Tinkers by Paul Harding

We met on 28 Feb to discuss Tinkers by Paul Harding.

Tinkers is the first novel of Paul Harding. First published in 2009 it tells the story of George Washington Crosby who thinks back on his life while on his deathbed - particularly that of his relationship with his father who suffered from epilepsy. The novel won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Set

Paul Harding was born in 1967 and while now considers himself as an author, also taught writing at Harvard and was the drummer for the band Cold Flat Water from 1990 - 1997.

What did we think?

Like The Slap we thought that the idea of the novel was better than the result. Like The Slap critical acclaim by the reviewers doesn't necessarily equal a book popular with readers. Not these readers anyway. Some comments from the group:

One member loved the cover (different to above) but the content was disconnected from the promise on the cover.

• There were little story gems eg. the story of the tooth being pulled, the epilepsy but found the descriptions a bit hard going.
• Enjoyed the little stories but not the flowery language and descriptions.
• Hard going. Skimmed all the clock imagery.
• Enjoyed the social commentary but skimmed a few bits.
• Too wordy.
• Not a great holiday read. Enjoyed it as it moved on but skimmed a lot.
• Often the winner of the Pulitzer isn't as good as the others on the shortlist.
• George's feeling of being trapped and running away was especially heartwrenching.
  
  Range of scores: 2-6 out of 10
  Average score: 4.5