After the death of his parents, Lewis goes to live with his scruffy but friendly uncle Jonathan in his huge old mansion. There he discovers that Jonathan, as well as his friend and neighbor Mrs. Zimmerman, are able to use magic. However, the former and much more shady owner of the house was also a wizard, and it seems he has left behind a ticking clock whose sound permeates all walls of the house. A seeming ominous warning, but of what?

I picked this book up upon hearing some people found it very creepy in their childhood. I didn't really expect to enjoy it near as much being an adult, but I've some appreciation for books aimed at younger people and I figured the read would be quick enough that the time it took would be worth seeing what everyone was twittering about.

In the end I guess the characterization and prose were in their simplicity aimed just a little too young for me to find much interest in my reading experience. Still I don't read enough books aimed at this age to compare it to others, so I don't feel much sport in trying to judge it (though I'm sure it's no worse than average and possibly better).

Still, while most of the time I only kept reading because I knew it would be over soon, I was able to appreciate at least some aspects of it, like the idea of the clock in the walls which the story revolves around. It's a nice idea that works a lot better with it's mystery and slightly disquieting creepiness than a lot of more overtly “scary” things you might find in kid's books. Just in general I do get the impression that the suspense in the book is better done than what I can remember from things like the Goosebumps books I read as a kid.

Also, the dialogue between Uncle Jonathan and his friend Mrs. Zimmermann is always snappy and absolutely entertaining. It provided some of the only moments in the book where I really enjoyed myself while reading rather than just having a vague adult's appreciation of craft. The two are really both so amusing together that I almost think that even as a child I may have preferred to read a novel from their point of view rather than the sympathetic enough but rather bland (and slightly pathetic) main character Lewis.

I'm a little bit surprised this book is called a 'scary' book, though, when it seems almost more fantasy and most of the suspenseful/scary parts seem more reminiscent of the more suspenseful bits of a Harry Potter book (though less threatening, perhaps because of the younger audience) rather than any horror book I've read. I feel a little guilty giving it a rating when I'm really not who should be reading it, but as it was mostly what I expected with a few particularly entertaining or respectable bits, I'll give it a bit above average. Though I suspect for children who can better appreciate the parts specifically aimed to please them (such as the little magic shows and copious amounts of sweets that seem to be consumed through the story) and aren't as bored by the lack of interesting personality in the main character, it may rate higher. ( )

The House with a Clock in Its Walls, by John Bellairs, is the first book in his Lewis Barnavelt series of gothic horror novels for young readers. Orphaned when his parents are killed in an auto accident, ten-year-old Lewis comes to live with his Uncle Jonathan, in New Zebedee, Michigan in 1948. Lewis is lonely, frightened, nervous about meeting his unknown relative, and worried about what his future holds. This could be the beginning of any number of orphaned-children novels. But Lewis’ Uncle Jonathan turns out to be a wizard – the scandalous black sheep of the family. And the story soon takes a unique and uncanny turn: Together with neighbor Florence Zimmermann (who just happens to be a witch), Lewis and his uncle must locate a magic clock hidden somewhere in Jonathan's spooky mansion, before it destroys the world.

The clock was the handiwork of Isaac Izard, an evil warlock who was the original owner of Uncle Jonathan's house. Izard practiced black magic and lived a hermetic existence there in the mansion along with his wife Selenna until her mysterious death. Isaac himself died shortly after that, one night during a wild thunderstorm. And though no one understands why he did it, Izard devised a clock that would bring about the end of the world and hid it somewhere in the walls of the house. Now every night Lewis and his uncle search for the clock while they hear it ticking off the minutes leading up to doomsday.

Bellairs’ story is decidedly creepy, but also whimsical and endearing. Uncle Jonathan’s house has some very surprising characteristics – such as stained glass windows with pictures that change without notice. And a secret passageway that leads to Mrs. Zimmermann’s house next door. And Jonathan and Florence are constantly engaged in good-natured bickering, and delight in addressing each other with pet names like “Hag Face,” “Frizzy Wig,” and “Weird Beard.”

Lewis is portrayed as a very real boy, with a real child’s insecurities and fears, forced to deal with very exotic and peculiar and even perilous situations. His desperate struggle to maintain an unlikely friendship with a popular boy in his class at school serves as the main mechanism for some of the most dangerous action in the book. And although he’s certainly instrumental in the effort to destroy the forces of evil, he’s not portrayed as a superhero. In the end, he’s content to sit around a bonfire with his uncle and Mrs. Zimmermann, drinking cocoa and eating chocolate chip cookies. Of course, the bonfire eventually turns into a jack-o-lantern, with a scowling orange face – but then, Uncle Jonathan is a wizard, after all.

This is a very appealing introduction to what promises to be a fascinating series of books. The characters are wonderfully eccentric and the storyline is exciting and bizarre. And Edward Gorey’s illustrations are a special treat, and a perfect match for Bellairs’ mix of ordinary everyday action with a supernatural element. It all combines to make The House with a Clock in Its Walls a delightful experience for readers of all ages. ( )

The book begins with ten-year-old Lewis Barnavelt riding a bus to meet his uncle and new guardian, Jonathan Barnavelt, after both of his parents were killed in a car crash. Lewis is an overweight kid who likes to read a lot and cries easily. He fits right in with his eccentric uncle and his neighbor and best friend, the elderly Florence Zimmermann. They play a lot of poker, stay up late, drink hot cocoa, and explore the large and mysterious house that Jonathan bought after the death of its previous owner, the creepy and evil wizard Isaac Izard and his wife Selenna. Everything is generally happy and fine for Lewis, but every night the house is plagued with worry over the mysterious and ominous ticking of a Doomsday clock in the walls.

Lewis soon notices enough magical occurrences around the house to learn that his uncle is a warlock, and friendly Florence is a good witch. After his unlikely friendship with local popular kid Tarby starts to sour, Lewis tries to win him back through a series of magical demonstrations that eventually lead them two of them into the local graveyard at midnight on Halloween with some scribbled notes on Necromancy. Eventually Lewis's actions bring a confrontation with the not-quite-dead-yet Izard's and their deadly clock.

This book is a fun and dark fantasy, and Lewis is the ultimate underdog. Anyone who liked Harry Potter or enjoys the work of Edward Gorey (whose illustrations are perfectly matched to Bellair's story), should check this one out.

[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2008/07...] ( )

The House with a Clock in Its Walls is actually surprisingly creepy. It’s the first of three books featuring Lewis Barnavelt, a shy 10-year-old whose parents have recently died in a car accident. When the book opens, Lewis is on a bus, on his way to New Zebedee, Michigan, where he will live with his Uncle Jonathan, who he’s never met.

Jonathan is a very friendly man, but he soon turns out to have some strange habits. Lewis finds out that his uncle is a warlock, and their next-door neighbour and Jonathan’s best friend, Florence Zimmerman, is a witch. This turns out to be rather a good thing—the real problem is the ominous ticking which seems to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

This book is probably the best place for anyone to start reading John Bellairs's chidren's novels. It was the first published, it's the first in the Lewis Barnavelt series, it's his best-known and therefore most easily found title, and it's one of his very best books. ( )

http://tyranist.blogspot.com/2008/02/... ( )