“The Thirteen Clocks, by James Thurber, is an anomaly. Almost a paradox. The characters are not developed, they just are, and that is part of their effectiveness. The Duke is the epitome – an odd epitome – of evil. The prince is, in a way, your typical prince, but not. Thurber has used all the tropes and played with them, and turned them on their heads. He plays on the audience’s knowledge of other literature. He does many things you wouldn’t really want to do in a good story, except a story like his. If you break character in a typical story, it’s a mistake. But in his, you can break character all the time, and that’s what makes it magical. All the characters, you feel like you should know who they are, and so it inspires wonder, and it would be difficult to say who is the main character in the book. Except you could say as far as the truth goes, the truth is, evil will always be punished. Somehow good will always win, even if it is in a very circuitous way. The characters are interesting not in their believability, but almost their unbelievability. But they are not absurd. Somehow, he manages to bring together a bunch of odd, unbelievable characters, and they fit. It deserves its own post.”

Ellen Moore

And so, as advised, I decided to write its own post. The Thirteen Clocks is one of my favorite stories. It is magical and whimsical, full of poetry and sheer genius. In my previous articles, I had talked about character development, deep story, making your world your own. Not unique, since that is impossible, but nevertheless your own. But The Thirteen Clocks breaks all the rules. And still works.

ALERT: THIS ARTICLE DISCLOSES SECRETS ABOUT THE THIRTEEN CLOCKS. IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE STORY YET AND ARE SENSITIVE TO SPOILERS, READ THE BOOK BEFORE CONTINUING THIS ARTICLE.

The World

There is a great deal to say about the world in The Thirteen Clocks, but it is extremely hard, because one could almost say there really isn’t one. It has fairy-tale elements, such as jewels from tears, and the cow over the moon, and the princess in the tower, and terrible, impossible tasks. And it has unique elements, like clocks that won’t run and Time that has died, and carnivorous geese (I won’t go into that), among other things. But the world itself seems so broad and full of surprises and its own logic and our perceived logic (which doesn’t always work), that it seems developed and undeveloped at the same time. But it works. The story is not about the world. In the reality of The Thirteen Clocks, the world seems to be able to bend to match whatever it needs to. It cannot be too developed, otherwise it would not work. The undeveloped-ness is partly what makes the story so wonderful and magical.

The Characters

The Thirteen Clocks is full of characters, good and evil. It has the prince and the princess and the evil duke — the protagonist, his goal and desire, and the antagonist. These characters are expected in fairy-tales, and other tales, besides. What could be more natural? But then it has the Golux, who works both, but neither, as the wise figure and/or the sidekick figure. And it has the Todal, who is greatly feared by everyone, but is only a threat to the evildoer. In most stories, the most powerful creature, with magic and mystery, is behind the schemes of the evil and becomes the archenemy. That is not so with the Todal. Then, of course, The Thirteen Clocks has witches (quite a few, it seems) and strange creatures without heads, and Time, and Then, and Now, and common folk who hardly seem common, and a king who has magic for no apparent reason beyond the fact that he does. But all the characters are so strange and fun and interesting that it doesn’t really matter whether they make perfect sense and fit perfectly into the perception of a good character.

The Point

So, what is the point of writing about The Thirteen Clocks? How can someone learn about writing from a story that breaks all the rules of writing? The truth is, one does not have to follow all the rules to tell a good story. James Thurber tells a fantastic story. It’s hard to say the story, or the characters, or the world, in themselves, are good. Individually, set in any other story, they would not be good. But the combination of all of them proves for a wonderful, exciting, fantastic and fantastical read, that makes you feel like you’ve been there before, and heard it before, and have known it all your life, yet you have just now discovered it.

Here are a few things I draw from The Thirteen Clocks.

• If done right, most rules can be broken in creating a story, only to make it more wonderful than any other story in existence.
• Poetry can be added to a story that is not a poem. Fairy-tale can be added to a story that is not a fairy-tale. Elements that might seem specific and unusable may prove to be what makes a story magic.
• Writing is difficult. Writing well is harder. Writing magic is even harder, and takes time, and effort, and skill, and determination. But the outcome could be one of the best books in the world.

The Thirteen Clocks is, as I’ve said, one of my favorite stories, and if you haven’t read it, I suggest you do. It’s well worth it. It has the power to make people happy and homesick and almost in love without trying to.