krillson 's review for:

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

4.0

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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 This is a good book, but I'm not quite sure I understood it all. The format of 6 different narratives, each being loosely related, was certainly interesting but I felt it lacked the profundity that it seemed to evoke in other reads. Each story was for the most part good, except I found the middle one about the post-apocalyptic Hawaii a bit tedious to get through, although I think that is more due to my dislike of the choice to spell out the accent rather than imply it, which also showed up in the Somni chapters. Each of the stories focused on the idea of independence and exploitation, repeated in varying contexts including colonialism, capitalism, and interestingly enough, a retirement home. The Somni and the Luisa Rey sections were my personally favorite, but at the end of the day the structure just didn't click for me.