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September 08, 2006

Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

"Cloud Atlas" is a bold experiment. There are sections of complete genius which you will never want to stop reading; these make it all worthwhile. However, there are also parts that will frustrate and make you wish they would end right away. I think that for different readers, the 'good' bits and the 'bad' bits will actually be swapped. Let me explain.

There are actually six short stories in this volume, all connected in different ways and with recurring themes. They start with a long sea voyage in the 19th century, and move forwards in time into the distant post apocalyptic future. The narrators have very different styles, with stories in the form of diaries/letters/interviews and first person narrative. The structure is that we get the first half of five stories, the whole sixth story, then the second halves in reverse order, like this - a-b-c-d-e-f-e-d-c-b-a. I really like the idea, but I remain unconvinced that it was successful. The links were very slight between the stories. I'm not sure that the whole was greater than the sum of it's parts, and I'm struggling to persuade myself that this is realistically a novel at all, and not just a collection of short stories.

In the beginning, it's very archaic and formal writing and I found this very hard going, in fact, I almost gave up. The more recent sections were an improvement. For me though, the tales from the future were completely compelling. However, the final story is told in a made-up dialect language. I know some people were completely turned off this, but I found it simple having already been through similar reading exercises with Riddley Walker and Feersun Ennjin. I also of course love science fiction, and this was good science fiction, as was the penultimate story of the clone Somni 451. The same people who dislike the future stories, will probably be much more interested than I was by the sea voyage.

There is an overall message about mankind's inhumanity to man, and his disregard of the planet, and this is somewhat satisfying. But like eating a meal made of many different small courses - you may be full by the end, but there will be some dishes you'd like to have had more of, and some you will want to have done without.

So what we have is a very mixed bag, and an ending that is actually in the middle of the book. This novel will amaze you with it's dexterity and scope, and the sheer quality of the narratives. Recommended reading, but be prepared for a challenge.

Posted by se71 at September 8, 2006 01:30 PM

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