Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
challenging
reflective
slow-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:
Yes
Cloud Atlas might be the rare book where the movie is better. It's time for two reviews in one!
Cloud Atlas the novel is structured as six nested stories set across a span of hundreds of years of past and future. We follow main characters that are loosely connected via a "transmigrating souls" motif and who find themselves in the midst of situations that highlight that old standby theme, the human condition.
The book is in places a slow or slightly dry read, and I found myself at times wishing I was on to the next story. It was also difficult to follow the themes that author David Mitchell was trying to develop with the book's storylines clamshelled the way they are. Overall, the novel left me wondering both why someone thought to produce a film from this book and how they could possibly pull it off.
But pull it off they did. The film cuts a lot of the fat out of the book. And while someone who hasn't read the book might find the film difficult to follow for the first 45 minutes or so (and beware: it clocks in at nearly three hours total), the stories then begin to intertwine in a much more noticeable and elegant way on the screen. The screenwriters even added in some story elements that make particular stories (namely, the farthest past one and the farthest future one) both more sensical and more powerful.
In short: The film spells out "the message" more clearly than does the novel, and the visual nature of the on-screen medium tremendously aids the storytelling. My advice would be to rent the movie (primed with the understanding that it's lengthy yet worth it; engrossing after a point), and then if you are so compelled, read the book.
Cloud Atlas the novel is structured as six nested stories set across a span of hundreds of years of past and future. We follow main characters that are loosely connected via a "transmigrating souls" motif and who find themselves in the midst of situations that highlight that old standby theme, the human condition.
The book is in places a slow or slightly dry read, and I found myself at times wishing I was on to the next story. It was also difficult to follow the themes that author David Mitchell was trying to develop with the book's storylines clamshelled the way they are. Overall, the novel left me wondering both why someone thought to produce a film from this book and how they could possibly pull it off.
But pull it off they did. The film cuts a lot of the fat out of the book. And while someone who hasn't read the book might find the film difficult to follow for the first 45 minutes or so (and beware: it clocks in at nearly three hours total), the stories then begin to intertwine in a much more noticeable and elegant way on the screen. The screenwriters even added in some story elements that make particular stories (namely, the farthest past one and the farthest future one) both more sensical and more powerful.
In short: The film spells out "the message" more clearly than does the novel, and the visual nature of the on-screen medium tremendously aids the storytelling. My advice would be to rent the movie (primed with the understanding that it's lengthy yet worth it; engrossing after a point), and then if you are so compelled, read the book.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The humor was witty and the plot twists were fantastic and I'm glad that I own this book because I have a feeling it may be relevant in different ways with each reading. Truly some souls are meant to be intertwined.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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
No matter how many times I re-read this book, it remains as good as it was the first time I picked it up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Medical content, Colonisation
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It had a lot to say about slavery, how horrible colonialism is, and connection through time. Regardless, it lost me multiple times due to how the stories switched so violently in writing style and voice, and though I understood why, it did just get a bit contrived at times which brought me out of it at one point to such an extent that I nearly DNF'd it.
Warning: the slavery, death, suicide, violence, sexual assault and racism can be really intense and graphic so please take care with this book, you cannot really avoid those aspects in this book as it happens in multiple contexts all over and repeatedly so if you're sensitive to that and don't want to/can't read it stay away from this book.
My biggest question wasWas the level of detail of the racism and slavery and rape really necessary to advance the plot or to describe the horrors? Because at a certain point it really began to feel like this White dude writer David was getting a bit Trauma-Porn for the gruesomeness of it, especially in Adam Ewing with the Slavery and Racism, and that part "oiled up his hole..." in Sloosha's Crossin' an' everythin' after. There are so many ways to say things and get points across, you have to ask if this was necessary, and also was the formatting of the stories at all helpful or good in advancing the plot? And was this a sensitive way - especially for a white writer - to address these topics? I guess that's just experimental literature for you though.
I loved House of Leaves and I really hope I would get into this one but to be honest I had to speed read some parts just to get through the monotony of some of it. Orison of Sonni really just threw me as well as Timothy Cavendish I found him to be intolerable to follow.
Also a diversity of characters and perspectives would have been nice, why were they pretty much all white men? I know, it's because they are the oppressors, I get it, but like WE'VE HEARD THE OPPRESSORS VOICES everywhere all the time believe it or not Mr. Mitchell!
To wrap up, I'm just glad I'm done with it, I liked the ending but this book could have been so much better in my opinion.
Warning: the slavery, death, suicide, violence, sexual assault and racism can be really intense and graphic so please take care with this book, you cannot really avoid those aspects in this book as it happens in multiple contexts all over and repeatedly so if you're sensitive to that and don't want to/can't read it stay away from this book.
My biggest question was
I loved House of Leaves and I really hope I would get into this one but to be honest I had to speed read some parts just to get through the monotony of some of it. Orison of Sonni really just threw me as well as Timothy Cavendish I found him to be intolerable to follow.
Also a diversity of characters and perspectives would have been nice, why were they pretty much all white men? I know, it's because they are the oppressors, I get it, but like WE'VE HEARD THE OPPRESSORS VOICES everywhere all the time believe it or not Mr. Mitchell!
To wrap up, I'm just glad I'm done with it, I liked the ending but this book could have been so much better in my opinion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, Classism
These themes are everywhere in this book you CANNOT read this book without reading about these. Period. Don't read if these themes in graphic contexts are a no-go for you.
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-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