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nickbowl
, June 03, 2007
Nick Hemsley is a fine writer, and Clock is one of the most engaging fictions I?ve read for a good while.
Despite its length this short novel?s depth and breadth of scope is stunning. It?s beautifully written and easy to read: a great story skilfully plotted. Don?t be put off by its non-linear narrative ? this adds to the filmic, sometimes dreamlike quality of the novel. Clock defies pigeon-holing into any particular genre. Indeed, its integration and transcendence of several genres (thriller, romance, novel of ideas) is somehow subversive, yet at the same time underpins the psychological truth that shines, jewel-like, throughout the story?s unfolding. The reader gets to feel the weight of each character?s baggage of hopes and fears, dreams and associations, and, with these glimpses, to care.
I?ve read Clock twice now. Nick Hemsley?s subtle, un-didactic exploration of, for example, our ideas of certainty, of self and sense of self, of fidelity, innocence, guilt, remorse and grief, ensures that I?ll read it again, and recommend others to read it. (But read it soon ? remember: Clock is ticking!).
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