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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
Fascinating! Not so easy to get into, but I have not stopped thinking about it.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
dark
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:
Yes
3.5/5
I have mixed feeling about this book. I thought the format David Mitchell chose was unique and challenging in a really great way. I enjoyed how the book revealed its form to the reader slowly, and only through a bit of persistence. There were six stories written in different styles, set in different times and places.
That being said, I did find some of the stories stronger than others. If each had been published alone, I'm not sure they would have stood on their own. I didn't love the writing style chosen for each of these stories--some were distracting and took the energy out of the narrative.
I also have concerns about how a white author chose to represent indigenous communities. I understand that some of the overt racism and descriptions of colonization were written on purpose to expose the flawed logic and horrific consequences inherent in them, but the perspective provided was often based on heavy-handed and two-dimensional stereotypes.
All in all, I'm fairly neutral. There were elements that kept my attention and elements that didn't. An imperfect attempt at an interesting concept.
I have mixed feeling about this book. I thought the format David Mitchell chose was unique and challenging in a really great way. I enjoyed how the book revealed its form to the reader slowly, and only through a bit of persistence. There were six stories written in different styles, set in different times and places.
That being said, I did find some of the stories stronger than others. If each had been published alone, I'm not sure they would have stood on their own. I didn't love the writing style chosen for each of these stories--some were distracting and took the energy out of the narrative.
I also have concerns about how a white author chose to represent indigenous communities. I understand that some of the overt racism and descriptions of colonization were written on purpose to expose the flawed logic and horrific consequences inherent in them, but the perspective provided was often based on heavy-handed and two-dimensional stereotypes.
All in all, I'm fairly neutral. There were elements that kept my attention and elements that didn't. An imperfect attempt at an interesting concept.
adventurous
emotional
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:
No
3.5 stars. Cloud Atlas was quite a hard read for me, but, as pretty much all other reviewers said, it is also a very clever book. The structure of the book goes like this: every chapter takes place in a different year and place, follows different characters and is a different kind of narrative; the first chapter is diary excerpts, the next one is told through letters and so on. The language also changes to suit the setting of the story through each part and it even becomes some sort of imagined futuristic English in chapters 5 and 6, which made it a particularly challenging read for me. Chapters 1 through 6 follow a chronological order from past to future, however after the middle chapter, we revisit each story backwards to find out the ending of each story and how they all fit together. While at the beginning each story is linked only by small details, after chapter 6 more links are revealed and the stories fall better in the bigger picture.
A slow read for me, but very clever and a different, imaginative read.
A slow read for me, but very clever and a different, imaginative read.
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
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:
Yes
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes