Scan barcode
asolis's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.0
Little library find. Six stories nested within each other - you pass halfway through each until you reach the center and work your way back through each second half in reverse order. While the stories are clearly linked together, I expected a stronger connection to reveal itself over time.
I admit most of them took a minute to get into and I almost quit the whole book about 5 pages in. But once you get the hang of each story's dialect it draws you in hard.
A lot of racism and I often wondered whether it was for effect, "historical accuracy," or why it was necessary. But ultimately it contributes to the overall track towards anticapitalism and environmentalism, a warning against white supremacy and the havoc it has and will wreak upon our planet and its people.
I was pleased to benefit from my recent reading of Brave New World and 1984, which are especially referenced in the 5th story.
I admit most of them took a minute to get into and I almost quit the whole book about 5 pages in. But once you get the hang of each story's dialect it draws you in hard.
A lot of racism and I often wondered whether it was for effect, "historical accuracy," or why it was necessary. But ultimately it contributes to the overall track towards anticapitalism and environmentalism, a warning against white supremacy and the havoc it has and will wreak upon our planet and its people.
I was pleased to benefit from my recent reading of Brave New World and 1984, which are especially referenced in the 5th story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm, Vomit, Cannibalism, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Genocide, Racial slurs, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Death, and Confinement
thinkingrobot's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Sexual violence, Violence, Slavery, Death, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Homophobia, and Xenophobia
artmuseam's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
this is probably one of the most confusing but extraordinary books i’ve ever come across. first, i particularly enjoyed the ways in which different storylines from various timelines all connected together through “easter eggs”, but i didn’t entirely understand the significance of how each storyline was connected to each other. i also didn’t like the storyline occurring in the middle. perhaps this is just me being uptight on my end, but when i read something that is difficult to decipher and takes a while to actually understand what the convoluted words are saying, i lose motivation to read on. in fact, i had to skim through that entire part just for the sake of finishing the story and seeing what happens in the end. i will say, however, that the other storylines were quite thrilling and kept me at the edge of my seat. when i noticed those easter eggs, i grew excited and wanted to find the significance—only to realize there wasn’t really one (unless i misread, or just completely skipped over it?) the concept itself was very interesting and the different writing styles (aside from the middle one) created a lively and visceral setting for the entire book. who knows, maybe i will have to give this a reread in the future to actually grasp it. this was definitely a confusing, thought provoking, and disoriented read that i weirdly enjoyed. 4.5/5 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Racial slurs, Blood, Cannibalism, Slavery, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Rape, Animal death, and Sexual assault
sr_marshrat's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
It's Mitchell, so, of course Cloud Atlas is beautifully written, each of his six worlds rendered such that they engulf the reader completely. It takes more than beautiful writing, though, to make a story engaging, and not all of Mitchell's six souls had stories that stood well on their own. I found myself racing through those chapters, less interested in the characters and their adventures, focussed instead on searching for the details that wove Mitchell's six, seemingly disparate, stories into one narrative. While some connections are clever, others are... thin. When the connective story elements are tenuous at best, they detract from the themes that would otherwise elegantly unify each chapter of this soul-journey into one novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, Racism, Car accident, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Gun violence, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence
lanid's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Violence, Infidelity, Colonisation, Slavery, Genocide, Medical trauma, Racism, Gun violence, and Child death
walenchao's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Suicide, Infidelity, and Violence
marissasa's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Cloud Atlas is a long, sweeping narrative with each chapter about a different person who is a reincarnation of the previous chapter's main character and the ways they are all interconnected despite existing in different eras experiencing wildly different situations. The theory was very cool to me and I was intrigued by the way that the book doesn't spell out any of the world-building sci-fi elements clearly, leaving the whole reincarnation idea up to interpretation for the most part. However, out of the 6 main characters, 4 were white men whose stories really paled in comparison to the 2 women's chapters. Luisa and especially Sonmi-451 carried this book in my opinion. While their chapters were engaging, action-packed, and full of social commentary, I felt the other chapters dragged on and were far less memorable. I even felt like the first character we were introduced to was by far the least interesting, which made it tough to read since his chapters were the very first one and the last one. Although I liked the premise I just wanted more in the execution from this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Alcohol, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Body horror, Sexual content, Biphobia, Child death, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Violence
effortlessly_uncool's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Slavery, Racial slurs, and Racism
bookish_bry's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
relaxing
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I have been flipping back and forth between a 4.75 and a 5 star review for a while now because I did not love all of the 6 stories that take place in this book. However, the 6 stories have such distinctly different styles and stories while still reaching out to touch each other. The choice to have the stories nested in one another was great.
