Book Review: A Wasted Hour (Jeffery Archer).

A Wasted Hour by Jeffery Archer is a short story, that is a part of his Tell Tale collection. The story follows a young student, who hitchhikes to college from home and meets an old man with an incredibly interesting story to tell.

Kelley is a young student who hitchhikes from home to college without telling her parents. She has two reasons for this – First is that her parents have struggled a lot financially to send her to college, and this is a way of saving money. Secondly, she wants to be a writer, and this is an experience where she meets new people and hear their stories, which will help her writing. Kelley is rightly picky about the people she asks for a ride. She has a screening process for safety reasons and sticks to getting rides from people who are 60+ and married and seem decent. Though, she is aware that it is only safe to a certain extent.

One such time, she gets a ride from an older gentleman, John. Like Kelley, he too has studied English Literature but regrets not completing his degree. He has all these amazing experiences of doing many different things and in different places. He tells Kelley about being a war correspondent during World War II and getting shot on the front lines. Then, he covered the war in Vietnam, where he also worked secretly for the CIA and the newspaper, at the same time. His experiences fascinate Kelley, and it seems he has experienced so much and met some very important people.

The main talking point for Kelley and John is their love for literature, reading, and writing. She tells him about her aspiration to be a writer, and he encourages her. She tells him about her favorite book, The Grapes of Wrath, which she read when she was twelve and has stuck with her. In the end, Kelley almost doesn’t want the trip to end so soon; she wants to know more of John’s story. He tells her, that he hopes he will be alive to read her novel. The climax scene was completely unexpected for me, and I loved the twist.

The story is 20 pages at the most, and it has packed a lot during the course. It talks about a number of measures Kelley takes as a young woman for her safety. Her drive and passion for writing and her love for her academics. I feel it also talks about how important it is to experience things. Kelley keeps an open mind about the new people she meets and is curious to know about them. She, too, pushes herself out of her comfort zone to experience something new. The story also reminds us that writers are the greatest storytellers of our times. John narrates his life story in such a short yet engaging way, and you are curious to know more.

I enjoyed reading A Wasted Hour by Jeffery Archer. I have read some of Jeffery Archer’s works before, and I have always loved them. This story was no different. The way the story is written and paced keeps you hooked and sadly, gets over too soon. I loved the twist at the end; it was sort of meta and in the best way possible. I enjoyed reading this short story.

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