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A review by dukeofmars
Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell
4.0
Fookin' A, but do I want to listen to this band. In his newest novel, Mitchell assembles what I have to assume is his dream musical group (and not far off from mine), in a raucous anti-establishment hard blues rock bassist, a folk singer songwriter keyboardist, a psychedelic shred master guitarist, and a genius jazz session drummer. Their music is everything good about music from the late 60s. As someone who wasn't alive to experience it firsthand, but always appreciated the era's sound, Utopia Avenue gave me an intoxicating world to escape into.
And after marking down every song mentioned in the book, a pretty wicked 9+ hour playlist on Spotify.
The book starts slow, without much conflict to create interest, and there are portions further in where it felt like I was reading the sequel to a different book, without knowing I was supposed to read that book first (People who read Mitchell's other work, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, as I have not, will probably be fine).
But overall, Mitchell delivers the emotional punches in the gut that I didn't know I yearned for. His characters grew on me, hard, and his world -- equal parts magical and unfair -- seduced me wholecloth. Now someone record their albums, man.
And after marking down every song mentioned in the book, a pretty wicked 9+ hour playlist on Spotify.
The book starts slow, without much conflict to create interest, and there are portions further in where it felt like I was reading the sequel to a different book, without knowing I was supposed to read that book first (People who read Mitchell's other work, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, as I have not, will probably be fine).
But overall, Mitchell delivers the emotional punches in the gut that I didn't know I yearned for. His characters grew on me, hard, and his world -- equal parts magical and unfair -- seduced me wholecloth. Now someone record their albums, man.