At times this book was difficult to read. The first story is from the far past (and it reads like it) and the 6th story is from the far future (and is just as difficult to read except I cannot look up the definitions of the words I don't know since they don't actually exist). Some were a lot easier to read like the 3rd and 4th stories which take place in the 1970s and early 2000s. There is a certain charm to that, but a reader has to try to stick with it. It took me to the third story to get truly intrigued with the narrative (though that perhaps has something to do a big indicator of the connection between these stories being introduced: Sixsmith's participation and the birth-mark ). Once I was invested though, it was much easier to get myself through the parts that were harder to read.
I want to eventually re-read this book (after sitting on it for a while). I am certain I will see more references between stories and secrets upon subsequent re-reads. I especially feel I will enjoy the first two chapters more the next time I read.
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this is eventually deemed a classic because of the richness of its themes and its structure.
More for myself, I am going to rank the stories on how I viewed them upon my first reading from favorite to least favorite.
1. "Half Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery"- This one was just fun (and easier) to read. I love that we got to see Sixsmith in person after having all of the letters written to him in "Letters from Zedelghem." It somehow both reads as a self-contained novela (where some stories felt they didn't stand quite as well on their own) while also being the one that made the connections to the other stories the most obvious. The ending would have been a little bit predictable if it was a stand alone, but within Cloud Atlas, it was a good ending. It didn't blow my mind, but it was solid. Also, it was nice that it ended with a real and true victory for our main character (if not most of the other characters in this part).
2. "The Orison of Sonmi-451"- This was actually my least favorite part for a long time. It's an extremely predictable narrative of future-sci-fi-made-programed-slave-race goes rogue and rebels against the system that we've seen entire novels dedicated to before. I did always like the format of it being an interview with a prisoner before her execution, but the story itself never was really anything special. But then the ending. The ending. It was my favorite ending of all of the stories. It was revealed that not only was The Union a set up by the corporation run government to make everyone hate abolitionists, but it was also revealed that Sonmi was already aware. She wrote her tenants knowing that soon after, the government would arrest her. She knew it was hopeless for her, but did her best to make it so her message was spread far and wide in the hopes it would sow the seeds of freedom for others. In the end she was the only character in the story who was not a slave even if she died at the end.
3. "The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish"- This story was entertaining because the first half and the second half felt very different. In the first half Timothy is down on his luck. Life isn't going his way even when it seems to be going his way. For every good thing that happens, 10 bad things seem to happen. The end of the first part is horrifying as he's forced into an abusive nursing home and his autonomy is stripped from him with no recourse. And then in the second half... it becomes a heist movie. Like, sure, the abuse is still clearly there, but it ends up being hilarious as these old assholes put their skills together to come up with a multi-step plan to escape. It was just a romp by the end especially in the bar. I'm glad Timothy got a new lease on life afterwards and enjoys his freedom.
4. "The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing"- This was a solid story, though I probably wouldn't have liked it on its own too much. It was a bit bland at times and it was clear Adam was being poisoned from the beginning. It think it's end makes a great end for the entire book however as it seems to tie all of the stories together and seems to present the thesis of the book. Basically, we decide how the world is. If we decide it's horrible and there is no recourse, then it is. However, if we choose to believe the world can be good, maybe it can be.
5. "Sloosha's Crossin' An' EV'Rythin' After"- The style of this chapter made it hard to read, I wasn't a big fan of the narrator, and the world was just... bleak. Of course, I guess it fills it's narrative purpose of telling the reader that this is what the world is if you let it be. It wasn't a bad story, but it wasn't my favorite.
6. "Letters from Zedelghem"- I think I need to re-read this part. I didn't quite get how this story fit with the overall theme of the narrative and I feel like I didn't really get the main character. The ending with him committing suicide didn't quite make sense to me in context. Again, maybe I'll change my mind upon a re-read, but this was the one that didn't resonate with me the most.
