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A review by ajreads22
Ghostwritten by David Mitchell
4.0
I feel, to review this book, I need to view it less as a complete novel and more as a series of slightly connected short stories, each taking place in different locations with different protagonists and different events, but with tiny elements that link not just to previous stories but future ones too. Like any short story collection, there are ones that are better than others: for the most part, 'Ghostwritten' was pretty solid in that area. There was maybe only one story that I didn't like, but even then it was far from awful. Otherwise, I thought the stories were pretty great.
However, there was undoubtedly one stand out that blew me away, so much so that I would have no complaints with reading an entire novel following this character (or characters, but you'll see what I mean when you get to it): Mongolia. This took such an interesting idea and simultaneously flipped the book on its head for me and I found myself counting down the pages left to the next story not because I was eager to move on but because I didn't want it to end.
Please, David Mitchell: for your next book, just go back to this character. Please. I asked nicely, I think.
If I have any complaints, its that sometimes the connections didn't quite land, and I'm not sure if this is Mitchell's fault or mine. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention enough. Possibly. But I'm not going to allow that to massively drag down what is otherwise a really interesting and exciting book, with a vast collection of hugely different perspectives and tales. Like I said, some were better than others but overall, I thoroughly enjoyed 'Ghostwritten'. Better than 'The Bone Clocks' but not quite as good as 'Cloud Atlas'. I definitely intend to read more of Mr Mitchell in the future.
On a side note, I completely lost my mind whenever any of the 'Cloud Atlas' characters turned up.
However, there was undoubtedly one stand out that blew me away, so much so that I would have no complaints with reading an entire novel following this character (or characters, but you'll see what I mean when you get to it): Mongolia. This took such an interesting idea and simultaneously flipped the book on its head for me and I found myself counting down the pages left to the next story not because I was eager to move on but because I didn't want it to end.
Please, David Mitchell: for your next book, just go back to this character. Please. I asked nicely, I think.
If I have any complaints, its that sometimes the connections didn't quite land, and I'm not sure if this is Mitchell's fault or mine. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention enough. Possibly. But I'm not going to allow that to massively drag down what is otherwise a really interesting and exciting book, with a vast collection of hugely different perspectives and tales. Like I said, some were better than others but overall, I thoroughly enjoyed 'Ghostwritten'. Better than 'The Bone Clocks' but not quite as good as 'Cloud Atlas'. I definitely intend to read more of Mr Mitchell in the future.
On a side note, I completely lost my mind whenever any of the 'Cloud Atlas' characters turned up.