The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/all/20060325174647/http://www.whatbooks.com/store/book/0375507256.html
Book Reviews
home Books Music DVD's Video Games Software Camera Magazines Kitchen contact
USA What-Books UK What-Books Canada What-Books
 
Topselling Books
Arts & Photography
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Computers & Internet
Cooking, Food & Wine
Engineering
Entertainment
Gay & Lesbian
Health, Mind & Body
History
Home & Garden
Horror
Law
Literature & Fiction
Medicine
Mystery & Thrillers
Nonfiction
Outdoors & Nature
Parenting & Families
Professional & Technical
Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Sports
Teens
Travel
 
 


View Larger Picture of Cloud Atlas : A Novel  by David Mitchell

Cloud Atlas : A Novel

List price: $14.95
Our price: $9.72
(You save: $ 5.23 )


Read more about Cloud Atlas : A Novel
Bookmark Cloud Atlas : A Novel for later

Cloud Atlas : A Novel
by Authors: David Mitchell

Paperback
Average Customer Rating:

my new favorite book

Every so often I read a good book, and then mentally file it away in my brain under "Good Books." Cloud Atlas is the first book I have read in a long time (years) that is not just *good* but so good that I have to go around telling people that they simply must read it. For the first time in my life, the second I finished this book, I immediately turned back to the beginning to start reading it again. (And yes, I loved it even more the second time.) After I finished it the second time I even considered reading it again, but decided instead to re-read Satanic Verses to see if Cloud Atlas should surpass it as my #1 favorite book.

The book takes on a very original six-part structure, consisting of six separate novellas with different narrators. The first five novellas are essentially split in half, the first halves being told in chronological order, an entire novella marking the center, and then the second halves of the novella being told in reverse chronological order. If you like books that play with structure, I think you'll find this quite lovely. Other people have described this book as a "puzzle," with each narration adding a bit more to understanding the overall story, even though the individual novellas are quite different. This is why the book is completely re-readable.

The first novella is the story of Adam Ewing, a priggish voyager on the high seas, traveling in colonialist times. The language here is a bit thick, reminding me of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, although it isn't without humor. I'll admit that this was a bit of a barrier to get "into" the book, and it might be something you want to start when you have a lot of time, not when you want an airplane read. The second novella tells the story Robert Frobisher, composer and 1930s badass (my favorite of Mitchell's characters). Frobisher instigates a parasitic relationship with an admired composer, becoming his amanuensis (yes, actual usage of that word!) Frobisher is delightfully conceited, the talenteder-than-thou artist type with occasional flashes of raw honesty that are endearing. Next we move on to Timothy Cavendish, a crotchety old ne'er-do-well running a vanity publishing company who eventually finds himself trapped in an odd situation. Half Lives, the next novella, tells the story of a reporter at a tabloid who gets entangled in a dangerous intrigue in the 1970s. The Orison of Somni 251, which follows, is a very 1984 futuristic narration with tons of fun diction (i.e. "corporacy"). The only novella not to be split in half is Sloosha's Crossin', which, yes, is written entirely in some sort of vernacular, which is slightly maddening, but when you get used to it, makes you realize that the attention Mitchell plays to diction is impressive. In many ways, this part of the book was the most engaging-while there are tons of 1984 type stories out there, rarely do we hear about what happens afterwards. It played out on the almost universal cultural story of societies rising, then falling, then starting to be rebuilt all over again. Then Mitchell goes back and finishes out each novella in reverse chronological order, which crazily enough, structurally made sense, and was played out in a way which made the themes of the book resonate.

Read this book. Please. You've never read anything before like it. Even though it is a massive book (530 pages) dealing with a complicated structure, multiple narrators, a larger overarching story (all handled well, by the way), it was really the little things that made love it. Narrators that rang true. Humorous writing. Amazing attention to diction. I particularly loved how the last part of the book closed on a theme which was simple, but handled beautifully. I'm very much looking forward to reading Mitchell's other novels.


Read more about Cloud Atlas : A Novel


A Pleasure to Read!

I choose this book for our book club and boy did I pick a winner! This book is amazingly well written and catches your attention from the first page. Everyone in the book club loved it! It covers all genres and is simply a beautiful piece of literature.

Read more about Cloud Atlas : A Novel


Amazing weird book

This was an unusual novel in that it really wasn't a novel but more of a series of essays ,written in different styles,and at the end difficult to conclude that there was a coherent theme. On the other hand, some of the writing was quite insightful and thought provoking.

Read more about Cloud Atlas : A Novel


Have you read this book? or have read a book by this author before? If so then please give the book a review so that we can advise other users on a books' potential.

Name:
Comment: 

Can't find the book you're looking for? Then try Google.
Google



Ghostwritten (Vintage Contemporaries)
Ghostwritten (Vintage Contemporaries)

The Line of Beauty
The Line of Beauty

Number9Dream
Number9Dream

Never Let Me Go (Alex Awards (Awards))
Never Let Me Go (Alex Awards (Awards))

Gilead: A Novel
Gilead: A Novel
HOME | USA STORE | UK STORE
DISCLAIMERSILICON CLOUD | WHAT MUSIC | MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS | CAMERA & PHOTO | KITCHEN | NEW PAGES
STEPHEN KING | TOM CLANCY | BILL BRYSONJK ROWLING | JOHN GRISHAM | DAN BROWN | CHILDRENS BOOKSAWARD WINNING BOOKS
NICK HORNBY | FOOD & DRINK | HOME & GARDEN | HORROR FICTION | FICTION BOOKS | HISTORY | HUMOR