At times this book was difficult to read. The first story is from the far past (and it reads like it) and the 6th story is from the far future (and is just as difficult to read except I cannot look up the definitions of the words I don't know since they don't actually exist). Some were a lot easier to read like the 3rd and 4th stories which take place in the 1970s and early 2000s. There is a certain charm to that, but a reader has to try to stick with it. It took me to the third story to get truly intrigued with the narrative (though that perhaps has something to do a big indicator of the connection between these stories being introduced:
I want to eventually re-read this book (after sitting on it for a while). I am certain I will see more references between stories and secrets upon subsequent re-reads. I especially feel I will enjoy the first two chapters more the next time I read.
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this is eventually deemed a classic because of the richness of its themes and its structure.
More for myself, I am going to rank the stories on how I viewed them upon my first reading from favorite to least favorite.
1. "Half Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery"- This one was just fun (and easier) to read. I love that we got to see Sixsmith in person after having all of the letters written to him in "Letters from Zedelghem." It somehow both reads as a self-contained novela (where some stories felt they didn't stand quite as well on their own) while also being the one that made the connections to the other stories the most obvious. The ending would have been a little bit predictable if it was a stand alone, but within Cloud Atlas, it was a good ending. It didn't blow my mind, but it was solid. Also, it was nice that it ended with a real and true victory for our main character (if not most of the other characters in this part).
2. "The Orison of Sonmi-451"- This was actually my least favorite part for a long time. It's an extremely predictable narrative of future-sci-fi-made-programed-slave-race goes rogue and rebels against the system that we've seen entire novels dedicated to before. I did always like the format of it being an interview with a prisoner before her execution, but the story itself never was really anything special. But then the ending. The ending. It was my favorite ending of all of the stories. It was revealed that not only was The Union a set up by the corporation run government to make everyone hate abolitionists, but it was also revealed that Sonmi was already aware. She wrote her tenants knowing that soon after, the government would arrest her. She knew it was hopeless for her, but did her best to make it so her message was spread far and wide in the hopes it would sow the seeds of freedom for others. In the end she was the only character in the story who was not a slave even if she died at the end.
3. "The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish"- This story was entertaining because the first half and the second half felt very different. In the first half Timothy is down on his luck. Life isn't going his way even when it seems to be going his way. For every good thing that happens, 10 bad things seem to happen. The end of the first part is horrifying as he's forced into an abusive nursing home and his autonomy is stripped from him with no recourse. And then in the second half... it becomes a heist movie. Like, sure, the abuse is still clearly there, but it ends up being hilarious as these old assholes put their skills together to come up with a multi-step plan to escape. It was just a romp by the end especially in the bar. I'm glad Timothy got a new lease on life afterwards and enjoys his freedom.
4. "The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing"- This was a solid story, though I probably wouldn't have liked it on its own too much. It was a bit bland at times and it was clear Adam was being poisoned from the beginning. It think it's end makes a great end for the entire book however as it seems to tie all of the stories together and seems to present the thesis of the book. Basically, we decide how the world is. If we decide it's horrible and there is no recourse, then it is. However, if we choose to believe the world can be good, maybe it can be.
5. "Sloosha's Crossin' An' EV'Rythin' After"- The style of this chapter made it hard to read, I wasn't a big fan of the narrator, and the world was just... bleak. Of course, I guess it fills it's narrative purpose of telling the reader that this is what the world is if you let it be. It wasn't a bad story, but it wasn't my favorite.
6. "Letters from Zedelghem"- I think I need to re-read this part. I didn't quite get how this story fit with the overall theme of the narrative and I feel like I didn't really get the main character. The ending with him committing suicide didn't quite make sense to me in context. Again, maybe I'll change my mind upon a re-read, but this was the one that didn't resonate with me the most.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death, Violence, Colonisation, Suicide, Classism, Racism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, and Confinement
Moderate: Rape, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Death of parent
Minor: Excrement and Torture
auggiet's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
beautiful !! some parts were slower than others depending on your preference of story telling and genre, but as a whole this book far exceeded my expectations after seeing some not-so-great reviews. the commentary on cyclicality and self-destruction on historical scales and in individual instances feels like something ive been trying to put into words myself for a while now. definitely a book that ill be thinking about for a long time
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Drug use, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Murder, Death, Vomit, Gore, Addiction, Classism, Xenophobia, War, Drug abuse, Racism, Car accident, Cursing, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, and Violence
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, Dementia, Grief, and Gun violence