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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
(4,75) Almost too grand and epic to fully comprehend but still David Mitchell wrote Cloud Atlas with such uncompromising and clear vision that, even if it might feel like a challenge to start reading it, the entire matryoshka doll reading-experience will be worth it in the end. I must admit that reading this can be an incredibly daunting task. Since my viewing of the film adaptation happened ages ago and some of the stories that make up Cloud Atlas are so dense, full of characters, and full of complex prose (especially the 1800's ship journal and post-apocalyptic, hyperneo English were tough reads), that it's hard to wrap your head around everything that happens and, more over, how everything connects and forms meaning throughout the book. But as the middle point is reached and one goes back in time again thematics become clearer and clearer. What is most memorable in the latter half of the book is how wonderful its characters voice the novel's main concern with the unrelenting powers that be, the unstoppable flow of time, and the inescapable cyclical nature of it all (for reference see some of my favourite quotations below). I don't think I'll pick up a book as challenging as this in a while, but the absolute trip it is to be whirled across time and place, with characters you love and hate and love to hate, is what makes reading stuff like this so much fun!
"[...] we cross, criss-cross, and recross our old tracks like figure skaters." - Timothy Cavendish.
"What if trying to avoid the future is what triggers it all?" - Luisa Rey
"'[...] He who would do battle with the many-headed hydra of human nature must pay a world of pain & his family must pay it along with him! & only as you gasp your dying breath shall you understand, your life amounted to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean.'
Yet what is an ocean but a multitude of drops?" - Adam Ewing
"[...] we cross, criss-cross, and recross our old tracks like figure skaters." - Timothy Cavendish.
"What if trying to avoid the future is what triggers it all?" - Luisa Rey
"'[...] He who would do battle with the many-headed hydra of human nature must pay a world of pain & his family must pay it along with him! & only as you gasp your dying breath shall you understand, your life amounted to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean.'
Yet what is an ocean but a multitude of drops?" - Adam Ewing
I had a feeling the entire time I read this book I had read it before but it was written by a different author and it was much better. But overall it was a very good book.
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Just a great read, not sure I got all the meaning but I became engrossed in each story.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book is so well-written, its no surprise why its considered a modern classic.
Mitchell plays with language, character, religion, society, history and worldbuilding to craft a really incredible meta-story with a truly original structure. Some of the POV characters are funny, some are serious, some are thought-provoking. None take long to get invested in and thoughtfully exploring the connections between each character and storyline is one of the most enjoyable aspects of reading this book.
Its also super interesting to see how he repeats themes in so many different settings, exploring them in real historical periods and further on into speculative futures.
One of the themes frequently discussed in this book is ascension/descension which can be seen in each individual story, but its also sort of the entire structure of the plot. We go into, each story and then out of each story one by one which allows the reader to feel like we are along the journey with the characters, maybe even that we are going through the journey without the characters as only we can see how they all connect to each other.
I think this is one that will stick with me for a long time and that I will likely come back to again in the future.
Overall, I recommend this one to anyone who likes meta fiction, or stories that make you think, especially if you appreciate when they also come with a laugh.
Mitchell plays with language, character, religion, society, history and worldbuilding to craft a really incredible meta-story with a truly original structure. Some of the POV characters are funny, some are serious, some are thought-provoking. None take long to get invested in and thoughtfully exploring the connections between each character and storyline is one of the most enjoyable aspects of reading this book.
Its also super interesting to see how he repeats themes in so many different settings, exploring them in real historical periods and further on into speculative futures.
One of the themes frequently discussed in this book is ascension/descension which can be seen in each individual story, but its also sort of the entire structure of the plot. We go into, each story and then out of each story one by one which allows the reader to feel like we are along the journey with the characters, maybe even that we are going through the journey without the characters as only we can see how they all connect to each other.
I think this is one that will stick with me for a long time and that I will likely come back to again in the future.
