Tinkers

The following is the gist of the discussion...

Tinkers--the story of three generations of men--a preacher--a tinker of words; his son a tinker of pots and peddler of wares; and his son--a tinker who puts together a house and clocks is the first published novel of Paul Harding. (Another novel was discarded and this one was pieced together--tinkered--much like a soldered tin pot.) 

Mixed experiences reading this book even for the members who overall liked the novel.  Sections on the workings of clocks were difficult to get through and most skimmed or skipped over them.  The lack of action  and  lack of clarity was bothersome for some as well.  The peddler experiences in nature also were irksome to read for some.  Perhaps these were the very objections that led to rejection after rejection by publishing companies before Bellevue Press printed  it.

What made this book worthwhile?  The poetic language, the characters, the amazingly realistic capturing of the random thoughts of a man on his death bed. The ending--a Rosebud moment--poignantly moving.

But was this book worthy of a Pulitzer Prize?  Probably not was the majority feeling.  This, a first novel, seemed heavily influenced by the writing style of Harding's mentor...Marilynne Robinson  also a Pulitzer Winner.  A Pulitzer should reward a published established writer who has a body of work and a unique style --a unique voice expressed one member and others agreed. 

Thanks to smart phones we were able to hear a list of previous Pulitzer winners many of which we agreed were given to writers who fit our groups' definition.  Browse for yourself...

Pulitzer Prize Winners 

*Still...on reading the cover...it turns out that this books has been named one of the  best books or notable book of the year by NPR, the New Yorker, Granta, ALA, etc. So....

*Added by the sponsor of the book and this blogger....

And this is added by BB who came late to the meeting...

Harding said in an interview that he was reading Karl Barth, the prominent Protestant theologian of the 20th century who wrote, among other topics, on revelation. Whether a believer or not, the fiction writer has a handy tool in revelation--a God's eye view, so to speak. In the final summing-up of George's life, pieces are fitting together in his mind like the works of a clock. Some of those pieces were not actually known to George previously—his grandfather’s dementia and banishment, for instance—but are now revealed to him. (1 Corinthians 13:12: "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood.") Is the reader to believe that as George hovers between this world and eternity, he's seeing God face to face? And is the point of this book that the final stage of life, dying, has value? 

Marilynne Robinson, Harding's mentor, has a big interest in theology, as I think does Harding.