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Cloud Atlas: A Novel (Modern Library (Hardcover))

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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Modern Library (November 20, 2012)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 528 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 081299471X


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 11


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.4 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.57 x 1.39 x 8.33 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #99,859 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #54 in Calculus (Books) #92 in Epistolary Fiction (Books) #374 in Metaphysical & Visionary Fiction (Books)


#54 in Calculus (Books):


#92 in Epistolary Fiction (Books):


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Top Amazon Reviews


  • Its a Palindrome!
I wanted to write a learned, articulate review of Cloud Atlas but I can’t. Some have reviewed this book here in beautiful prose that I can’t duplicate. I’m just not that smart and scholarly. But I know what I like and I didn’t like this book very much. First off, let me concede that the author David Mitchell is brilliant. His knowledge of the world and history and culture(s) is vast. I think he would be a perfect dinner guest; no doubt he would be the center of attention and delightfully entertaining. But this book is bogged down with his intellect. It’s far too manic and disjointed for me. It’s like watching Robin Williams playing Hamlet free-style. His characters’ digressions on the most mundane incidents and observations are far too frequent and distracting. I kept feeling that I have better things to do than continue with this book. And I don’t see the “deepness.” There are references of reincarnation but they are vague and seemingly unimportant to the story. I have to admit that I jumped around a little and didn’t actually finish the middle chapters (if you understand my “palindrome” reference, you’ll understand). So, “Aha! How can you give a decent review if you haven’t read the whole book?” Precisely. This isn’t a decent review: I didn’t read the whole book. Turns out I do have better things to do. Edit: Oh and another thing: for a man as learned as David Mitchell, I found his moralizing a tad sophomoric (not that I disagree with the spirit). For example, the Henderson Triplets (blue eyed and “gilded”) seem to serve no purpose other than to be racist straw men for Luisa Rey to demolish with a few pointed retorts. Much like Dixie Carter’s character in “Designing Women” as she allows the buffoonish white racist to go on, as if commiserating with a fellow racist, only to savagely turn on him with a devastating put down, to the delighted howls from the studio audience. No argument with the sentiment, just the cringe-worthy triteness of the scene. Or Preacher Horrox’s dissertation on “Civilization’s Ladder” (Dixie, enter stage right!!). Again, trite and predictable. And finally (spoiler alert) if you want the moral gist of the book, just read the last two pages. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2018 by Bill from Philly

  • Too clever for its own good
A frustrating read. While there were parts that were clever, other parts were irritating and annoying. In the end, I was left unsatisfied. Clearly, I'm in the minority on this one, but I will endeavor to explain why. The book takes a nested narrative structure, a bit like the dream diving within dreams scenes in Inception (or the "Lawnmower Dog" episode of Rick & Morty), but with different characters. We get the first half of each story and then proceed on to the next until the sixth story, whereupon the order is reversed until the end. In essence, they were cliffhangers with varying levels of intensity. This was annoying. Not only did I have to wait hundreds of pages to resume the earlier stories, but each transition into the new story felt like I was starting over. And on the resumption of the stories, I had to go back to the first halves to recall some of the characters and plot points. The first half of the first story ended so abruptly—mid-sentence—that I thought I had a corrupted file on my Kindle! Each story is told with a different style. We have journal entries, personal letters, a standard mystery thriller manuscript, a fourth wall breakdown, an interview, and a campfire tale. Each story is referenced by the one that comes after it, while clever, it opens up a potentially fatal flaw. The fourth story refers to the third as being fiction, but with all the references to the two preceding stories, I'm left wondering how much that story's "author" made up and what she incorporated from the "real" world of this novel. I have too many questions and to properly ask them would be spoilers, so I won't. I appreciated the changing of the narrator's voice from one story to the next. There was a good deal of playing around with language, too. You've got Victorian English in Adam Ewing's journal. The letters are written with Frobisher's shorthand abbreviations, formal continental vocabulary stocked with antique words, and sprinkled with French and Latin. After the two contemporary stories, Mitchell subjects language to further modifications. Our Korean tale is filled with shortened words, the phonetic spellings taking over (ex- to x-, -ight to -ite). And with it being a corporate dictatorship, brand names are substituted for everyday words (ford for car, nikes for shoes). But I absolutely hated the Huckleberry Finn dialogue style used for the last story. While certainly a possible outcome, it made the last story practically unreadable for me. The characters, while they were all unique, were a mixed bag. I had trouble making a connection with or caring about most of them. Sonmi and Luisa Rey were the two I rooted for (honorable mentions to Sixsmith and Napier). Frobisher was a foppish fool at first, but improved with time. Ewing was dreadful. Don't get me started on Zachry. Cavendish was the worst. He was an insufferable jerk in the first half of his story. While he was still an ass in the second half, there was enough growth in him to warrant finishing his story. I'm going to give Mitchell credit that he can write in any style he chooses, but I'm not sure about the choices he made here. Journals and letters, interviews and fireside storytelling, just don't work for me these days. The first two are dated. The latter two aren't strong enough to carry entire stories. One hundred page interviews require a recollection of minute details that only computers have, but apparently Sonmi did. Fireside storytelling for 70+ pages, especially in that dialect and without any back and forth conversation, is tiresome. I don't want to go into too much about the messages or the reincarnation bits. I'm too tired and have spent too much time finding the right words for my complaints. Quite simply, I found the reincarnation thread to be lacking, and the execution of the messages heavy-handed and pedestrian. No, I haven't seen the movie, though that's probably less likely now. Maybe with the right direction and proper editing, these stories will reach their full potential. 2.5 stars begrudgingly rounded up to 3. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2019 by DED

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