Number 9 Dream

by David Mitchell

book data

1,256 ratings, 3.89 average rating, 149 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		26%
4		43%
3		24%
2		4%
1		1%

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published

February 11th 2003 by Random House Trade Paperbacks

binding

Paperback, 416 pages

literary awards

2001 Booker Prize Nominee

isbn

0812966929 (isbn13: 9780812966923)

description

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...more

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07/14/08

Ben rated it:

(review of isbn 0375507264)

bookshelves: fiction, japan, read-2008

Read in August, 2008

Somewhat disappointing, but only because I have such high expectations of Mitchell.

This is a coming of age tale set in Japan. A boy sets off to Tokyo to find the father he has never known. It contains all the Mitchell elements, but just not quite at the same level of his later novels. I have not read his first novel, Ghostwritten, yet so I don't know if it is similar in that respect. However, it is still a very well written and enjoyable book...though I'll admit the plot gets a tad f...more

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2 comments

01/21/08

Micha rated it:

Read in June, 2007

recommends it for: seekers of meaning.

“Maybe the meaning of life lies in looking for it.” “Who is right? Individually, we all are. Generally, none of us are.”

I have always been one to look for meaning in everything I do. Call me an idealist or a fool, I NEED to know that there is more, so much more. David Mitchell's book has given me hope to believe that there still is meaning in today's world. As the naive narrator, a youth from the country, journeys into the heart of the fast-paced, overwhelming Tokyo, he learn...more

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10/26/08

tara rated it:

bookshelves: 2009

Read in January, 2009

number9dream was nearly as awesome as cloud atlas--and still a 5 star novel.

this book demonstrates one of the things i love most about mitchell--his ability to write in a number of different voices convincingly within the same novel (hardboiled/cyberpunk/actiony, the weird and whimsical goatwriter stories, the diary of a japanese soldier in WW2), which he accomplishes here without sacrificing the clarity and honesty of his narrator's voice. eiji miyake is one of the most likeable...more number9dream was nearly as awesome as cloud atlas--and still a 5 star novel.

this book demonstrates one of the things i love most about mitchell--his ability to write in a number of different voices convincingly within the same novel (hardboiled/cyberpunk/actiony, the weird and whimsical goatwriter stories, the diary of a japanese soldier in WW2), which he accomplishes here without sacrificing the clarity and honesty of his narrator's voice. eiji miyake is one of the most likeable protagonists i've ever met!!

i love how mitchell messes around with fantasy/dreamery/memory/fiction/reality, so much that in the end i still can't necessarily sort out what was really "real." eiji starts out as a self-consciously unreliable narrator, tacitly admitting he's led the reader on by presenting his fantasies as fact. but in the end, it's unclear whether he might be the subject of someone else's fantasy... he acknowledges that he's imagined himself to be the dream of the real eiji miyake... but does acknowledging that make it untrue?? once you realize you're dreaming, is it still a dream? the dream/fiction/fantasy sequences are laced with double-edged clues about imagination and reality ("How do you smuggle daydreams into reality?" "My imagination is my worst enemy--no, that is not true, but the comfort it gives me is never warmer than tepid.") ... i sensed even more crazy existential shit lurking beneath the surface (the lost property office? anyone?) but i can't figure it out without going all High School English right now, and i stopped reading this book with a pen after page 50 or so because it was just getting too insane.

much has been made of the comparison between mitchell and murakami, particularly in this book (#9 Dream/Norweigian Wood, etc.), and people have pegged it as "murakami lite" or a "murakami wannabe" sort of thing. i tend to like mitchell's books MORE than murakami--it's like, similar themes, but less abstruse and oppressive. i also think mitchell's writing style is so much more colorful and pleasing than murakami's, down to individual words. my boat is particularly floated by "mandolineering gondoliers" and "zombie spawn abseil to earth" (the NYT calls mitchell's prose "comically overripe"--but funnily enough, that review is titled "Zombie Spawn Descend to Earth"...) and i was totally tickled by the linguistic-schtick in the goatwriter tales: "I daresay you had another writing dream, sir, like the time you dreamed you wrote Les Miserables. You very nearly took Victor Hugo to court for flagellism."

i have decided that mitchell should write some children's stories. he has a tongue-in-cheek way with words and sounds that rings of Carroll, Seuss, and Snicket: "Don't you dare clomp your mucky mudluggers on my clean carpet!" and "the tracks end in this m-mulch m-mound of Stiltonic stench" ... and it should come as no surprise that i got a good giggle out of this one: "'An unwashed rodent?' verified Goatwriter. 'Bigger than a mouse? Aha! We m-may conclude, thusly, that the thief is a d-dirty little rat! We m-must apprehend this scallywag and teach him a thing or two about copyright law!'"(less)

