The Horizontal Instrument by Christopher Wilkins

Released: 2000

Christopher Wilkins' The Horizontal Instrument is a novella about a watch-maker who is so affected by the death of his wife that he embarks on a mission to make the perfect watch.

The Horizontal Instrument is more about the history of mathematics than the emotional strain that losing a loved one can cause. While some of the mathematical fun facts are interesting, some of the intricacies involved with the histories and explanations are exhausting! I feel as if I were reading a textbook. Readers will be emotionally impacted by the wife's deterioration, yet the author writes every other chapter about watch-making.

Perhaps this book would be more intense had the mathematical parts been simplified and shorter. All in all, the The Horizontal Instrument is easily forgettable, and I would not recommend it at all - unless you are serious about making watches.