Customer Reviews

The Cloud Atlas

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Memory, history, war, love, and the spirit world are woven together in a type of effortless dreamscape in Liam Callanan's beautiful The Cloud Atlas. As a work of fiction grounded in fact, the story is unsurpassed in its portrayal of the effects of the Japanese balloon bombs, which swept across the Pacific to the United States during the remaining months of World War 11. One of the best kept secrets of the War involved some 9,000 balloons made of paper or rubberized silk and carrying anti-personnel and incendiary bombs were launched from Japan during a five-month period, to be carried by high altitude winds more than 6,000 miles eastward across the Pacific to North America

Told in the first person as a type of confessional, the main protagonist Louis Belk is now an elderly priest who sits by the bedside of Ronnie a Yup'ik shaman. Ronnie is dying from too much drinking; he's a failure, a drifter who feels that all the knowledge of the world is contained in the skies, and "in an atlas of the clouds." As he watches his friend die, Louis begins to reflect on his own life as a top-secret bomb disposal specialist during World War 11 in Alaska. The focus of the story is on Louis's adventures in wartime Alaska where half-naked palm readers, rampaging drunken sailors, and lunatic captains rave in darkened Quonset huts. Where chaplains swear like stevedores and Eskimo women "can tease your entire past from your hand."

While in Alaska, Louis is placed under the command of the sadistic and bitter Captain Gurley - having already lost a limb diffusing his first bomb, and embittered at being stationed in Alaska - he has an obsession to discover and collect all such bombs in the future. As the novel progresses Gurley gradually descends into a type of madness. He fumes rages and spits, as though having an incurable, old-fashioned "Edgar Allan Poe-type of madness." Gurley also has leather-bound atlas filled with maps and neat Japanese script, which Lily a beautiful young Yup'ik wants.

Lily, born to a native Alaskan and a Russian father "a mother made of snow and the father made of fire" has a mysterious capacity to read people's lives; she works as a palm reader and prostitute. Louis gradually falls in love with her, before he suddenly realizes that she's already having an affair with Gurley. Lily is convinced that the atlas that Gurney possesses holds the secret words of her lost love. Though his encounters with Lily, Louis comes to question his faith, beliefs and his capacity to be a fighting soldier. As a Christian, Louis seeks to reconcile his religion with the chaos around him and through a miasma of fear he seeks answers with the local priest Father Pabich. The young soldier has spent his life trying to "get back to the precipice, chasing after intimacy and knowledge."

By setting the story in Alaska and infusing the narrative with local characters, Callanan does a terrific job of showing how the native Yup'ik live. And he shows, with a storyteller's thoroughness, the dichotomies and even similarities that exist between mythical native customs and modern Christian faith. Callanan also does a tremendous job of combining an historical narrative of a little known incident in war history, with a quite moving and emotional love story. The story takes many twists and turns as the triangle between Lily, Gurney and Louis is gradually played out with lives that are betrayed and secrets revealed. The Cloud Atlas is a rich, startling, and beautifully nuanced novel, and is a must read for any fan of historical fiction. Mike Leonard May 04.

It's refreshing to read a first novel by an author who isn't trapped in his own insular world. This isn't yet another novel about a confused twentysomething trying to make it in the big city. It's a big, brainy, heartfelt novel, set during World War II, that is unashamedly exciting and fun to read. Big ups to Liam Callanan.

I loved this book. It was haunting and moving, while at the same time telling a fascinating and exciting story from our country's wartime past. It's clear that the writer very thoroughly researched many elements of the novel, including its setting, Alaska, and the audacious attempt by Japan to float bombs to U.S. soil. But Callanan knows another subject even more intimately -- the human heart.

do yourself a favor and read this one. Everything about it: the setting, the characters, the language, the love and the tragedy are executed to perfection. I cannot wait to see what this author comes up with next because this is just a unique read. It makes you long for an adventure/experience such as that lived by the characters of the Cloud Atlas.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was initially attracted by the subject of balloon bombs and the Alaskan setting. The author's excellent research would have made this book worthwhile for just those two items; however, the plot and the characters are what made this such a treat to read. Callanan has done a masterful job weaving a rich tapestry of human emotion, religion, and mysticism against a fascinating historical background. I hope I do not have to wait too long for his next novel.

