Certain books (SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, SHATTERDAY, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST, etc.) and authors (Nevada Barr, Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Stephen King, John Irving, Ann Tyler, Neil Gaiman, George RR Martin, Jorge Luis Borges) have so impressed me that I've felt compelled to share the book with other readers and/or located everything ever written by said author. CLOUD ATLAS and David Mitchell turned out to be that sort of book, and that sort of a writer (I've purchased all of his other novels as well).
I should also begin by admitting that even for an unreserved, omnivorous reader like me, making headway into this novel as was bit tough. But ONLY because the first chapter is written in diary form, and in the 18th century style of English (at times, it reminded me quite a lot of Herman Melville's seafaring novels, so accurate was the mimicry. And after getting comfortable with that style, it was easy to finish the final chapter (the end of that narrative) when I got to it.
Mitchell's Fourth novel, CLOUD ATLAS (perhaps his masterpiece), is - like his first - a collection of the different stories which are all inter-connected. In this case, Mitchell has used Italo Calvino's IF ON A WINTER'S NIGHT A TRAVELER and THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY by Thornton Wilder as, respectively, the foundation and inspiration for his fourth novel.
"The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing", the first narrative - set in and around the Pacific Rim, during the mid 1800s - follows the fate of Adam Ewing. He witnesses a variety of cruelties visited upon darker skinned people, most of whom are enslaved in one way or another, but does nothing to intervene, believing this is the natural order of things. But his voyage back home - to California, and his young wife -- finds him growing mysteriously ill. He is seen to by Dr. Henry Goose, another traveler of Ewing's acquaintance. But the good doctor's ministrations don't seem to be helping, and a stowaway - a black islander, who turns out to be a crack sailor, whom Adam kindly helps out - helps save Adam Ewing's life, thus opening his eyes and heart.
"Letters From Zedelghem", the second narrative, set during the early 1900s, in Belgium, follows bon vivant and aspiring musician, Robert Frobisher, who has taken on the job of being an apprentice to a renowned, but mostly retired, classical musician. Frobisher's tale is told in epistolary form: letters from the young bisexual to his long-time lover, Rupert Sixsmith, recount the story of his days with Composer Ayrs, and his sexually frustrated wife. There follows a tale of frustration (Ayrs thinks Frobisher is neophyte with no skills) lust (Ayrs's wife seeks out Frobisher for sexual fulfillment - and her daughter is chasing him as well), wonder (Frobisher begins writing his "Cloud Atlas" sextet) and longing (Frobisher continues to express his undying love for Sixsmith). In this narrative of creative wonderment and romantic longing, it is revealed that Frobisher was born with a distinctive birthmark: one that looks like a comet; and he also mentions his frustration at having stumbled across an old journal - written by one Adam Ewing - which is only half there.
"Half-Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery" is the third narrative. It's told in third person, and set in the 1970s in California, featuring Luisa Rey, daughter of a famous investigative journalist of the 1960s, follows the basic tenets of a mystery novel or story - because it is just that. Luisa (who sports a birthmark shaped like a comet. During the course of writing an article for a tabloid type magazine, Luisa finds herself I the company of a man named Rupert Sixsmith. The older man happens to be scientist in the employ of a company which is committing corporate and ecological crimes. When Sixsmith tries to open up to Luisa, he is targeted for termination - and when Luisa learns the secrets Sixsmith was keeping, she finds herself in the sights of the companies hired killers as well.
"TheGhastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish", the fourth narrative - a boisterous, comedic farce, recounted in first person - takes place in England and centers around vanity publisher and knight errant, Timothy Cavendish. Set during the present - with tongue firmly in cheek - it weaves the hilarious tale of Cavendish's fortunes after one of his customers - an ex-con in London who writes a badly-written tell-all entitled, "Knuckle Sandwich" - is arrested for murdering a critic who loathed his book. Cavendish reaps the financial benefits when the book becomes a bestseller. But the brother of his (now favorite) writer come calling, looking for their own "piece o' the pie"), demanding thousands of dollars, which leads Cavendish - the knight errant - to take it on the lam, resulting in quite a few laugh-out-loud scenes.
"An Orison of Somni-451", the Fifth narrative, recounted as transcripts of an interview, is set around the mid-part of the 21st (or perhaps 22nd) century, in Korea. A fabricant - basically a clone created to live in servitude - is on trial for participating in illegal activities which are considered crimes against the state. Her story - of revelation, escape, and rebellion - eventually becomes the stuff of legend and myth.
"Sloosha's Crossin' An' Ev'rythin' After", the Sixth narrative, is set in Hawaii after an apocalyptic event. It is another first person narrative - told in a style of "broken English" which recalls the old SF classic, RIDDLEY WALKER) - recounting what happens when Zachary - a decidedly non-heroic, but basically good-hearted man - encounters (along with the surviving members of his tribal village) a certain prescient (a human who still has the power of advanced intellect and technology) who is in search of something that will affect the future of all humankind. But first he and the prescient, named Meronym, must survive a gauntlet that will take them past packs of murderous Kona savages (war-like cannibals).
After the narrative of the sixth section is complete, each of the previous narratives - which all stop at a sort of cliffhanger type ending - begin again, in descending order: narrative 5, then 4, then 3, and so on. It's a narrative conceit that both keeps the reader in suspense and works to further illustrate how each seemingly separate narrative is joined with the others (in the same manner that seemingly separate lives are either joined together or affected by one another).
This narrative technique works resoundingly well, and only adds to the depth, drama and wonder of author David Mitchell's variously moving, and variously entertaining, stories, as well as the over-arching, overall theme: that every human being, no matter how seemingly insignificant, contributes to the future and (in the end) the success or failure of his family, community and species. And each of the narratives affects the others. For instance, Adam Ewing's journal is read by Robert Frobisher. Robert Frobisher's lover, Sixsmith, helps Luisa Rey (and she shares a distinctive birthmark with Sixmith's long-dead lover). At one point, vanity publisher Cavendish is reading the manuscript of a mystery novel entitled, HALF-LIVES: THE FIRST LUISA REY MYSTERY, written by someone named Hilary V. Hush. Fabricant Somni-451 gets to watch part of an old "Disney" (as future beings refer to films) that recounts the comedic misadventures of an old man named Timothy Cavendish. And Zachary and all of the surviving far-future humans pray to a goddess named Somni. Thus reiterating the idea that no matter how small, or how big, a being, their life affects the rest of the world in ways one can't imagine.
As Adam Ewing observes: "...what is any ocean but a multitude of drops?"
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It's Complicated
The chapters are interesting. This book is very in depth and it's complicated for me to follow along. I decided to read this book again to better understand this.
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- Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2013
- Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2012
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- Georgiana89Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 18, 2014
A perfect blend of clever structure and compelling stories. Not always an easy read but a truly brilliant one
- Emma290497Reviewed in Germany on November 12, 2012
Rorschach test for the advanced
