Clock Without Hands

by Gerald Kersh

"How easy Mr. Kersh makes it all seem! How admirably he sets the scene, the atmosphere . . . very neatly done." - The Observer "Three short, rough novels, hard-hitting, battering the emotions without compunction . . . Kersh tells a story, as such, rather better than anybody else." - Pamela Hansford Johnson, Daily Telegraph Best known for his gritty novels of London life and his weird and often horrific short fiction, in Clock Without Hands (1949) Gerald Kersh delivers three novellas, each very different but all showcasing the virtuosity of his storytelling. "Clock Without Hands" relates the unexpected and macabre impact of a sordid murder on the mild-mannered neighbour who witnesses the crime. In "Flight to the World's End," a desperate boy flees his cruel life at an orphanage, only to discover a harsh truth about the world outside. And in "Fairy Gold," a clerk plays a malicious practical joke on his impoverished co-worker, with unpredictable and startling consequences. Gerald Kersh (1911-1968) published more than thirty books, including the noir classic Night and the City (1938) and Fowlers End (1957), which Anthony Burgess called "one of the great comic novels of the century," as well as hundreds of short stories which were once ubiquitous in British and American magazines. But though he has been championed by Angela Carter, Harlan Ellison, Ian Fleming, Michael Moorcock and others, Kersh has undeservedly fallen into neglect since his death. This edition of one of his lesser-known books is the first-ever reprint and includes a new introduction by Thomas Pluck.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1949

About the author

Gerald Kersh was born in Teddington-on-Thames, near London, and, like so many writers, quit school to take on a series of jobs -- salesman, baker, fish-and-chips cook, nightclub bouncer, freelance newspaper reporter and at the same time was writing his first two novels.

In 1937, his third published novel, Night and the City, hurled him into the front ranks of young British writers. Twenty novels later Kersh created his personal masterpiece, Fowler's End, regarded by many as one of the outstanding novels of the century. He also, throughout his long career, wrote more than 400 short stories and over 1,000 articles.

Once a professional wrestler, Kersh also fought with the Coldstream Guards in World War II. His account of infantry training They Die With Their Boots Clean (1941), became an instant best-seller during that war.

After traveling over much of the world, he became an American citizen, living quietly in Cragsmoor, in a remote section of the Shawangunk Mountains in New York State. He died in Kingston, NY, in 1968.

(Biography compiled from "Nightmares & Damnations" and Fantastic Fiction.)

Reviews

[Sheldon Wiebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few decades back, I had the pleasure of watching one of my favourite authors, Harlan Ellison, being interviewed by Tom Snyder on The Late Late Show. It was a one-hour conversation that was - as is usual when Ellison is one of the participants - enthralling.

Came a moment when Snyder asked Ellison who his favourite writer was and Ellison replied, 'Gerald Kersh.' The name remained in my subconscious for seeming eons until a friend who dabbled a bit in books found me a copy of a collection of short stories for which Ellison provided the introduction. I was hooked - and now have twelve or thirteen books by Kersh. All of them brilliant.

Naturally, when I became aware of a contest which featured as its prize Clock Without Hands, I entered -and, quite surprisingly, won.

Today I finished the book - a collections of three stories - and have to say that it is an exceptionally good read.

Kersh can tell you everything you need to know about a character in a paragraph or less; he can take delightful digressions that flow, like a leaf in river, then bring you back to the main narrative without ever letting you know it's happening; he can tell a story in eighty pages that another writer would need a full novel to tell.

A tale like this volume's closing entry, Fairy Gold, can take a prank letter and a twenty-dollar cheque made out to cash and turn them into a flying carpet. He can be brutally real and equally brutally fantastic - or gently real and fantastic.

Clock Without Hands is a bargain at full cover price. In a few years, it might fetch considerably more. I hope not because that would mean he's being ignored again - and that would be a crime.

[CQM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clock Without Hands comprises three short novels, though for my money the first two were more long short stories.
The first story is Clock Without hands about a meek, middle aged man involved in murder but not as he would like. It's a nice idea but I think could have benefited from either being extended to full novel length or shortened and given the short story with a twist treatment.
Next up was Flight to the Worlds End, a sad story of mistreated orphans, cruel authority figures and an unthinking artistic couple.
Finally Fairy Gold told of the chain of events leading from a slip up in an office to a cruel practical joke via various other chance happenings. It's the longest and best of the stories here and in parts is Kersh at his lowlife London best.
I wouldn't recommend this as anyones first Gerald Kersh book but it's pretty good anyhow.

[Cat Noe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harlan Ellison says this is his favorite writer. I say, send me whatever he's written. Don't care what it is, just send it.
To be honest, I know not to get my hopes too high. Sometimes the pupils surpass their idols. I've read some not great stuff by reading whatever whomever I like suggests.

I've waited a bit after reading to let this little book set in. And I have to say... it's pretty genius. The writing is creatively accessible. It was so hot you were uncomfortably aware that your neighbors had feet, that sort of thing. I understand where Ellison got his habit of turning an odd phrase now and again, and I can't really say who was doing it better, as the latter had so many more shots at the thing.

I do absolutely love how, by the end of story three, you could feel the author rubbing his hands together in tangible glee in anticipation of pulling the threads in for a finish. Whatever else this man was, he's a great storyteller.

Moralizing can come across so, so badly in writing. A clock without hands. An orphan boy asking so little of the world... and fairy gold. These will restore your faith in humanity, at least for the time spent between the pages. At least, it will restore your faith in possibility.