Overall, I recommend this one to anyone who likes meta fiction, or stories that make you think, especially if you appreciate when they also come with a laugh.
I'll keep it spoiler-free at the risk of being vague.
I recommend going into Cloud Atlas without knowing too much about Cloud Atlas. If you're already familiar with the novel's structure, then Mitchell's repeated, explicit attempts to bash the concept into your skull will be tedious. Nonetheless, there is a beauty to some of the more subtle and nuanced connections between the stories. I don't mean to bash the book with my two-star rating, as I do genuinely believe, in accordance with Goodreads rating guidelines, that "it was ok."
There is a lot to chew on in Cloud Atlas: religion, immortality, oppression, discrimination, capitalism, metaphysics, and more. (Mitchell has some genuinely interesting ideas about some of these topics.) Plato, Nietzsche, Freud, and Solzhenitsyn are all there too, in addition to other thinkers whose influence I am perhaps too ignorant to notice. It's debatable whether the heavy thematic concepts are a good match for the pulpy or comedic tones of certain sections, but that might be a matter of personal preference. (In different ways Mitchell seems to paradoxically take his concept both too seriously and not seriously enough.) In contrast with my desire for greater subtlety in other aspects of the work, I wish that some examples of prejudice within Cloud Atlas had received more explicit challenges. While the characters' racism is generally addressed, some men in the story express a misogynistic sentiment that in my view Mitchell doesn't adequately explore.
A flawed work for sure, but at least a thought-provoking one. If this "genre" of interconnected storytelling had more time to mature, I wager that it could be a vehicle for some genuine masterworks, but the pool of writers capable of writing in such different styles as Mitchell does is probably rather small. Frustrating in some respects, and not a life-changing work of literature (at least not for me). Perhaps my expectations were too high, but it's a book that has stuck in my mind, and that has to count for something.
I recommend going into Cloud Atlas without knowing too much about Cloud Atlas. If you're already familiar with the novel's structure, then Mitchell's repeated, explicit attempts to bash the concept into your skull will be tedious. Nonetheless, there is a beauty to some of the more subtle and nuanced connections between the stories. I don't mean to bash the book with my two-star rating, as I do genuinely believe, in accordance with Goodreads rating guidelines, that "it was ok."
There is a lot to chew on in Cloud Atlas: religion, immortality, oppression, discrimination, capitalism, metaphysics, and more. (Mitchell has some genuinely interesting ideas about some of these topics.) Plato, Nietzsche, Freud, and Solzhenitsyn are all there too, in addition to other thinkers whose influence I am perhaps too ignorant to notice. It's debatable whether the heavy thematic concepts are a good match for the pulpy or comedic tones of certain sections, but that might be a matter of personal preference. (In different ways Mitchell seems to paradoxically take his concept both too seriously and not seriously enough.) In contrast with my desire for greater subtlety in other aspects of the work, I wish that some examples of prejudice within Cloud Atlas had received more explicit challenges. While the characters' racism is generally addressed, some men in the story express a misogynistic sentiment that in my view Mitchell doesn't adequately explore.
A flawed work for sure, but at least a thought-provoking one. If this "genre" of interconnected storytelling had more time to mature, I wager that it could be a vehicle for some genuine masterworks, but the pool of writers capable of writing in such different styles as Mitchell does is probably rather small. Frustrating in some respects, and not a life-changing work of literature (at least not for me). Perhaps my expectations were too high, but it's a book that has stuck in my mind, and that has to count for something.
4 of the 6 nested stories were very compelling, 2 didn't really interest me and unfortunately they were the first and last parts of the book. The middle was stellar though.
I also feel like the book would have been better if I'd read it earlier because I can appreciate that it's a trailblazer book in structure but after having read so many books that were derivative of it I am kind of burnt out on this structure.
I also feel like the book would have been better if I'd read it earlier because I can appreciate that it's a trailblazer book in structure but after having read so many books that were derivative of it I am kind of burnt out on this structure.
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-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:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
sad
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:
Yes