Spring clock -- (Chinese-English)

Author: Philip Pullman
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-03-01
Features: This is a story that begins with "Once upon a time." In a small tavern in a German town, a respected novelist is about to read his new work to the audience, only to find that the story comes true. A clockmaker's apprentice is on the verge of completing his apprenticeship, needing only to finish making a clockwork doll for the church bell. However, he nearly collapses in the final test and fails to fulfill his duties. Fearing criticism and humiliation for not completing his work, both the novelist and the clockmaker's apprentice unconsciously resort to lies and escape, utterly defenseless against temptation and greed. In the "other timeline" of this book—i.e., the world in the novelist's story—a beloved little prince is on the brink of death. Can the tavern owner's little daughter save him? Will the mysterious doctor in a black cloak, with eyes like burning torches, always appear at the moment when human desires are most urgent? Tick, tock, tick, tock—the clock of fate has been wound tight! With global fame from the "His Dark Materials" trilogy, the British author Philip Pullman once again weaves the themes of "time" and "destiny," intertwining classic allegories such as Faust, Frankenstein, the Cotton Rabbit, and Pinocchio. In this story, which advances like a clockwork mechanism, he skillfully blends the magical and the real, using a richly imaginative space to metaphorically depict life and interpret the meaning of time and true love.