The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell is stunning. There is no other way to introduce this review. During the entire time I was reading the novel, I was completely absorbed.  In the midst of the story, I could not put it down. When I was forced to stop, I couldn’t get my mind off the story. Now that I am finished, I cannot stop thinking about it. This author is so flexible in his skills that he can write from diverse points of view (age, ethnicity, culture, time frame) and across genres (literary, fantasy, horror, science fiction, and adventure) in a convincing manner. Even the most self-important literary critic would find little to criticize. He writes with such dexterity that he can convincingly portray a runaway teenage girl, a sociopathic twenty-one year old male college student, a washed up novelist, an African American female psychiatrist, and a war-junkie journalist – all with a fine tuned accuracy. These well-drawn characters – and countless other secondary yet important characters – propel the story at nearly breakneck speed. When you add a thrilling plotline that matches anything Stephen King could muster, The Bone Clocks ends up being mind-blowing.

There are 6 intertwined novellas making up the novel that span many decades. All of the characters are linked in some capacity, but the puzzle is only gradually assembled over the course of the work. A main character is Holly Sykes, a 15 year old runaway at the start of the novel. She appears throughout all six sections, and is the driving force behind all aspects of the adventure. The last section takes place in the 2040’s, and the future is rather bleak in Mitchell’s imagination. To get there, however, Holly and the rest of the cast encounter a string of supernatural occurrences.  I will not elaborate on the story, but will simply state that the theme is an ongoing war between two populations of immortal beings. Who wins the war will have a dramatic impact on the rest of us. Along the way we encounter the everyday human emotions and relationship challenges. These are peppered with incidents of paranormal events and heartbreaking trauma. With each successive section, our understanding of events becomes increasingly clear and our concern for and connection with the characters grows. When you think that things cannot be topped, Mitchell tops them. The ending is both wrenching and beautiful, and my reaction was “yes, this is the way it had to end.”

To say this is a work of dark fantasy or paranormal horror or science fiction is misleading. This is a work of superior fiction with those elements firmly entrenched. (Buy the way, there are also many sections which are very amusing – so it isn’t all doom and gloom.)The Bone Clocks is genre-bending.  You really cannot put a name on the category, but you won’t care. You will, however, think, “This is a great book.”

The Bone Clocks is the best book I read in 2014.

“I’m not going to watch it. I heard it sucks and I don’t want to contaminate one of my fondest childhood stories.”

            That may not be an exact quote, but it is pretty close. My twenty-two year old daughter was commenting on the movie adaptation of the YA novel The Giver by Lois Lowry. She was at home for three days over Thanksgiving, taking a break from her doctoral work at the University of Chicago.

            I thought I had a good idea arranging my Netflix queue so that the movie version of The Giver would be at our house over the holiday so that we could watch the movie together. It so happens that the December selection for the men’s book club to which I belong is The Giver – a definite departure from our usual fare. For instance, our January selection is The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. Anyway, I was reading the book (now long finished) and watching the movie sounded like a good idea.

Not to my daughter’s way of thinking.

The Giver is one of her all-time favorites. With the exception of Harry Potter, The Giver holds a special place in her heart. I was surprised, though, about her unwillingness to watch the movie. She stood her ground, and only my wife and I watched it. For the record I thought the film version was pretty good – it certainly didn’t “suck” like her peers reported to her. She had no qualms about watching all of the Harry Potter movies, or seeing other films based on childhood readings (The Thief Lord, Hunger Games). But there is something about The Giver that struck her differently. This work represents something iconic to her and to many people who read the book in middle school.

I think I know why.

The fan base is evidently quite huge mostly because it is a frequently assigned reading for middle school kids. They love it for two reasons, I think. First, the book is accessible to a range of readers. Second, and most importantly, author Lois Lowry has masterfully connected with the developmental stage of pre- and early adolescence. This is the stage of life when the consideration of Big Ideas and Big Thoughts become possible. Abstract and hypothetical reason is growing by leaps and bounds at this age. The content of The Giver involves love, grief, the arbitrary nature of rules, the expression of feelings, and the struggle with the limits of vocabulary to describe deep emotions and cognitions. All of these are weaved into a dystopian tale that is simultaneously safe, heartbreaking, disturbing, and downright creepy. I think for many kids like my daughter, the themes of this work meshed triumphantly with the very struggles of the target age group. I think Ms. Lowry tapped marvelously into the mindset of kids at this age, and every word of her story resonates with them. That alone makes Lois Lowry a genius. And to have her fans hold their memories of the book close to their hearts a decade later has got to be incredibly rewarding.