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mafm22's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty good for a first book. Despite the title, it's more a set of short stories than a novel.
Fairly similar to Cloud Atlas, but not quite as well done, IMO. I found it a bit pretentious and annoying, particularly the last two stories.
All in all though, entertaining and enjoyable.
Fairly similar to Cloud Atlas, but not quite as well done, IMO. I found it a bit pretentious and annoying, particularly the last two stories.
All in all though, entertaining and enjoyable.
neculara's review against another edition
3.0
These interlocking stories are quite well written, if not as good as Cloud Atlas. In Cloud Atlas souls are reborn and reborn into new eras and societies, but in Ghostwritten, it's the butterfly effect that connects the stories. Coincidences and chance meetings creates a string of cause and effect from one story to the next, and it was always exciting to see how the main character of one story would have an impact on the others, although none of them really meets and gets to know each other.
But several of the stories failed to captivate me, I just didn't care about all of the main characters and I kept comparing it to Cloud Atlas, which is better written and better put together. The stories I liked the best in Ghostwritten was "Holy Mountain" and "Mongolia", these two I really enjoyed. The rest went from "ok" to "meh".
It always takes you a few pages (sometimes many pages) to get into a story, to get to now the characters and setting. That's why reading short story collections, or books like Ghostwritten, often gives me the repeated experience of stopping and starting, again and again having to leave something you were enjoying, and start over again somewhere else. Its a bit of an effort, and since Mitchell's stories often takes a long time to get into, at least for me, this stopping and starting took up quite a large part of the reading experience. Therefore no more than three stars from me.
But several of the stories failed to captivate me, I just didn't care about all of the main characters and I kept comparing it to Cloud Atlas, which is better written and better put together. The stories I liked the best in Ghostwritten was "Holy Mountain" and "Mongolia", these two I really enjoyed. The rest went from "ok" to "meh".
It always takes you a few pages (sometimes many pages) to get into a story, to get to now the characters and setting. That's why reading short story collections, or books like Ghostwritten, often gives me the repeated experience of stopping and starting, again and again having to leave something you were enjoying, and start over again somewhere else. Its a bit of an effort, and since Mitchell's stories often takes a long time to get into, at least for me, this stopping and starting took up quite a large part of the reading experience. Therefore no more than three stars from me.
katieshalon's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
loomisknows's review against another edition
2.0
This book was rubbish. Essentially, it's a collection of short snippets of short stories that are all connected (though often barely). If it followed any one of the characters it could be interesting but it's more like watching a recap episode of a 700 episode strong anime.
Maybe I'm just not smart enough to appreciate that "oh god that painting on the wall is the one the woman in the abusive relationship stole" or like "oh my the weird raunchy maid is granddaughter of the rape baby from China!" like wow-and why do I care? Lots of interesting concepts but never brought into being a proper story. The parts I remember best I remember purely because the writing was bizarrely disgusting, like when a child gets raped and they decide to tell us about something ripping inside her. Like thanks.
Also all the sex scenes were gross and deeply unpleasant and just the descriptions of things were very gag-inducing.
Reading this was a grind, but the interconnections made me think that there would be a critical mass where it all came together and was suddenly good-it didn't happen.
Maybe I'm just not smart enough to appreciate that "oh god that painting on the wall is the one the woman in the abusive relationship stole" or like "oh my the weird raunchy maid is granddaughter of the rape baby from China!" like wow-and why do I care? Lots of interesting concepts but never brought into being a proper story. The parts I remember best I remember purely because the writing was bizarrely disgusting, like when a child gets raped and they decide to tell us about something ripping inside her. Like thanks.
Also all the sex scenes were gross and deeply unpleasant and just the descriptions of things were very gag-inducing.
Reading this was a grind, but the interconnections made me think that there would be a critical mass where it all came together and was suddenly good-it didn't happen.
bossgoose's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
mementomoriiv's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Having read Cloud Atlas, which is excellent, I can see that this book is an earlier foray with the concept. It's similarly well-written, but the connections are not made quite so well, though the book is well-written and enjoyable to read. Some of the sections are more interesting than others.
Overall, the broad scope ofworld destruction as it is brought closer step by step is subtlely done and the book does well to go full circle as it does.
Overall, the broad scope of
maisie1717's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25