Monday, September 30, 2013

Tinkers by Paul Harding

This book was a New York Times bestseller and it won the Pulitzer Prize. I think the reason it has been acclaimed so highly is that the main character is a dying man, and death is a popular subject these days.

Tinkers is the story of a father and son. Often I did not know which of these men was speaking and I had to watch for clues. Occasionally a grandfather, too, gets into the action. The writing is nonspecific and lyrical, like reading poetry.

At times the writing style begins to flow nicely and this happens in short patches in which a brief story-within-a-story is being told. The harsh climate of New England is described very well.

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