Clockwork - proof copy signed by author and illustrator

Pullman, Philip

ISBN 10: 0385407556 / ISBN 13: 9780385407557

Published by Doubleday, 1996

About this Item

Signed, with dedication, by Philip Pullman and illustrator Peter Bailey on title page. Paperback proof copy in very good condition, spine not creased or cracked, light creasing to top corner of back cover. Language: eng.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1505141663344

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Clockwork - proof copy signed by author and illustrator
• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0385407556
• ISBN 13: 9780385407557
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Philip Pullman
  • Children's Fiction
  • Signed

About this title

Synopsis

The stories of Karl, the apprentice; Dr. Kalmenius, his nefarious “savior”; Gretl, the brave daughter of the town innkeeper; and a young prince whose clockwork heart is in danger of winding down come together in surprising and magical ways in a story that has the relentless urgency of a ticking clock.

Review

While Philip Pullman's greatest popularity is as a creator of novel-length magical realism for young adults, such as The Golden Compass, he continues to explore and stretch the limits of other children's and young adult genres. Clockwork is no exception. With its inspiration lying solidly in the German romantic tradition of E.T.A. Hoffmann and the Brothers Grimm, the story begins, as all good fairy tales do, with someone whose human weakness sets events inescapably in motion. As the townspeople of Glockenheim gather in the White Horse Tavern on the eve of the unveiling of a new figure for their great town clock, Karl, the clockmaker's apprentice, reveals to Fritz, a young storyteller, that he has not been able to construct the figure. A new clock figure is expected of all apprentices, and Karl is the first in hundreds of years to fail. Fritz, in his turn, has the beginnings of a new story to tell, and as it rolls off his tongue, its dark antagonist materializes and offers Karl his dearest wish. Not surprisingly, Karl's Faustian pact brings him destruction, but an innocent child is the deus ex machina that saves another child and the spirit of the town from seemingly ineluctable oblivion. With its eerie black-and-white illustrations by Leonid Gore and its happily-ever-after ending to some thrilling suspense, Clockwork is a fine fairy tale for younger children and a thought-provoking twist on the art of narrative for older ones. --Barrie Trinkle