Tourmalin’s Time Cheques


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(4.1 stars; 13 reviews)

Peter Tourmalin is on a sea voyage back home to England from Australia, to return to his fiancee, and he is very bored. The fact that the time difference adds on extra hours to his boredom only makes it worse. So when he gets a unique opportunity to deposit his spare time into an account with the "Anglo-Australian Joint Stock Time Bank, Limited" he doesn't hesitate for long. By opening this account, he doesn't have to spend his spare time right away, but can withdraw it at any future date, when he wants a break. All he has to do is present a time cheque to any clock, and he is immediately brought back aboard ship to spend the time withdrawn.

Sounds perfect? Peter certainly thinks so, when on a dreary November morning in London, a little tired with his exacting fiancee, he presents his first cheque and gets to spend a sunny quarter of an hour aboard ship. However, things get complicated when it turns out the time withdrawn isn't in consecutive installments, but all mixed up, leaving Peter often with no clue of any preliminaries or his relationship with the person he finds himself with. Since he is almost always dropped in the middle of a conversation this can be tricky - especially since his encounters include tete-a-tetes with not one but two beautiful young ladies (never at the same time of course!)… And things only get more and more complicated... (Summary by Anna Simon)

F. Anstey was a pseudonym of Thomas Anstey Guthrie. (3 hr 32 min)

Chapters

00 - Preface 30:00 Read by Ruth Golding
01 - Tourmalin's First Cheque and How He Took It 20:51 Read by Anna Simon
02 - The Second Cheque 16:28 Read by Anna Simon
03 - The Third Cheque 16:05 Read by Anna Simon
04 - The Fourth Cheque 16:17 Read by Anna Simon
05 - Periodic Drawings 22:22 Read by Anna Simon
06 - Foil and Counterfoil 17:06 Read by Anna Simon
07 - The Culminating Cheque 17:16 Read by Anna Simon
08 - Paid In His Own Coin 20:31 Read by TriciaG
09 - Compound Interest 25:26 Read by TriciaG
10 - Dénouement 6:16 Read by Ruth Golding
11 - Epilogue 3:22 Read by Ruth Golding

Reviews

Good, Humous Fiction


(5 stars)

This was a very fun and funny story. The writer kept a good balance between reality and humor. That may be why, as I have seen expressed often, that good humor is a difficult genre in which to excel. The readers, as always, did a very good job, as I listened to this story for the second time. Thanks again for the work you do at Librivox and God bless you all.

Cute - if cliche - story


(4 stars)

Imagine if you were bored and could save the time for a later date. Would you? What would the results be? This story takes a tongue-in-cheek look at this concept. The story is both funny and dramatic. I liked it. The readers were mostly good. I think only one chapter was rough. Otherwise it is a very good story. Enjoy!

Fun Little Story


(4 stars)

A fun, light story that sucked me right in. I wasn't sure how he'd get out of the tangle he got himself into! A worthwhile listen.

Rollicking fun !


(5 stars)

Many complicated twists & turns combined with an prudently doled out sense of humor makes for a very enjoyable listen ! Very well read !!