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Title: Cloud Atlas
Author: David Mitchell
Genre: Literary fiction
Thingummies: 5
Synopsis: Six nested stories ranging from the 1800s to the distant future imply the reincarnation of souls, the futility of fighting our baser selves, and the importance of trying anyway.
Thoughts: This is an extremely literary piece of literary fiction. In an exercise in voice, the author gives us six short stories about completely different characters--a male American lawyer dying at sea during the California Gold Rush, a male British composer stealing from his mentor in the 1930s, a female American reporter with a life-threatening story about a nuclear reactor in 1975, a male British vanity publisher who gets accidentally confined to a nursing home in modern day, a female Korean clone fighting for freedom, and a postapocalyptic society in Hawaii. Each is told in a completely different style, with appropriate changes in diction. The stories are nested, beginning chronologically and stopping at a cliffhanger until the far future, then backing out with the second half of each story in reverse chronological order. It's one of the most gimmicky set-ups I've seen in awhile.
I'm also not totally sure I believe the literary goals were accomplished. The themes are stated repeatedly in the back half of each story, after confirming that the protagonist of each story (except the middle, far future one) is the reincarnation of the same person. (The far future's iteration is a supporting character instead.) But I never quite figured out how some of the deviations worked in. For example--why is the protagonist in the middle story a different character? Granted, the story works better that way then by making the reincarnation the protagonist. But I don't see how it ties into the structure that's being built. And I never understood what the publisher's story had to do with the overarching plot of the book as a whole--it seems to be a random diversion from the slow growth and regrowth of the character.
But here's the thing: I don't actually care. Whether or not this accomplished its literary goals is actually somewhat beside the point to me. I just loved reading it. I would read it again. I hated putting it down and I looked forward to each time I could pick it back up. The voice is gimmicky and there's a jarring sense of displacement each time you start a new story. But within two or three pages, I was sucked back in. Each of the changes of voice works. Each of the characters, some of whom are heroes and some of whom are kind of terrible people, are still incredibly engaging. Each of the plots is interesting and well constructed and each one comes to a satisfying conclusion. Any one of these stories could stand completely on its own and still be worth reading, and they weave together in a fascinating way.
Mitchell is simultaneously a deep cynic and an optimist. He does not believe in systems, or rather, he believes that the systems we built exacerbate our own character flaws. But he does believe in individual humanity. Above all else, this book is a cry for us each to push back the encroaching darkness, with the knowledge that we'll fail eventually but with the belief that even the small victories are meaningful.
Author: David Mitchell
Genre: Literary fiction
Thingummies: 5
Synopsis: Six nested stories ranging from the 1800s to the distant future imply the reincarnation of souls, the futility of fighting our baser selves, and the importance of trying anyway.
Thoughts: This is an extremely literary piece of literary fiction. In an exercise in voice, the author gives us six short stories about completely different characters--a male American lawyer dying at sea during the California Gold Rush, a male British composer stealing from his mentor in the 1930s, a female American reporter with a life-threatening story about a nuclear reactor in 1975, a male British vanity publisher who gets accidentally confined to a nursing home in modern day, a female Korean clone fighting for freedom, and a postapocalyptic society in Hawaii. Each is told in a completely different style, with appropriate changes in diction. The stories are nested, beginning chronologically and stopping at a cliffhanger until the far future, then backing out with the second half of each story in reverse chronological order. It's one of the most gimmicky set-ups I've seen in awhile.
I'm also not totally sure I believe the literary goals were accomplished. The themes are stated repeatedly in the back half of each story, after confirming that the protagonist of each story (except the middle, far future one) is the reincarnation of the same person. (The far future's iteration is a supporting character instead.) But I never quite figured out how some of the deviations worked in. For example--why is the protagonist in the middle story a different character? Granted, the story works better that way then by making the reincarnation the protagonist. But I don't see how it ties into the structure that's being built. And I never understood what the publisher's story had to do with the overarching plot of the book as a whole--it seems to be a random diversion from the slow growth and regrowth of the character.
But here's the thing: I don't actually care. Whether or not this accomplished its literary goals is actually somewhat beside the point to me. I just loved reading it. I would read it again. I hated putting it down and I looked forward to each time I could pick it back up. The voice is gimmicky and there's a jarring sense of displacement each time you start a new story. But within two or three pages, I was sucked back in. Each of the changes of voice works. Each of the characters, some of whom are heroes and some of whom are kind of terrible people, are still incredibly engaging. Each of the plots is interesting and well constructed and each one comes to a satisfying conclusion. Any one of these stories could stand completely on its own and still be worth reading, and they weave together in a fascinating way.
Mitchell is simultaneously a deep cynic and an optimist. He does not believe in systems, or rather, he believes that the systems we built exacerbate our own character flaws. But he does believe in individual humanity. Above all else, this book is a cry for us each to push back the encroaching darkness, with the knowledge that we'll fail eventually but with the belief that even the small victories are meaningful.
