Reviews

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

microwavv's review against another edition

3.75

interlinked? interlinked.

dyno8426's review against another edition

5.0

Spent the fortnight gone in the music room reworking my year's fragments into a 'sextet for overlapping soloists': piano, clarinet, 'cello, flute, oboe, and violin, each in its own language of key, scale, and color. In the first set, each solo is interrupted by its successor; in the second, each interruption is recontinued, in order. Revolutionary or gimmicky? Shan't know until it's finished, and by then it'll be too late.

No book has done better meta-description than this excerpt from Robert Frobisher's part in the Cloud Atlas. I had heard quite a lot about the movie but as fortune steered, I postponed watching it for some reason or the other, until I was recommended the book and by God, this was exciting beyond expectations. Mitchell has experimented with everything here - language, structure, genre. And the story hums the melody that this sextet carries - that souls cross lives, like clouds cross skies. However metaphysical it may sound, it does bring you very much to the real world by horrors that we are living with and the dystopia that we may be (or are) rearing for others. It is quite a strong comment upon the tendency of human civilization perpetuating towards its own extinction; quoting the book again, the entropy associated with mankind which evolves towards destruction. But it also gives salvation, the hope of resurrection, through these six stories of protagonists spanning lives, by showing the power of human will. It is profundity with the beauty of fiction. The stories all have this mystery that they build up and subsequently release, while connecting with each other in ways unimaginable. It was amazing!

tomasthanes's review against another edition

3.0

I like the book overall better than I liked the ending. It ended a bit weak. From the movie previews, it looked like the same set of people interacted with each other in different "lives" through history; if that was the message of the book, it was too subtle for me.

mrs_sunflower9's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

3.75

petertruog's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

 

• Reminded me of the impermanence of civilization - everything changes, nothing is as glorious as it seems. Kind of like how The Wager showed that for the "British Naval Empire"
• Unexpected deities and life ripples - fun to see how themes, motifs, events, and small actions have ripple effects through time.
• Souls and types of people who migrate through time and manifest differently in each age they appear in. I found it interesting to think about how nothing is as unique as it might initially seem.
• Klara and the Sun - the chapter about Somni really reminded me of Klara and the Sun - it was so similar!!
• Meta narrative about the structure of the book from characters along the way

yeshi's review against another edition

4.0

4.5/5 really, I round it down again.
Cloud Atlas was a beauty of its own! Six interconnected completely different (in themes/ genre/ timeline/writing style) stories, nested together, lightly parodied- what a joy!
The book builds with five stories ending abruptly in a climax(?!) point, until the sixth story completes and the book unravels the second halves of the first five stories in reverse order. Each connected to the previous and pointing to the next.
The stories range from a travel journal of notary, to bunch of letters written by a cynical/funny struggling musician, from murder mysteries surrounding a nuckear power plant, to lightly comic "kidnapped" publisher's escape from madhouse, from stories of dystopian futuristic setting to postapocalyptic fantasy-ish stories- All travelling in different timelines and connected.
The book is a joyful ride! :)

cdesana's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

deborahst's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

tramuntana's review against another edition

adventurous reflective slow-paced

2.75

So, David Mitchell had five ideas for five characters and their stories, but neither did he want to write five books nor an anthology of five short stories. Thus, he wrote one novel in which five personae would be connected across centuries. Sounds good but ended up being gimmicky, as the big connection or revelation (or any kind of plot, really) the reader is waiting for never happens. Both the characters and their stories function as a canvas for the exploration and criticism of humans' will to power and success, which I would be all for if it weren't done in such an obvious and preachy way. Mr Mitchell also goes overboard with name-dropping and intertextual references up to the point where the novel outclevers both the reader and itself. I have to give it to him, though, he succeeded in giving each character their own voice.

sorear's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25