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Number9Dream (Paperback)

~ (Author) "We are both busy people, so let's cut the small talk..." (more)
Key Phrases: kaiten pilot, finny friends, writing bureau, Akiko Kato, Jupiter Cafe, Shooting Star (more...)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

David Mitchell's second novel, Number9Dream, tells the story of Eiji Miyake, a young man negotiating a hypermodern and dangerous Tokyo to meet for the first time his secretive and powerful father. Naïve and fresh from the Japanese countryside, Eiji encounters every obstacle imaginable in his quest, from his father's--and in-laws'--reluctance for the encounter to occur (Eiji is the bastard son) to fiery entanglements with yakuza (the Japanese mafia) to the overwhelming size and anonymity of Tokyo itself.

The novel is cartoonish in that Eiji has a vivid and violent imagination that fills the book with daydreams. When not chain-smoking, forlorn Eiji wanders the city following vague or cryptic leads that invariably dead-end or land him back among yakuza. Mitchell (author of the critically acclaimed Ghostwritten) has a smart, eclectic writing style that seems foreign, and the novel is well paced, but the yakuza encounters are too cinematic, complete with unusual torture and pyrotechnics. Moreover, in addition to Eiji's daydreams, the last half of the book contains excerpts from the diaries of his great uncle's World War II naval heroics and bizarre short stories that Eiji reads while hiding--the latter of which make for tedious reading.

Number9Dream is crafted from too many disparate components; it does not seem to be a full expression, but an overly crowded one. Readers will sympathize with Eiji and his search, but in the end will wonder what effect, if any, all the extraneous forces had on him. The book provides many fun moments, but ultimately it doesn't really add up to the sum of its parts. --Michael Ferch --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.



From Publishers Weekly

A young Japanese man's quest to find his estranged parents throws him into a bizarre world of mobsters, dream villains and cyber-tricksters in Mitchell's second novel (after Ghostwritten), a hyperactive, erratic sprawl of a book that begins when narrator Eiji Miyake finds himself out on his own after his twin sister, Anju, dies: his alcoholic mother had had a nervous breakdown and left her two children with their grandmother when they were very young, and they have never met their father. Miyake makes the move from rural Japan to Tokyo to stake out the company where his father is a powerful executive. But his search lands him in a nebulous yet dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with an equally powerful Japanese mobster who uses Miyake's need to find his parents to kidnap and threaten him in a series of malevolent and nearly inexplicable scenes. The most coherent sequence in the narrative takes place when Miyake is contacted by his grandfather, a former seaman who gives Miyake his diary, a poignant account of his stint on a submarine in the final days of WWII, as the Japanese frantically scrambled to deploy a new undersea warhead. Miyake eventually manages to meet his parents, but those potentially affecting scenes are overwhelmed and overshadowed by Mitchell's relentless tendency to spin out futuristic, over-the-top scenarios in which Miyake is whisked away into strange settings and then abused as if he were the hero in a deadly video game. Mitchell showed considerable promise in his highly acclaimed debut, but his sophomore effort is so chaotic that it will test even the most diligent and devoted reader. (Feb. 26)Forecast: Rave reviews from the British press, a Booker Prize nomination and a five-city author tour will give this challenging novel a needed boost.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks (February 11, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0812966929
  • ISBN-13: 978-0812966923
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #60,825 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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David Mitchell
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
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First Sentence:
We are both busy people, so let's cut the small talk. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
kaiten pilot, finny friends, writing bureau, perfect neck, untold tale, thunder god
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Akiko Kato, Jupiter Cafe, Shooting Star, Lao Tzu, Yuzu Daimon, Kita Senju, Zax Omega, Venerable Bus, Ueno Station, Uncle Yen, Queen Shrouds, Uncle Tarmac, Jun Nagasaki, Kozue Yamaya, Omekaido Avenue, Captain Smug, Holy Grail, Miss Imajo, Doctor Polonski, Kita Street, Amadeus Tea Room, Ice Maiden, Picture Lady, Ueno Park, Uncle Pachinko
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Number9Dream
47% buy the item featured on this page:
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$10.17
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Ghostwritten
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Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (50 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars 4 &1/2 stars, actually., June 28, 2004
This review is from: Number9Dream (Hardcover)
He is not Murakami, but fans of his will love Mitchell's nature to deal with dreams and reality as if they were interchangeable (the point being that there may be no difference at all). The author does not hide the fact that Murakami is a large influence in the novel. Mitchell seems to want uninitiated readers to seek Murakami out, knowing that he is only an acolyte.

If you love trippy novels that make the average, normal persons life seem somehow magical, than you will love this. My only advice would be to not give up on the book. The first 100 pages are quite difficult to get through; a lot of it is daydreaming and initially the difference between the dreams and reality is hard to discern.

