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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
reflective
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:
Complicated
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Short Review:
David Mitchell's uniquely broken structuring of the different stories is jarring at first, but once you settle in to the flow of the writing you can really appreciate the effort put into each character's distinct narration of events.
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Quick Q's:
Movie or Book?
-Book first, then movie (which makes a lot more sense after reading the book.)
Recommend to a friend?
-Would
Favorite Character?
-Tough one. Probably Luisa Rey.
Read it again?
-Maybe, but it'll be a while before I do.
David Mitchell's uniquely broken structuring of the different stories is jarring at first, but once you settle in to the flow of the writing you can really appreciate the effort put into each character's distinct narration of events.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quick Q's:
Movie or Book?
-Book first, then movie (which makes a lot more sense after reading the book.)
Recommend to a friend?
-Would
Favorite Character?
-Tough one. Probably Luisa Rey.
Read it again?
-Maybe, but it'll be a while before I do.
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
This was such an ambitious book, and I'd say that it stuck the landing for the most part. A piece of me still feels unsatisfied but the symmetry of the writing structure was very nice. I also really appreciate the author's ability to write so many characters' voices so thoroughly!
This was enjoyable, but it felt bigger than its scope.
CONTENT WARNING:
Things to love:
-Long view of freedom. What is freedom as an enslaved Maori person? What is it as a disillusioned bisexual white man? What is it after the collapse of humanity? Post human?
-Morality. What are we and where do we want to be seems to be the central question. This book answers it several different ways, but the end is always "we want our humanity to be a given."
-Very experimental. Lots of different storytelling techniques here that all feel a bit epistolary, with a twist.
-Some of the relationships. I really liked some of the connections here.
Things I did not love:
-Overly long. We kill no darlings here. Every sentence is, you see, a gem, and we can't possibly have arrived at the point or the moral any more expeditiously.
-A bit too convoluted. The author took something that's fairly well trodden, but needed a lot more room to do it in, and in so doing, lost some of the more poignant parts of a recreation timeline.
I enjoyed it well enough. 3.5 rounded up because I'd read more by him, but I think only 1 storyline here was particularly well done and it's the one that adds the least to the plot.
CONTENT WARNING:
Spoiler
rape, loss of a loved one, religion, suicide, enslavement, racism, serial killer, child abuse, stillborn birthThings to love:
-Long view of freedom. What is freedom as an enslaved Maori person? What is it as a disillusioned bisexual white man? What is it after the collapse of humanity? Post human?
-Morality. What are we and where do we want to be seems to be the central question. This book answers it several different ways, but the end is always "we want our humanity to be a given."
-Very experimental. Lots of different storytelling techniques here that all feel a bit epistolary, with a twist.
-Some of the relationships. I really liked some of the connections here.
Things I did not love:
-Overly long. We kill no darlings here. Every sentence is, you see, a gem, and we can't possibly have arrived at the point or the moral any more expeditiously.
-A bit too convoluted. The author took something that's fairly well trodden, but needed a lot more room to do it in, and in so doing, lost some of the more poignant parts of a recreation timeline.
I enjoyed it well enough. 3.5 rounded up because I'd read more by him, but I think only 1 storyline here was particularly well done and it's the one that adds the least to the plot.
Revolutionary or gimmicky? Well, I’m sorry to say, David, but it’s definitely gimmick.
I had seen the film before I read the book and I loved the movie – granted, I was a bit confused, but that was okay. Yet the book is a whole different matter.
Mitchell had a clever idea; the whole idea of the book had great potential, but I think he could have been a little more subtle. I’m not dumb, see. I would have gotten that a film about an old man locked in a nursing home is a production of Tim Cavendish’s story without being explicitly told so. I think a bit of subtlety would have done wonders for this book.
Also I do think his pacing was a little off – the first parts of the stories dragged along and in the second part they suddenly got resolved in a matter of pages.
And – what is his point? That humanity is eventually going to destroy itself because of its own hunger for power? Well, yeah, that’s probably going to happen, we all see the problem, but what do you propose we do about it? This book just left me with a hopeless, bitter feeling and that is not at all something I like.
