History Literature / TheBoyWithTheCuckooClockHeart

** [[spoiler: Miss Acacia leaving him causes Joe to cross the DespairEventHorizon while continuing to work on the Ghost Train]].

"The Boy with The Cuckoo-Clock Heart" is a 2007 French novel written by Matthias Malzieau. If the title reminds you of the film "WesternAnimation/JackAndTheCuckooClockHeart", well, this is the book [[FilmOfTheBook the movie is based upon]].

If you've seen the film, you might know that the third rule is put to the test when on his tenth birthday, Jack meets the beautiful little Andalusian singer "Miss Acacia", which causes him to go on a trip to see her again.

** However, Joe fires back that Jack pecking his eye out with his Cuckoo-Clock Bird because of this was still a pretty extreme action to do. Of note here is that unlike the movie, Jack actually did it ''[[BewareTheNiceOnes on purpose]]''.

"The Boy with The Cuckoo-Clock Heart" is a 2007 french novel written by Matthias Malzieau. If the title reminds you of the film "WesternAnimation/JackAndTheCuckooClockHeart", well, this is the book [[FilmOfTheBook the movie is based upon]].

* BreakTheCutie: Poor Jack. Over the course of the story, he goes from a chipper, idealistic child into a deppressed man.
* BothSidesHaveAPoint: When Joe and Jack reencounter each other at L'Éxtraourdinarium, Joe reveals that he used to bully precisely because they we're both interested in Miss Acacia, something he couldn't stand. Jack correctly points out that that is an outrageous reason to humilliate him everyday at school, yet Joe also points out that [[EyeScream pecking his eye out]] for that was also very extreme on his part; he might have been very cruel to him, but that ''still'' didn't warrant Joe losing an eye.
* CoolOldGuy: Despite being an alcoholic, Arthur is acts like a parental figure towards Jack and gives him a memory egg on his birthday.

** What was Joe's reason for bullying Jack at school? They we're both interested in Miss Acacia, and he wasn't really on board with the idea of having something in common with a weird kid. This is [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Jack, who points out that it didn't mean he had to bully him because of that.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: After revealing to Miss Acacia who he really was after waking up from a coma, she is unsurprisingly angered by the reveal, as she thought Jack was dead and had already moved on from him, going as far as marrying Joe, who she isn't in love with. Because of this, she tells Jack that as far as she's concerned, "[[TheUnperson he no longer exists]]", and leaves. In the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, it is revealed that realizing that he has finally lost the love of his life made turned Jack into what is described as "[[HeroicBSOD the ghost of his former self]]", becoming a depressed person and leaving back to his childhood home, who is now tended by Anna and Luna because Madeleine died; there, Arthur reveals to him that he only needed the clock for the first months of his life, but that Madeleine grew so attached to him that she didn't bothered to remove it so he would never leave her]].

* FreudianExcuse: When Madeleine was younger, [[spoiler:she was pregnant with a baby, but she suffred a miscarriage that rendered her infertile]]. She is very overprotective of Jack because she sees him as [[MyGreatestSecondChance the child she never had]] and is afraid of losing him too.

* InducedHypochondria: [[spoiler:Jack's heart had grown strong by the time he was ten, but Madeleine continued to make him wear the clock and abide by the three rules. She was believed that, as long as Jack's clock needed her maintenance, she would never have to lose her son.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: After revealing to Miss Acacia who he really was after waking up from a comma, she is unsurprisingly angered by the reveal, as she thought Jack was dead and had already moved on from him, going as far as marrying Joe, who she isn't in love with. Because of this, she tells Jack that as far as she's concerned, "[[TheUnperson he no longer exists]]", and leaves. In the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, it is revealed that realizing that he has finally lost the love of his life made turned Jack into what is described as "[[HeroicBSOD the ghost of his former self]]", becoming a depressed person and leaving back to his childhood home, who is now tended by Anna and Luna because Madeleine died; there, Arthur reveals to him that he only needed the clock for the first months of his life, but that Madeleine grew so attached to him that she didn't bothered to remove it so he would never leave her]].

* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Anna and Luna, who are also described as "[[Manchild thirty-year old kids]]".

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: When Joe and Jack reencounter each other at L'Éxtraourdinarium, Joe reveals that he used to bully precisely because they we're both interested in Miss Acacia, something he couldn't stand. Jack correctly points out that that is an outrageous reason to humilliate him everyday at school, yet Joe also points out that [[EyeScream]] pecking his eye out for that was also very extreme on his part; he might have been very cruel to him, but that ''still'' didn't warrant Joe losing an eye.

* DisproprtionateRetribution:

** However, Joe fires back that Jack pecking his eye out with his Cuckoo-Clock Bird because of this was still a pretty extreme action to do. Of note here is that unlike the movie, Jack actually ''did it on purpose''.

* Cloudcuckoolander: Méliès. He wishes to take his fiancée on a honeymoon to the ''real moon''.

* FreudianExcuse: When Madeleine was younger, [[spoiler:she was pregnant with a baby, bu she suffred a miscarriage that rendered her infertile]]. This is why she is very over-protective of Jack, since he is like the child she never had and is afraid from losing him too.

* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler: While Joe isn't a bad guy, just a {{Jerkas}} at worst and a ByronicHero at best, he eventually ends up marrying Miss Acacia after Jack falls into a coma and is presumed dead]].

* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler: While Joe isn't a bad guy, just a [[Jerkass]] at worst and a ByronicHero at best, he eventually ends up marrying Miss Acacia after Jack falls into a coma and is presumed dead]].

"The Boy with The Cuckoo-Clock Heart" is a 2007 french novel written by Matthias Malzieau. If the title reminds you of the film "WesternAnimation/JackAndTheCuckooClockHeart", well, this the book [[FilmOfTheBook the movie is based upon]].

* InevitablyBrokenRule: Jack goes back on all of Madeleine's rules for maintaining his clock. Breaking rules two and three set the story in motion, but breaking rule one [[spoiler:results in Jack falling into a coma for years.]]

** [[spoiler:Madeleine's fib about Jack needing the clock for all his life holds her son back from living his life when he didn't have to.]]

If you've seen the film, you might know that the third rule is put to the test when on his tenth birthday, Jack meets the beautiful little andalusian singer "Miss Acacia", which causes him to go on a trip to see her again.

!! ''The Boy with The Cuckoo-Clock Heart'' contains examples of:

If you've seen the film, you might know that the third rule is put to the test when on his tenth birthday, Jack meets the beautiful little andalusian singer ''Miss Acacia", which causes him to go on a trip to see her again, on the way meeting a man named [[Creator/GeorgesMelies Méliès]] who gives him romantic advise. Other than that, you'll be surprised to find out that the book, while still having many of the same elements, is ''much'' different from the movie, as it also has a large chunk of it that wasn't adpated.

The book tells the story of Jack, who is born in Edinburgh, Scotland on the "coldest day on earth", which causes his heart to freeze.