Cloud Atlas is the third novel by British author David Mitchell. It was published in 2004. It won the British Book Awards Literary Fiction award and the Richard & Judy "Book of the Year" award. The year it was published, it was short-listed for the Booker Prize, Nebula Award for Best Novel, and Arthur C. Clarke Award, among other accolades. Unusually, it received awards from both the general literary community and from the speculative fiction community. A film adaptation directed by the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer, and featuring an ensemble cast, was released in 2012. Cloud Atlas is a work combining metafiction, historical fiction, contemporary fiction and science fiction. Its text is interconnected nested stories that take the reader from the remote South Pacific in the 19th century to the island of Hawai'i in a distant post-apocalyptic future. The title was inspired by the piece of music of the same …
Cloud Atlas is the third novel by British author David Mitchell. It was published in 2004. It won the British Book Awards Literary Fiction award and the Richard & Judy "Book of the Year" award. The year it was published, it was short-listed for the Booker Prize, Nebula Award for Best Novel, and Arthur C. Clarke Award, among other accolades. Unusually, it received awards from both the general literary community and from the speculative fiction community. A film adaptation directed by the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer, and featuring an ensemble cast, was released in 2012.
Cloud Atlas is a work combining metafiction, historical fiction, contemporary fiction and science fiction. Its text is interconnected nested stories that take the reader from the remote South Pacific in the 19th century to the island of Hawai'i in a distant post-apocalyptic future. The title was inspired by the piece of music of the same name by Japanese composer Toshi Ichiyanagi. The author has said that the book is about reincarnation and the universality of human nature, and the title references a changing landscape (a "cloud") over manifestations of fixed human nature (the "atlas"). It is not a direct reference to a cloud atlas.
I liked following the different stories and bouncing back and forth between them. I'm not totally sure what the thread that wove them all together was, but the individual stories kept me reading and the book as a whole was fun to read. Having seen the movie before reading the books, I had already formulated pictures of what all the characters looked like, which was probably helpful since there were many to keep track of.
I liked following the different stories and bouncing back and forth between them. I'm not totally sure what the thread that wove them all together was, but the individual stories kept me reading and the book as a whole was fun to read. Having seen the movie before reading the books, I had already formulated pictures of what all the characters looked like, which was probably helpful since there were many to keep track of.
I can start this review by saying I was blown away, what a ride this novel was! It contains six unique stories that are interconnected. Every story is set in a different period, written in a different styles, like six different novels. We start with a 19th century seafaring story set in the Pacific, move on to a letter-style story set in Belgium in the 1930s. From there we move on to a political thriller with a compelling female protagonist in the 70s, a tragicomedy of a fairly unlikeable British guy trapped in a nursing home in our era, to fully blown dystopia set in Korea, to post-apocalypse in Hawaii, and then all the way back.
Like most dystopia, ultimately a depressing read, as the interconnected strands of story show that humans are pretty much terrible, and thirst for power, greed, it destroys, until there's almost nothing left. And even …
I can start this review by saying I was blown away, what a ride this novel was! It contains six unique stories that are interconnected. Every story is set in a different period, written in a different styles, like six different novels. We start with a 19th century seafaring story set in the Pacific, move on to a letter-style story set in Belgium in the 1930s. From there we move on to a political thriller with a compelling female protagonist in the 70s, a tragicomedy of a fairly unlikeable British guy trapped in a nursing home in our era, to fully blown dystopia set in Korea, to post-apocalypse in Hawaii, and then all the way back.
Like most dystopia, ultimately a depressing read, as the interconnected strands of story show that humans are pretty much terrible, and thirst for power, greed, it destroys, until there's almost nothing left. And even then, it goes on.
The travel journal, the lover's letters, the thriller, the comedy, the sci-fi, and the after-collapse; six novellas in as many different genres and voices. A historic and dystopic vision of human nature, reminding us how it doesn't matter the century or the level of civilisation - humanity has always been about the strong crushing the weak. And yet, with some extraordinary human treats, how it is possible for the weak to succeed, even if posthumously, and with the help of sometimes a whole community.
There are a few gems for learning for those involved in struggles against the powerful nowadays.
Unlike other books ... this book is excellent and every one should read it.
The travel journal, the lover's letters, the thriller, the comedy, the sci-fi, and the after-collapse; six novellas in as many different genres and voices. A historic and dystopic vision of human nature, reminding us how it doesn't matter the century or the level of civilisation - humanity has always been about the strong crushing the weak. And yet, with some extraordinary human treats, how it is possible for the weak to succeed, even if posthumously, and with the help of sometimes a whole community.