So there you go: two points for a good idea and lacking realisation.
I had seen the film before I read the book and I loved the movie – granted, I was a bit confused, but that was okay. Yet the book is a whole different matter.
Mitchell had a clever idea; the whole idea of the book had great potential, but I think he could have been a little more subtle. I’m not dumb, see. I would have gotten that a film about an old man locked in a nursing home is a production of Tim Cavendish’s story without being explicitly told so. I think a bit of subtlety would have done wonders for this book.
Also I do think his pacing was a little off – the first parts of the stories dragged along and in the second part they suddenly got resolved in a matter of pages.
And – what is his point? That humanity is eventually going to destroy itself because of its own hunger for power? Well, yeah, that’s probably going to happen, we all see the problem, but what do you propose we do about it? This book just left me with a hopeless, bitter feeling and that is not at all something I like.
So there you go: two points for a good idea and lacking realisation.
January 2005: A handful of mostly first-person tales set up like nesting dolls (that's someone else's perfect metaphor, btw) such that only the center tale is uninterrupted. Each tale leaps forward in time and alters the genre, so you get a Melvillian seaman's yarn, a detective story, some science-fiction, and a post-apocalyptic island story among others. Mitchell jumps styles fluidly and makes the gimmick work to his advantage in often surprising ways. There's a hokey little thread to tie these stories together that I prefer to ignore, but it is otherwise one of the more impressive novels I've read in the last few years.
May 2019 Reread: Still brilliant. I can't pretend to have felt a great deal beyond delight while reading this, but every damn page is a delight. Mitchell's mastery of mode, genre, and voice is virtuosic, and the whole experience fairly sparkles. The larger themes are still hokey or heavy-handed, but do I care? I do not, Reader. I indeed do not care, because I'm slopping around in all this here delight.
May 2019 Reread: Still brilliant. I can't pretend to have felt a great deal beyond delight while reading this, but every damn page is a delight. Mitchell's mastery of mode, genre, and voice is virtuosic, and the whole experience fairly sparkles. The larger themes are still hokey or heavy-handed, but do I care? I do not, Reader. I indeed do not care, because I'm slopping around in all this here delight.
What an impressive creation. I'm fascinated by the virtuosity of merely writing this book. This was Storytelling with a capital "S". I think it bears a re-read at some point to find more details second time around. I'm not quite sure about there being any true, solid connection between each of the 6 stories. I'll ponder that in the coming days. Only 5 and 6 seem to have a real connection. Still, each story was a good tale. Managing to write 6 distinct styles is impressive. I confess I am hard pressed to say what this book is about or what genre it is. It is, I repeat, good storytelling, and I, for one, love a good story.
PS Read as audiobook.
PPS The concept has a musical quality to it - a thought supported by something said in the second half of the second tale. Maybe this is an orchestration for the mind? (Apologies if that sounds pretentious.)
PS Read as audiobook.
PPS The concept has a musical quality to it - a thought supported by something said in the second half of the second tale. Maybe this is an orchestration for the mind? (Apologies if that sounds pretentious.)
Truly an incredible book. Each of the stories, characters, locations, 'worlds' is so firmly impressed upon my mind - amazing given each one is probably around 80 pages. Very cleverly woven together. I especially appreciated the way he appeared to anticipate criticisms of his own book, and include them in just about every story.
Mitchell demonstrates incredible breadth and versatility. I particularly liked his Letters from Zedelghem and the story about Luisa Rey. I'm really not into fantasy at all, but the Somni story was interesting and tolerable. I found the Prescient story difficult to get through because of the vernacular (was this necessary?) but oddly enough its images will probably stay with me the longest.
Must read.
Mitchell demonstrates incredible breadth and versatility. I particularly liked his Letters from Zedelghem and the story about Luisa Rey. I'm really not into fantasy at all, but the Somni story was interesting and tolerable. I found the Prescient story difficult to get through because of the vernacular (was this necessary?) but oddly enough its images will probably stay with me the longest.
Must read.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated