The House with a Clock in Its Walls (Lewis Barnavelt)

Lewis's parents have died and he has been sent to live with his eccentric uncle Jonathan. As soon as he gets to his new home, things are a bit weird. Pictures seem to move within their frames and his uncle goes about at night banging on the walls. When Lewis tries to find out what his Uncle is about, he is introduced to a new world, one of magic and of good versus evil. His Uncle is a warlock and when he bought the house years ago he noticed something strange, a clock that was ticking within the walls that he could not find.Their next door neighbor, Mrs. Zimmermann, is also a witch, and Lewis' Uncle and her have been trying to find out the location of the clock for many years. They know that is was built by an evil warlock and fear that when it finally stops ticking, something dreadful will happen.Lewis, now introduced to magic, starts fiddling about, and on Halloween, while trying to impress a friend, he accidentally raises the spirit of the evil warlock's wife. Alive-ish again, she is determined to get to the clock and accomplish her husband's dastardly plan. Lewis, Uncle Jonathan, and Mrs. Zimmermann are all that stand in her way!My Thoughts-This book drew me in from just the title alone, A House with a Clock in its Walls. What? Constant ticking, impending doom, and they can't find the clock? So cool! I am a sucker for a good fantasy. Lewis is an interesting kid. He is a bit heavy and on the plain side. He is awkward and unable to play sports, so he is always picked last. His main motivation in the book is to keep a friend, which of course, leads to raising the evil witch from the dead. I totally understood his character. He is also scared of being sent to live somewhere else, so when he does raise the dead, he doesn't tell his Uncle about it, which makes perfect sense.The magical world that the Uncle inhabits is actually downplayed, and the reader doesn't get much of a peek into what actually can or can not be done with magic. There's a strange eclipse and a magical fight between Mrs. Zimmerman and the evil spirit, but so much more is hinted at! I'm hoping this will develop in the follow-up books.On a technical note, I was thrown off a few times when the author suddenly switched into Uncle Jonathan's point-of-view mid chapter and then back to Lewis. Other than that, it is well written and a great story. For younger readers, there is a high score on the creep-o-meter. This is not a funny, scary book, it is a good versus evil kind of story.I can not wait to see what Hollywood makes of this book. The potential is HUGE and the fantasy and magic part might really blossom. Overall, I'm giving the book 4.5 stars!

This is a pretty short read, and while the details are minimal, they’re just enough. Lewis is a great character – he’s not your typical child hero. He’s overweight, has low self-esteem and almost no friends. But he’s happy with his new home and immediately takes to the idea that his uncle and neighbor have powers. He also loves to read historical non-fiction books; the kind I would find boring even as an adult, let alone as a child. And when the going gets tough later in the story, Lewis proves to be braver than he gives himself credit for.By page 6 Bellairs sets the scene for spooky happenings with Jonathan’s strange reaction to the town clock striking the hour. From there, we follow Lewis as he explores the large home of his quirky, magician uncle. Lewis enjoys his new home, despite his uncle’s nighttime excursions to quest for the hidden clock. Mrs. Z and Uncle Jonathan are instantly warm and welcoming to Lewis – I think it would have been too depressing if he’d been unhappy with his new caretakers and living in a possibly-haunted house.Lewis spends much of his time exploring, playing games (magical and otherwise) with Jonathan and Mrs. Z and reading. He’s a book sniffer too, which I appreciate. Jonathan and Mrs. Z have a great relationship, full of sarcasm and well-meant teasing. They’re constantly calling each other weird names like Brush Mush and Hag Face.While the search for the clock is the main plotline, the book isn’t overly spooky. There’s magic and ghosts and a plot to destroy the world, but what kept me invested in the story was Lewis.He’s quiet and introspective and I really enjoyed following his character. One nitpick I have is that Lewis doesn’t seem particularly upset about the loss of his parents. He thinks about them periodically and while it doesn’t seem like he was really close with them, I would think he’d be more upset. Overall, it doesn’t largely affect the story, but it’s something I wondered about now and then. Maybe Bellairs didn’t want to tackle too much.I definitely recommend this for:- Younger readers looking for something a little spoopy, with a relatable main character-MG lovers of all ages looking for a quick fall read-Anyone who collects books Edward Gorey illustrated

I purchased this book after seeing the 2018 movie - I thought perhaps there was more character development, and a bit more story, than I was seeing in the movie. The film was chock full of interesting special effects, but not so voluminous on development for Jack Black's and Cate Blanchett's characters, so I was hoping for more.Author John Bellairs wrote some 15 books about Lewis Barnavelt, Rose Rita Pottinger, and additional characters Anthony Monday, and Johnny Dixon; most of the books were illustrated by NY Times cartoonist (and author himself) Edward Gorey. All his life, Bellairs enjoyed archaeology, architecture, kitschy antiques, bad poetry, traveling in the UK, and studying history and Latin - and I think all those hobbies are evident in his books, including this one.Compared to the film, I found more explanation about the various magical events, especially since much more magic occurs on the written page. And written Lewis has a more difficult relationship with his Uncle Jonathan, and a more supportive and affectionate relationship with Mrs. Zimmerman, which impacts how they deal together with hostile forces.Although the basic plot is similar, the movie combines some elements of subsequent books, and introduces us to a villain earlier than in the books. I enjoy picturing the movie actors, but love how the story develops and reading about the unconventional relationships Lewis forms. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

Muito bom

This book came to my attention when I saw the trailer for the movie. I'm not sure what I expected but I suspect it may have been something along the lines of Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children. While it did have that nostalgic feel (based on what I had seen in the trailer), it wasn't as enthralling and quirky as Miss Peregrine.The House With Clocks in the Walls is a fun quick read, at less than 200 pages. It has all the aspects of a tale from past times, where characters are quirky, magical things can happen, and the world is much simpler than we have today.Overall. I did like the book and may look into the movie someday. It's not up there with my favorites, but it's definitely not down with the misses.

勉強のため必要で購入しましたが、思いの外面白く、読みやすかったです。もっと怖い感じで、紹介されていますが、ユーモアも散りばめられ、緩急が際だって、読み進めやすいと思いました。

👍

I decided to buy this book after reading the section available on 'look inside' - it was well written and witty and had the original illustrations by Edward Gorey. However the book that I received had been bowdlerised and was no longer the version written by John Bellairs! The witty sections had been rewritten to take out the humour (presumably because it contained religious references) and references to prayers had also been removed. The book has been turned into a bland, Disneyfied, badly written compromise. Even worse, the famous illustrations by Edward Gorey have been replaced by derivative modern designs. It is disgraceful to change a classic book in this way and it is very misleading to market the book on the basis of the original text and illustrations that do not exist in the version that you actually receive!