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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
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:
Complicated
Loved this book. I didn't know what to expect. Characters from the 1800s to a dystopian future connecting together. Discusses power, greed, freedom and interconnection of humanity across time
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Murder
Minor: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident
This is an impressive book, more for its shape than for its individual stories. I had a lot of quotes highlighted from the book on my kindle, but there seems to be some sort of technical difficulty, so all of them are unavailable to me. Anycase.
Made of six novellas told in different styles. The first five break in the middle and are interrupted by one another. The sixth is complete and unbroken. After the sixth, we pick up where the novellas broke off in opposite order. Structured like a Russian doll to great effect. The novellas are all interconnected in tangible ways, but there is a much deeper and less obvious connection between them. They are mirrors reflecting the previous realities, commenting on one another, on the nature of stories, on the way language changes. It begins in the 1850s with a notary traveling through Pacific Islands making journal entries. His story is found by a character in the second novella, which is told through letters to a friend. The recipient of these letters meets the narrator of the third novella, which is a noirish mystery with political intrigue and the like, and her story, the narrator's, is read by a publisher who has accidentally landed great success but falls into a sort of aged imprisonment through a humorous deceit. From there, which is essentially contemporary, we move some distance into the future, where corprocracies rule the world. It is a dystopian future where the world seems to be eating itself and a clone gain consciousness and attempts to defy the corporate structure of governmental subjugation. From there we move even further into the future, into a postapocalyptic world where life has regressed to agrarian/hunter gatherer societies, steeped in superstition, where the clone of the previous novella is viewed as a goddess.
There are clear and simple stories in various styles and genres, using interesting plays on language, showing how the way one thinks is determined by such things. More than the individual stories, though, is the overall effect of them all put together, and I think that's why the structure works so well, to stop midway, move to the next novella, which is a reflection, of sorts, not only to the previous novella, but the next one, too, and the overall novel. It is like a hall of mirrors where the center is elusive, but it is there, if we're willing to dive inside and find it.
Some of the novellas, especially the first, falls a bit short for me, and so the beginning of the book tended to drag, but the quality of the stories increases as the novel progresses, which is interesting, structurally, too.
Man, so wish I could put the quotes in here, could find them, but, alas! technology has foiled my efforts!
Anycase, I highly recommend it.
Made of six novellas told in different styles. The first five break in the middle and are interrupted by one another. The sixth is complete and unbroken. After the sixth, we pick up where the novellas broke off in opposite order. Structured like a Russian doll to great effect. The novellas are all interconnected in tangible ways, but there is a much deeper and less obvious connection between them. They are mirrors reflecting the previous realities, commenting on one another, on the nature of stories, on the way language changes. It begins in the 1850s with a notary traveling through Pacific Islands making journal entries. His story is found by a character in the second novella, which is told through letters to a friend. The recipient of these letters meets the narrator of the third novella, which is a noirish mystery with political intrigue and the like, and her story, the narrator's, is read by a publisher who has accidentally landed great success but falls into a sort of aged imprisonment through a humorous deceit. From there, which is essentially contemporary, we move some distance into the future, where corprocracies rule the world. It is a dystopian future where the world seems to be eating itself and a clone gain consciousness and attempts to defy the corporate structure of governmental subjugation. From there we move even further into the future, into a postapocalyptic world where life has regressed to agrarian/hunter gatherer societies, steeped in superstition, where the clone of the previous novella is viewed as a goddess.
There are clear and simple stories in various styles and genres, using interesting plays on language, showing how the way one thinks is determined by such things. More than the individual stories, though, is the overall effect of them all put together, and I think that's why the structure works so well, to stop midway, move to the next novella, which is a reflection, of sorts, not only to the previous novella, but the next one, too, and the overall novel. It is like a hall of mirrors where the center is elusive, but it is there, if we're willing to dive inside and find it.
Some of the novellas, especially the first, falls a bit short for me, and so the beginning of the book tended to drag, but the quality of the stories increases as the novel progresses, which is interesting, structurally, too.
Man, so wish I could put the quotes in here, could find them, but, alas! technology has foiled my efforts!
Anycase, I highly recommend it.
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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:
No
One of the best books I have ever read with its unique characters and format.
I so desperately wanted to enjoy this more. I liked 2 of the stories and one of them was just hard to follow.
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
I knew I would love this book. I’ve been meaning to read it since I saw the movie 13 years ago. I came out of the theater with my mind blown and I remember being shocked that I was the only one in my group who liked it 🥲
The novel is so brilliantly structured. I feel like I could read it ten times and pick up something new every time. I can’t decide which story is my favorite because every one got to me or impressed me in a different way. Now go listen to the Cloud Atlas Sextet ❤️
adventurous
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
No
*SPOILERS* Boring. The idea was there but all of the stories are about different power struggles in different periods of time and it gets tired so fast. I dreaded reading it toward the last couple chapters I just wanted it to be over with. Also the main character of each story is a reincarnation of the others but Mitchel hardly connected the past lives to each other, the references were there but they weren’t significant to the story. I feel Alex Landragin did a better job of this theme of interconnected stories with his debut novel Crossings
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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:
Complicated
challenging
inspiring
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Currently my favourite book. Love the 6 stories in one onion-layering thing, and the links between them. The language, settings and genres are so varied. Especially loved the Sonmi 451 story - possible Fahrenheit 451 reference? Read at the same time as my buddy Vlad.
I saw the movie first, which I thought was brilliant, Lana & Andrew Wachowski and Tom Tykwer made a tremendous effort bringing such a wonderful book to the screen. They were magnificent, but even if they were able to create a more perfect script for a more perfect film, they could not scratch the brilliance that is this book.
Mitchell's mastery over the English language—past, present, and future—absolutely blew my mind. The vernacular and tone reflected the time he wrote in. It's a wonder he didn't go mad writing this (or maybe he did: You know what they say about the line between madness and genius).
And then there's the story. Like the fictional sextet it was named for, it was a wild symphony of love, discovery, pain, horror, and understanding. Even though I knew where the story was going, I was still enthralled with each twist and turn in the plot, and the fleeting glimpse of these souls crossing each other in time and space.
So, if you were thinking about reading it, you should get off the computer right now and crack open this book. You don't want to miss this.
Mitchell's mastery over the English language—past, present, and future—absolutely blew my mind. The vernacular and tone reflected the time he wrote in. It's a wonder he didn't go mad writing this (or maybe he did: You know what they say about the line between madness and genius).
And then there's the story. Like the fictional sextet it was named for, it was a wild symphony of love, discovery, pain, horror, and understanding. Even though I knew where the story was going, I was still enthralled with each twist and turn in the plot, and the fleeting glimpse of these souls crossing each other in time and space.
So, if you were thinking about reading it, you should get off the computer right now and crack open this book. You don't want to miss this.