I highly recommend this novel!
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Ambitious novel that stumbles under its own aspirations, October 17, 2002
By J. N. Mohlman (Barrington, RI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
This review is from: Number9Dream (Hardcover)
In "Ghostwritten" David Mitchell produced a novel that was stylish, engaging, and above all, clever. He created a fascinating portrait of the chance meetings that drive us on to our destinies; a task that in less gifted hands would be burdensome, but that was elegant and light in Mitchell's. Unfortunately, "Number9Dream" doesn't quite live up to the high benchmark he set with his first novel.

The book's primary problem is that Mitchell was far too clever for his own good. As the reader follows the protagonist, Eiji Miyake, on his search for this father, and his place in the world, they are buffeted by numerous asides, dreams, stories, fantasies, etc. Any one of these is extremely well written, but taken as a whole they make for a disjointed reading experience. Their purpose is to explore the interactions Mitchell considered so deftly in "Ghostwritten" but as they pertain to just one individual. However, the end result is a chaotic mishmash that is frequently entertaining, and always well written, but rarely satisfying.

That said, I wouldn't necessarily recommend against reading "Number9Dream", for one thing a sub par effort for David Mitchell is better than 90% of what's on the market today. Moreover, he makes some really interesting points about the nature of society and his ending (which I am sure many found abrupt) is a fascinating point about the fleeting nature of contentment, ambition and desire.

In the end, David Mitchell should be complimented for writing a novel that challenges the definitions of plotting and characterization. While the attempt falls somewhat short, it is still a noteworthy sophomore effort. If you don't mind a novel that makes you work a little, "Number9Dream" is an interesting effort from a young writer who is just hitting his stride.

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Be patient!, May 4, 2002
By Mark Delaney (Lyles, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Number9Dream (Hardcover)
First of all, most of the other reviewers comments are true, even the comments of those who hated the book. Here's the scoop: Number9Dream is brilliant and moving, occasionally violent and shocking, and almost never boring. The scenes involving "Goatwriter" are everything you might imagine from what you have heard. They are puzzling. They are a distraction from the main story. They are also quite funny in their way. Be advised that these scenes do not pop inexplicably out of the ether, as you might assume from the other reviews posted here. The main character, Eiji, is hiding from those who might kill him, and he stumbles upon the text of a story. To bide his time, he reads this story about Goatwriter. It's odd, but it fits. Most importantly, readers who wade through that short section will find they've enjoyed one of the most satisfying novels they've read in a very long time.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Mitchell's most difficult
This book was, for me, Mitchell's most difficult. The story line is disjointed, and goes from reality, to fantasy, to dreams, and back to reality. Read more
Published 1 month ago by S. Bidwell

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting dream indeed
"Number 9 Dream" by David Mitchell

Eiji Miyake, now 20 years old has left his sleepy island town and come to Tokyo in search of his father who has by choice remained... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Patrick A. Kellner

4.0 out of 5 stars very good deal
i got the book in 8 days after the order in a very good condition. i think to get a new book for about 9 bucks is a good deal.
Published 2 months ago by Olena O. Zlotnikova

5.0 out of 5 stars Life is rarely what we want it to be
I'm a bit of a fickle reader really, I am ashamed to admit that I rarely read books right through. It takes a quite exceptional writer to engage me through to the end. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Az

4.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as his other books.
Some truly amazing pieces (even the stereotyping yakuza parts were compelling), but Mitchell does not exhibit the control that he shows in different ways in Cloud Atlas: A Novel,... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Ouch!

3.0 out of 5 stars C'mon, it's fun
While this is no Cloud Atlas (a truly fantastic novel), Number9Dream is certainly a fun read. Obvious Murakami echoes; a bit too self-absorbed in its frenetic nature, sure. Read more
Published 22 months ago by SBO

2.0 out of 5 stars Better to watch Primetime Television than read this book
I am by no means a vehement critic of all things David Mitchell--on the contrary, I would count his "Cloud Atlas" as among the best books I have ever read. Read more
Published on October 14, 2007 by T.B. Gebe

3.0 out of 5 stars Style and finesse - but where's the rest?
David Mitchell doesn't need to see my eyebrow raising: he's an extremely well-established novelist, with homes in three different countries, who's considered to have a Midas... Read more
Published on October 13, 2007 by Juviebetfixer

3.0 out of 5 stars Half Baked And Disjointed But There Are A Few Bright Spots
The quaintly named Number9Dream by David Mitchell is a novel that lies uneasily between sleep and wakefulness and is unfortunately as half baked. Read more
Published on July 17, 2007 by Ubaid Dhiyan

4.0 out of 5 stars Mitchell the Adaptive Literary Expert
I've got problems enjoying books which've been translated from their original language. I gave up on Soul Mountain after 20 pages, quit on 100 Years of Solitude with 20 pages to... Read more
Published on March 19, 2007 by Alwyn Lau

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