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A review by landonwittmer
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
5.0
I've heard this book (and its movie adaptation) is polarizing in the literary world, and I can see why. Its ideas about the interconnectedness of human experience can come off as airy at points, spiritual in a plastic, overly-humanistic sense. Mitchell shows how the core of the human experience doesn't change, regardless of advances in time and technology, but doesn't offer much more depth on the topic (at least that I picked up on). I know I behave like people hundreds and thousands of years ago, and I know people hundreds and thousands of years from now will behave like me--this idea might be a revelation to some, but I think if you've read a dozen books in your life, you kind of get it already.
This book is, however, an incredible insight into the unchanging nature of power, greed, and revolutions. This alone is worth the price of admission (at 500 pages, it's not the cheapest buy-in), and I can't believe some people become so lost in the "connectedness" theme that they miss this much more obvious angle the novel takes. Again, the ideas in Cloud Atlas about power, greed, and revolutions are nothing new, but literature isn't about its novelty but its ingenuity, and Mitchell is an ingenious author.
Cloud Atlas is also, as critics rightfully claim, one of the most ambitious novels ever written. I won't spoil why--and I urge you, if you know nothing about this novel, not to research it before finishing it--but Mitchell's use of narrative and unique linguistics is unfathomable. For these achievements alone, this novel makes history, but these achievements are connected to quite a fine story as well.
This book is, however, an incredible insight into the unchanging nature of power, greed, and revolutions. This alone is worth the price of admission (at 500 pages, it's not the cheapest buy-in), and I can't believe some people become so lost in the "connectedness" theme that they miss this much more obvious angle the novel takes. Again, the ideas in Cloud Atlas about power, greed, and revolutions are nothing new, but literature isn't about its novelty but its ingenuity, and Mitchell is an ingenious author.
Cloud Atlas is also, as critics rightfully claim, one of the most ambitious novels ever written. I won't spoil why--and I urge you, if you know nothing about this novel, not to research it before finishing it--but Mitchell's use of narrative and unique linguistics is unfathomable. For these achievements alone, this novel makes history, but these achievements are connected to quite a fine story as well.