautiful sparse prose, he shows us that it isn't the amount of time we each are allotted but what we do with it that matters.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom has been on my excitement list for a while now. Such a great cover, an author I really enjoy, and a story about Father Time - how could I not be excited!What I expected and what I got were two different things, however. Instead of getting an interesting, complex story about a fantastical creature, I got instead chopped bits of a story, tossed together like a bit of a human salad, and mixed all up. This story is part Dor, part Victor, and part Sarah, but does not spend enough time with any one of them to make me, as a reader, feel connected to them. I felt a bit of pity for Sarah, was highly annoyed by Victor, and just.. confused by Dor (Father Time). That lack of connection took this book from something that, I was hoping, I would connect to and feel inspired by, to simply a story that, frankly, wasn't really that good.I think where this went wrong was the way the book was formatted, first of all (bold lettering making a statement before a paragraph about the character). This constantly jarred me and made me realize I was reading a book and kept the characters from fully forming in my imagination. Secondly, Victor and Sarah were just not very likable. Victor, an old, rich man who is dying after a full life, wants to find immortality, and Sarah, a teenager who has just been dumped by her first crush, is suicidal. It wasn't big enough for me, not real enough. Where are the people who have dealt with huge issues and struggling against depression - it's out there: the homeless, the abused. What about those who are working for good and want to continue to live to see that succeed?I'm disappointed that The Time Keeper didn't work for me. I'm disappointed that I spent all that time (although maybe there's a lesson for me?) anticipating a story that did not live up to its promise. But most of all, I'm sad that I invested my precious time in a story that felt rushed, and unwilling to commit time back to me.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In this advanced copy of Albom’s latest book, he once again takes a simple theme, something we all think about, and he creates an inspirational, extremely creative avenue to explore it. The book is about time and how it affects our lives from moment to moment. We are all, each and every one of us, preoccupied with its measurement. What would life be like without the constraints of time? The book encourages us to think about how simple life would be if we were just enjoying the moment we were in, without thinking of all our other responsibilities in the next moment, the next appointment, the next day, the next problem.Three children are playing in a carefree manner, running through the fields. They are Nim, Alli and Dor. Dor is consumed with the need to measure, to watch and to investigate how things occur. Alli is a sweet and gentle girl who becomes his wife. Nim likes power and control and he becomes a powerful king who is sometimes a cruel ruler. Dor creates the forerunner to the sun dial. He is warned not to tamper with measurements by an apparition, but he ignores the warning. Later, when Dor refuses to help Nim build a tower to heaven, so he might defeat the gods and rule from above, Nim banishes him from his kingdom. Leaving his children behind with his parents, he and his wife Alli move away, dejected and lonely, they resettle elsewhere. When Alli falls gravely ill, Dor runs frantically to the tower that Nim is building, his stairway to heaven, and he climbs it, seeking to reach the top and force the gods to stop time and help his beloved continue to live. When he reaches the top, he is imprisoned in a cave by the same apparition that warned him, years ago, to stop experimenting with his measuring. This apparition is G-d’s representative. He tells Dor he must stay in the cave until heaven neets earth, until he basically learns the error of his ways, until he learns why he should not have inflicted the knowledge of time upon innocent victims. The three main problematic issues concerning the measurement of time seem to be these: wanting to extend time, wanting to slow time and wanting to stop time. Dor wanted to stop time, Sarah wanted to slow time and Victor wanted to extend it. The need to control it is the source of the problem. It is the need for a power that is not in the control of mortal man.Finally the day comes when heaven meets earth and the apparition reappears. Dor is instructed that he might free himself from the cave if he listens to the unending pleadings of the voices in the pool that was created by his tears, and chooses two to save, two humans who cannot deal with the time they have allotted or the circumstances within which they are living.Dor hears two voices above all others. Victor, 86, is terminally ill, and wants to find a way to give himself more time, Sarah, 17, is an unhappy, lonely teenager who has deceived herself and is being bullied by social media. She wants to end her time. Dor, himself, wanted to stop time, and the lesson he must learn, from his next trial, is why what he did was wrong.Using an hourglass and the sands of time, each is led to see the folly of their ways. Each learns that leaving the world, on their own terms, leaves those left behind to suffer. They realize that time is not in their control, should not be controlled and perhaps should not be given so much attention. They discover the drastic consequences of their own behavior and alter their paths. In that way, they also set Dor free and he returns to his own time to be with Alli in her last moments. Although 6 thousand years have passed, he is unaffected by its passage and is able to return to face whatever fate awaits him.Albom has created a fable about time, about who measured it, about why and how it was measured, and about the consequences for the measurer and those that eventually must live by the tools that measure it. He creates a fantasy about the problems created when we become preoccupied with schedules and the passage of time. He creates the legend of Father Time.For me, the ultimate message of this little tale is that although we live by time, and we want to control it, we do not own it, we have no power over it and we are helpless in the face of it. Time is the real prison for all of us. We need to live within the moment we have and not worry about the moment we don’t have, the moment that has passed or the moment that is to come. If we try too hard to control everything we do, we are consumed with the effort and lose sight of the actual living and of the enjoyment life provides. In the end, I was left with some questions. For instance, were the characters symbols of ancient bible characters? Was Nim the pharaoh in Egypt? Was the apparition the son of son G-d? Were Alli and Dor metaphors for Adam and Eve? Was the Mayan calendar the symbol of the end of days for Father Time? Why was Dor’s wish to learn about measurement of time more of a crime than Nim’s wish for power over the people? Weren't both really desirous of the same thing, control? Why was Alli’s act of kindness punished and not rewarded?Like the other books I have read by Mitch Albom, this book moved me with its simple premise and message.