There are a few gems for learning for those involved in struggles against the powerful nowadays.
Unlike other books ... this book is excellent and every one should read it.
The travel journal, the lover's letters, the thriller, the comedy, the sci-fi, and the after-collapse; six novellas in as many different genres and voices. A historic and dystopic vision of human nature, reminding us how it doesn't matter the century or the level of civilisation - humanity has always been about the strong crushing the weak. And yet, with some extraordinary human treats, how it is possible for the weak to succeed, even if posthumously, and with the help of sometimes a whole community.
There are a few gems for learning for those involved in struggles against the powerful nowadays.
Unlike other books ... this book is excellent and every one should read it.
The travel journal, the lover's letters, the thriller, the comedy, the sci-fi, and the after-collapse; six novellas in as many different genres and voices. A historic and dystopic vision of human nature, reminding us how it doesn't matter the century or the level of civilisation - humanity has always been about the strong crushing the weak. And yet, with some extraordinary human treats, how it is possible for the weak to succeed, even if posthumously, and with the help of sometimes a whole community.
There are a few gems for learning for those involved in struggles against the powerful nowadays.
Unlike other books ... this book is excellent and every one should read it.
"Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell is an overwhelming book. It plays upon all your senses, using its interrelated stories to tell a large story of human society and existence that is creative, witty, and engaging on multiple levels.
One of the most challenging aspects of writing a review for this book is to say what it is about. The novel presents six interrelated stories in six different styles (a journal, a series of letters, a pulpy mystery novel, a stream-of-consciousness memoir, testimony of a condemned prisoner, and an oral story). The stories have common elements that are sometimes obvious but sometimes hidden and only become clear as the stories unfold. Each story is a virtuoso performance and read like different creative works all together.
The central theme of the stories (if there is one) is that "human hunger creates civilization, but it also destroys it." It is fascinating to see …
"Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell is an overwhelming book. It plays upon all your senses, using its interrelated stories to tell a large story of human society and existence that is creative, witty, and engaging on multiple levels.
One of the most challenging aspects of writing a review for this book is to say what it is about. The novel presents six interrelated stories in six different styles (a journal, a series of letters, a pulpy mystery novel, a stream-of-consciousness memoir, testimony of a condemned prisoner, and an oral story). The stories have common elements that are sometimes obvious but sometimes hidden and only become clear as the stories unfold. Each story is a virtuoso performance and read like different creative works all together.
The central theme of the stories (if there is one) is that "human hunger creates civilization, but it also destroys it." It is fascinating to see this theme play out in different time periods and with different individuals in different locations, testifying to the idea that no matter how much our contexts change, the human experience remains the same.
I've added this book to the top of my favorites list for a few reasons. First, its sheer creativity and its narrative power. Second, reading such diverse and divergent stories was a sensory experience that engaged my mind in unexpected ways. Third, it is a book that I found myself noting memorable and well-written quotes and passages. Fourth, it is a book that I plan on returning to again in the near future (well worth multiple reads). But finally, it is now one of my favorite books because it has much to say about our society and what it means to be human. You will not look at time, history, culture, and society in the same way after you read this book.
NOTE: I have seen the 2012 film of the novel and I also recommend it as well. The novel is more detailed and more finely drawn but the film will, I believe, become a landmark in the development of cinema. And like a good film adaptation, it does not attempt to copy the book word for word but provide an "impressionist" view of the narrative, making the film its own creature.
"Souls cross ages like clouds cross skies, an' tho' a cloud's shape nor hue size don't stay the same, it's still a could an' so is a soul. Who can say where the cloud's blowed from or who the soul'll be 'morrow? Only Sonmi the east an' the west an' the compass an' the atlas, yay, only the atlas o'clouds."
This remarkable novel is a combination of six very different stories that cover a vast period of time. Its theme of migratory souls and the exploration of what it means to be human and the quest to live a meaningful life make it both compelling and serious. However, there is also comedy. The earlier letters from Robert Frobisher are hilarious, as is the story of Timothy Cavendish.
I highly recommend this book.
"Souls cross ages like clouds cross skies, an' tho' a cloud's shape nor hue size don't stay the same, it's still a could an' so is a soul. Who can say where the cloud's blowed from or who the soul'll be 'morrow? Only Sonmi the east an' the west an' the compass an' the atlas, yay, only the atlas o'clouds."
This remarkable novel is a combination of six very different stories that cover a vast period of time. Its theme of migratory souls and the exploration of what it means to be human and the quest to live a meaningful life make it both compelling and serious. However, there is also comedy. The earlier letters from Robert Frobisher are hilarious, as is the story of Timothy Cavendish.
