Clockwork (novel)
| Clockwork | |
|---|---|
 First edition (UK) | |
| Author(s) | Philip Pullman |
| Illustrator | Peter Bailey |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Children's novel |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
| Publication date | 1996 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 92 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-385-40755-6 |
| OCLC Number | 36964106 |
Clockwork (also called Clockwork, or All Wound Up) is an illustrated short children's novel by Philip Pullman, first published in the United Kingdom in 1996 by Doubleday. It was first published in the United States by Arthur A. Levine Books in 1998. The Doubleday edition was illustrated by Peter Bailey and the Arthur A. Levine Books edition was illustrated by Leonid Gore.[1] It was shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Book Award and for a Carnegie Medal in 1997.[2]
Pullman has stated that the novel was inspired by an old clock in London's Science Museum.[1] Inspired by the movement of the clock's gears, he wrote the story with elements that move in opposite directions.[3]
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Plot summary
Clockwork is set in the town of Glockenheim in Germany in "the old days". It has three main characters: Karl, an apprentice clockmaker who has failed to make a figure for the town clock; Gretl, the brave and kind daughter of the local innkeeper; and Fritz, a local writer whose unfinished story sets the gears of Clockwork turning.[4]
The townspeople gather in the White Horse Tavern the evening before a new figure for their town clock made by Karl is to be unveiled. Karl, however, has not made the figure and he is the first apprentice in hundreds of years to fail to do so. The people in the tavern listen to Fritz read from his latest story about a local aristocrat, Prince Otto, and his young son, Prince Florian. Prince Otto dies while on a hunting trip. His heart is replaced with a clockwork mechanism which enables him to drive his son home in their sledge. Fritz wrote down the story after having a dream, but he has not thought of an ending for it, and hopes that he will be able to think up one on the spot: "He was just going to wind up the story, set it going, and make up the end when he got there."
The story begins to come true when the evil Dr. Kalmeneius comes to the door of the tavern. Fritz flees in terror. Dr. Kalmeneius offers Karl a clockwork figure called Sir Ironsoul, which Karl accepts. Karl's acceptance of the gift sets in motion a chain of interlocking stories. A price must be paid for this gift, as Sir Ironsoul is a mechanical knight that comes alive and kills anyone who says the word "Devil". Only the song "The Flowers of Lapland" can stop him. Sir ironsoul's sword is only inches away from Karls throat.
The narrative shifts back and forwards through time.[5] It is revealed that Prince Florian was made from clockwork by Dr. Kalmeneius on the wishes of his father. His mechanical heart will soon wind down. Gretl is the only person who can restore true life to him. All the stories come together as one. Karl places Prince Florian in the clock's tower as his apprentice piece. Karl is killed by Sir Ironsoul. Gretl finishes the story by bringing Prince Florian to life by her unselfish love.[5]
[edit] Major themes
Clockwork is an exciting, suspenseful fairy tale written in an ironic and amusing style. It has a strong moral message.[5] Pullman uses the literary technique of parallel authorial commentary, similar to Rudyard Kipling in Just So Stories.[6] He uses the idea of clockwork as a metafictive device, comparing the interrelated plot elements to the elements of a clock's mechanism.[5]
Pullman provides a moral critique of contemporary Western culture in Clockwork. It is a metaphor for the idea that humanity has been sacrificed as society has become more mechanised. Prince Otto's clockwork heart is a direct allusion to the famous quotation from Thomas Carlyle's 19th century essay "Signs of the Times": "Men are grown mechanical in head and in heart, as well as in hand". The essay was a warning to Victorian society about the dangers of industrialisation and capitalism. Pullman's novel has a similar warning.[5]
The author also takes the moral position that fulfilment cannot come solely from dreams, and needs dedicated hard work allied with inspiration to be achieved. Karl makes a Faustian bargain with Dr. Kalmeneius because he wants an easy way to fulfil his ambition. The Faustian allusions are made clear when Sir Ironsoul becomes murderous when the word devil is mentioned and can only be stopped by a special song.[5]
The novel also has allusions to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Fritz's story comes to him in a dream, similar to how Shelley experienced the writing of her novel. Dr. Kalmeneius can be compared to Dr. Frankenstein as he seeks the secret of life and is prepared to make a monster to do this.[5]
[edit] Adaptation
Clockwork has twice been adapted into an opera for children.
A version with music by composer Stephen McNeff and libretto by playwright David Wood toured the United Kingdom before playing in the Linbury Studio Theatre at London's Royal Opera House in March 2004. The production's orchestra was formed from musicians from the Philharmonia Orchestra and Martin Music Scholarship Fund Award Scheme.[3][7]
A second opera adaption was created in a co-production between Visible Fictions and Scottish Opera in March 2011, with music by David Trouton, and featuring puppetry, live action, music and song. The opera will be performed at a variety of venues across Scotland from April to June 2011.
The Clockwork Moth adapted it into a shadow-play for adults and children, in 2010. The show contained 239 shadow-puppets, and was performed by six puppeteers and three live musicians[8].
It was adapted into a play by Mutabilitie Productions, who previously performed an adaptation of "I Was a Rat". The play was performed at the ADC Theatre in Cambridge, UK in January 2010.
The Theatre Alchemists created a stage adaptation, for the Bike Shed Theatre in Exeter, in May 2010.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Clockwork, Phillip Pullman.com.
- ^ Philip Pullman, contemporarywriters.com.
- ^ a b Portillo, Michael, 2004-03-29, Saved by a song, New Statesman.
- ^ Young Adult Books in Review, The ALAN Review.
- ^ a b c d e f g Thacker, Deborah Cogan, Jean Webb, 2002, Introducing Children's Literature: From Romanticism to Postmodernism, Routledge, ISBN 0-415-20410-0.
- ^ Hunt, Peter, 2001, Children's Literature, Blackwell Publishing, ISBN 0-631-21141-1, p. 114.
- ^ Clockwork - An Opera (2004), Unicorn Theatre.
- ^ The Clockwork Moth shadow-puppetry adaptation of 'Clockwork', theclockworkmoth.com
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