The Horizontal Instrument by Christopher Wilkins

The Horizontal Instrument

Christopher Wilkins

Interwoven between the story of the watchmaker's wife's death from a slow disease is a meditation on time and an attempt to build the perfect timepiece.I was quickly absorbed in the human story but found I had to work harder with the rest. Well worth the effort though - a very intriguing and unusual story which really makes you stop and think.

Extract
Time is memory, simple as that. Without memory, there can be no time. No before and after, no sooner or later, no now and then. After all how do we detect the passage of time except by perceiving change? But without memory, all change would be imperceptible.
Parallels
  • Longitude by Dava Sobel
  • Tasting Salt by Stephanie Dowrick
  • Enduring Love by Ian McEwan