Picked this up just because its subjects were both of interest -- WWII and Alaska. Thought I knew everything about the former and always wanted to visit the latter. Turns out this is an intriguing and thoroughly researched novel about a little known but shockingly successful Japanese effort to terrorize the US in late WWII with paper "balloon bombs" -- set in Alaska -- a genuine American frontier. Its got history, mysticism, adventure, interesting characters and Alaska - a hard to beat combination. Highly recommend it!

Wow!!! What a tremendous book! I have read and re-read Cloud Atlas and have thoroughly enjoyed each and every page of this compelling novel. Cloud Atlas is as intriguing and bold as its Alaskan setting and masterfully twists the rigors of the Army and Catholicism with Yupik mysticism and the Northern Lights. Somewhere entwined therein lies the truth. Dare to soar with Cloud Atlas.

All the accolades I have read about Liam Callanan in the dustjacket of his literary debut, "The Cloud Atlas", are well deserved. This is one of the most impressive debuts in contemporary fiction which I've come across. Callanan deftly weaves an engaging story within another, equally memorable, tale. While elderly Roman Catholic priest Louis Belk watches his friend Ronnie, a Yup'ik Eskimo shaman, die, he begins to reflect on his own experiences as a U. S. Army soldier in the waning days of World War II. He stumbles inadvertently upon a new Japanese secret weapon and is sent to a top secret bomb disposal unit in Alaska. Its commander, Captain Gurney, is a brilliant cross between Conrad's Colonel Kurz and Melville's Captain Ahab, and like both, soon descends into madness. Belk is swept eventually in an intricate, dangerous love triangle with Gurney and Lily, a half Russian, half Yup'ik, fortune teller, with an uncanny ability to see the fate of others, while forsaking her own complex emotions and past lurking within her mind. Callanan is an engaging storyteller and a writer capable of crafting elegant, lyrical prose. I eagerly await reading more of his fiction.

This moving book takes place in majestic Alaska. Louis Belk is assigned to Alaska after completing his bomb recovery training. Not just ordinary bombs, these are "loaded" air balloons floating in from Japan. Almost as problamatic as the balloons is Louis's commanding officer, a tyranical lunatic who is set on being the one to crack the secrets of the balloon bombs.

This book is very well written, and exciting enough to keep you reading well into the night. The characters are interesting. Although I gave the book five stars because it is so readable and hard to put down; I did find a few flaws with it. Most notable is that the characters and their motives aren't always fully explained. But despite that, this book is still an excellent read. It reminded me of The Kite Runner; if you liked that book, you'll probably like this one too.

Cloud Atlast is the story of a WWII Bomb Disposal agent who is sent to Alaska in the wake of Japanese hot air balloon-bombs making their way across the Atlantic at the end of the war. While there he falls in love with a native Alaskan fortune teller and has various underming experiences with his sadistic commanding officer. The story is told in a series of flashbacks that mostly deal with his developing psuedo-feelings for the girl, and his increasingly intense experiences looking for these bombs and dealing with his seargant.

The book is a misfire because it is meant to be a character piece where the different elements, (i.e. the absurdity of war, unexpressed love, beautifull nature etc.) add up to an greater and complete whole. Unfortunately I felt the book fell flat and never reached its potential. The main character was well developed but turned out to be boring, and uninspired. His submissiveness and naitivity got old after awhile as I never felt that he really grew from his experiences. Also his narritive was uneven as his penchant for melodrama resulted in way too many "life changing" experiences which in effect just diluted the important moments towards the end of the book. In addition the atmosphere of the book didn't work for me as I never felt any emotional ties to any of the characters.

There are some scenes where the book really works and is laugh out loud funny. These are mostly Catch 22 meets Apocalypse Now types of encounters and usually involve the mail character and his insane/absurd seargent.

Bottom Line: In the end this book was a let down and frequently boring. I never emotionally connected with the characters and I really can't recommend it.