i think listening to the audio book for sloosha's crossing really helped me grasp the dialect. the audio book for this novel is fabulous, with different talented voice actors for every story
I totally agree with the dialect, however after I thought about it, it added to the confusion that Zachry was having. As in you were just as confused by the language as he was with all the things Meronym said/did.
I read this maybe more than 10 years ago and still remember every section well. My favourite sections were 2, 5 and 6, but I enjoyed all the sections. It seems to me that there are a lot more of these multi-narrative multi-style novels now and I wonder whether the popularity of Cloud Atlas played a part in this. As much as I love the book it's a bit like when you have some strange buffet where you have a small portion of curry, pizza and lasagne all on the one plate - everything is good but as a whole not quite as satisfying a proper meal. For your next Mitchell it depends on whether you are maybe tired of the multi-narrative for now, in which case Black Swan Green or Jacob de Zoet would be best, or if you want more of the same then Ghostwritten or Bone Clocks.
Interesting observation with the multi-narrative novels. You're right, I feel like the market is pretty saturated with them these days. While I enjoy them when done well, sometimes I just want to read a single perspective, you know? Thanks for the suggestions on where to go next with Mitchell!
So glad you read it and agree with a lot of your assessment. the dialect of the future story takes forever to acclimatize. Pretty good experience I'd say, an experience worth reading at least.
number9dream is still far and away my favorite david mitchell novel (just favorite novel full stop), but i thought this was pretty good too. i managed to catch three references to number9dream: frobisher escaping his hotel, zizzi hikaru in the sonmi chapter, and the hen on the plinth near the end. supposedly there's a couple references to ghostwritten but i haven't read that yet
Totally agree with you, to me it was very frustrating to admire something so much but be unable to actually enjoy it. Have you checked out Arcadia? I just made a review on it, I think they could be somewhat similar. Loved your review! 👍🏻
I really want to get to Arcadia! It intimidated me when I heard it drew heavily on The Chronicles of Narnia and the His Dark Materials series, since I have only read the first novel from each. I have since heard it is accessible even if you haven't read those, and I'm definitely intrigued. Thanks for the suggestion!
+unmanagedmischief you can totally read Arcadia without having read those...., however, if I may, read His Dark Materials instead!!! It's just wonderful ❤️
I agree with everything you said, the middle section threw me off too. I read it years ago, but my favourite was the young guy who worked with the composer. Go Bone Clocks next. Its by far my favourite, and follows the same character-led novella style.
Aw, thanks! I definitely recommend it, but I do wonder if I would have liked it had I read it when I had more free time. I sort of wish I did. All those years in college where I had a ton of free time, Cloud Atlas was sitting there, unread.
Oh yes timing is so important with books. I read East of Eden when I was reading too many other books and while I totally loved it I think if it had my full attention I might count it as one of my all time favorite books, but as it is, it's just a great book to me.
I have been eagerly waiting your review because Cloud Atlas is one of those books that I am dying to read but incredibly scared of it :) Thank you for your honest opinion and I can't wait to experience the book :)
When I saw the trailer for the movie (it had not come out yet) I was fascinated and decided to read the book before I saw the movie in the cinema, but the book is still sitting in my shelves, unread, and I refuse to watch the movie before... I don't know why I'm lazy to get to it, but I will! ;) thanks for reviewing it.
