Customer Reviews

Cloud Atlas

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a work of genius, there is no doubt about that. Stylistically innovative, it is a literary masterpiece. The novel begins with a partial journal from the 1800's, moves to letters from 1931 Belgium, then the first half of a novel based in the 1970's, followed by the "ghastly ordeal" of the publisher of the novel, next a partial video transcript from the future, then at the centre, a "yarn" from the further future. Then it works backwards to the beginning starting with the rest of the video transcript, followed by the publisher, the novel, the rest of the letters and finally the end of the journal. Until the middle of the 500 page tome, I was really irritated by the language. While skillful and clever, it seemed an awful lot of work, and a bit haughty. However, once I reached the centrepiece, a futuristic tale from "after the fall" of civilization, I realized I was in love. I loved the hillbilly-like language and the archaic tribal life portrayed. Once that part was finished though, I was again irritated. It is not the kind of book one can skim, so I plodded on, reading word after word, at once charmed and vexed. I cheered when finished, thrilled that I had made the full journey without once throwing the book across the room. Was it worth it? Yes, because it really is genius. But if you're not in love with language, be cautious: this is no beach read.

I only got through the first part of this book. I was so looking forward to reading it because of the great reviews it got on both Goodreads and on Amazon, but I had such a hard time getting into it. I just don't understand why it was made out to be such a wonderful book'perhaps I was missing something'but, in my eyes, any book where, within the first 39 pages, makes me fall asleep numerous times isn't such a great read.

but should I say "these" books?

Built as multiple narratives one into another, each section is quite enjoyable on its own. Although the links between each part sometimes feel a bit stretched and the flow of reading halted by the insertion of yet another narrative (hence my rating of 4 stars vs 5), the total does become more than the parts and makes for excellent reading. Highly recommended.

You can call it the "small world" phenomena, or the theory that everything is connected. But David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas portrays a sometimes tight and sometimes loose connection of six pieces of time and the characters in them. Each of the separate stories is invididual and very well written, with characters that bring out emotions in the reader one way or the other...yet each story is pulled together.

The book is written as a wrapper, with half of the first five stories started as incomplete, then the complete sixth, followed by the last halves of the five in reverse order, revealing or completing the revelation of how they are interconnected.

The author captures the "voice" of each of the characters, their situations and time periods admirably. From the obviously 17-1800's based Adam Ewing on a sea voyage to Robert the moocher who finally finds inspiration, and inspires others in the story, to the futuristic times where life has gone backwards into kind of a stone age...very little description of the environment, but you can see it in the dialogue and actions of the characters.

Even though some of the stories are smoother to read than others, and more impactful, the thread(s) keeps them together.

CLOUD ATLAS is really more of a tapestry. Mitchell literally "weaves" characters and scenes together and herein lies the books genius and also its detraction. There are six separate stories that make up this highly unusual novel, and they all deal with different subjects and emotions. Some are down right hilarious while others are touching and still others are suspenseful. If you're one for unusual form, style and content check out this novel, along with another titled THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD.

Mitchell's ability to write in different styles is remarkable. He is a master writer who can embody radically different voices. Each of the plots and characters intrigued me, but I particularly enjoyed both sci-fi plots. Also, the "conincidental" links between each of the plots, while loose ties, work for me.

As soon as I finished reading this book, I wanted to start reading it again. I love it, I love it, I love it. The language is out of this world - clever, funny, poetic, just good fun. The plots are exciting and intriguing. The imagination is unbelievable. The messages are thought-provoking and timely. Don't be put off because there are many different sub-stories. I hate short stories, yet I loved this book. I have been telling everyone I know that they MUST read this book.

Pros: brilliant writing, a set of interconnected stories with thought provoking messages

Con: each story is interrupted to tell the first half of the next, when you get back to it you've forgotten minor details that are important in understanding the novel as a whole

Cloud Atlas is a novel told through six interconnected stories. For example, the musician of the second story is reading the journal written by the man in the first. And the reporter of the third story reads the letters written by the musician and listens to his music. Each protagonist also bears a comet birthmark between their collarbones and shoulder blades, giving the idea that they might be the same person, living over and over again.

The novel begins with The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing. He's a notary on his way back to America from delivering papers to a client's heir in Australia. His ship has stopped at an island to resupply, and there Adam makes the acquaintance of Doctor Henry Goose.

In the second story a disinherited English musician ingratiates himself into a ailing Belgium's home, intent on helping this man finish his musical works, and bettering his own position.

Half-Lives: The First Luisa Ray Mystery shows her meeting a scientist working on a new atomic energy plant, and discovers that this so called safe energy might not be so safe after all.

I won't detail the other stories as it's fun discovering what comes next. My favourite of the novel however, was An Orison of Sonmi-451. It's basically a science fiction story showing how commercialism has overtaken the world and had resonances of Soylent Green, 1984 and Battle Royale. In fact, this is a novel that on the whole, reads easier if you're well versed in literature. I recognized a few other references, but I'm sure I missed a lot of others.

And as the stories start completing themselves, messages of when you save the lives of others you're really saving your own and how our actions, big or small, shape the world around us - even if we don't live to see the effects, come to the fore.

Ultimately, it's a fabulous novel. If you like thinking about the books you read, I'd highly recommend picking this one up.

I'm a fan of David Mitchell, and I've read almost all his work (Number9 Dream sits waiting, the last book). Cloud Atlas is arguably his best work, combining a structural cleverness reminiscent of Calvino ("If on a Winter's Night a Traveller") or Delany ("Dhalgren") with a complex insightful story telling that reminds me of Joyce's Ulysses or The Raj Quartet. The stories that comprise Cloud Atlas are bifurcated, so we read them in the order A1,B1,C1,D1,E1,F1,F2,E2,D2, C2,B2,A2. There and back again. They are chronologically arranged, so we start in the 1800s, move stepwise forward into the future (E and F are SF) and back to the past. Each storyteller is aware of the story that has preceded him or her (through manuscripts, videos, etc) so the stories resonate and inform one another. And each story is told in a radically different style, as the writing in successive stories echo (vaguely) Melville/Defoe, Waugh, Le Carré, Amis, Huxley, and Hoban (Riddley Walker).

This all makes it sound like work to read. It's not. Each story pits a protagonist fighting for his or her life against forces that only gradually come into focus. The results of those fights are different, but gradually a pattern emerges, about what it means to be human. Similarly to many others I started reading faster as I read, eager to find out what happened in each story, then slowed down, wanting to savour the exquisite pleasure of the book. And at the end, the only place to go was back to the beginning, to pick up more of the clues and insights buried in the work.

This book is incredibly original and inventive, with sub-plots and stories weaving into each other, but also infuriating to follow in any linear sense. Not for the impatient, but rewarding and probably a book I'll enjoy better the second time around.

Certainly worth buying.