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07/24/07

Tori rated it:

bookshelves: loves

Mitchell is definitely one of my new favorite persons. I'm no good at describing other's writing styles and therefore restrict myself to "enviable" and "perfect". Mitchell has great capacity for capturing specific voices (and time periods, which is wonderfully evident in Cloud Atlas) and for noting detail in a way that fascinates and entertains. He tends to drop the reader in the middle of things and doesn't necessarily wait for them to catch up, but it's fun picking up the m...more Mitchell is definitely one of my new favorite persons. I'm no good at describing other's writing styles and therefore restrict myself to "enviable" and "perfect". Mitchell has great capacity for capturing specific voices (and time periods, which is wonderfully evident in Cloud Atlas) and for noting detail in a way that fascinates and entertains. He tends to drop the reader in the middle of things and doesn't necessarily wait for them to catch up, but it's fun picking up the metaphorical puzzle pieces.

Eiji reminds me a bit of the narrator in Black Swan Green; like that novel, this one is a coming of age story with a very imaginative main character. Eiji is trying to assert his own place in the world and distance himself from his past. Previous events in his life appear to have been acted upon him; he was not a force in his own life. Rather than take responsibility for himself, he lays blame on other agents, like his mother for his childhood and a local deity for the death of his sister. The novel follows his attempts to find his father, which Eiji thinks will be the beginning of a new and purposeful life. Naturally his search doesn't go as planned, but he begins to learn how to be his own prime mover.

There are many metaphysical, dream-like aspects that lead one to question which events are complete truth and which are colored by Eiji's imagination. The goatwriter portions, while amusing, I found a distraction and made a lull in the story arc slower than it needed to be. The dreams in the final chapter I'm still working out; what is their relationship with the ending pages? What does Mitchell actually want you to believe happens? I favor optimism, but then I probably ought to read it again. I believe his dreaming is a way for Eiji to shape his life, even create meaning as he's dreaming it (which might be reaching back to that whole goatwriter thing again--the writer existing in his own story, making up his own existence as he goes--who knows)? His name means "incant world" for a reason. Depends on just how metaphysical you want to get...

A standout: "Maybe the meaning of life lies in looking for it". And "You look for your meaning. You find it, and at that moment, your meaning changes, and you have to start all over again." What's Ai's role as teacher? I should definitely read this again.(less)

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01/07/09

Alan rated it:

bookshelves: disappointments, novels

another Mitchell I read because nothing else was to hand (at the time) and wondered why I bothered. As I said with Black Swan Green he can write well but he's too tricksy and caught up with his own virtuosity or something.. I know many friends who like him, but he's not for me.

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09/29/07

Liz S. rated it:

bookshelves: 2007, book-club

Read in October, 2007

I probably shouldn't be giving this any stars because I didn't even finish it. This was a book club read and none of us got through it, not even the most die-hard David Mitchell fans. I guess this is proof positive that a knack for writing will not save your book if you have nothing particular to say. As one person in our group described it, reading this book is like watching a musician play his scales very, very well---but after a while, you just want to hear him play an actual song for a susta...more

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07/12/07

Andrew Tibbetts rated it:

(review of isbn 0340739762)

bookshelves: english

Read in August, 2001

recommends it for: fans of originality

David Mitchell is the novelist whose NEXT book I'm most excited about. What will he do next? He's such an architectural virtuoso- the complicated forms his novels take are a palpable delight. But the meat of the material is strong, too. It's not empty filigree. This book is especially powerful. It has a very simple plot- a young man from a rural Japanese island comes to Tokyo to look for his birth father. No matter how outrageous the literary hijinks it performs, the book never betrays the fierc...more

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05/17/07

Martha rated it:

bookshelves: own

Read in February, 2008

Another fantastic book from David Mitchell. This one is told by 20-year-old Eiji Miyake as he begins the search for his father in Tokyo. Mitchell uses day dreams, diaries, letters, short stories, phone calls and more to tell the story. I suppose you would call it a coming of age tale, but it is like no other story in that category. Mitchell gives Eiji such a terrific voice and he paints such a vivid picture of Tokyo and the characters that live there. I highly recommend it!

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02/28/09

Scott rated it:

Read in March, 2009

Mitchell too often describes things not for the sake of precision, artistry, or world-building, but rather for the sake of entertainment. Much of his inventiveness and linguistic strength—and the guy can write like fiend—seems to be deployed for entertainment purposes. Similar to Tom Robbins in this regard. Robbins has some inventive metaphors and language, but none of it is to be taken as serious description of phenomena.
You’ll notice that Mitchell’s mode is a constant slight exa...more Mitchell too often describes things not for the sake of precision, artistry, or world-building, but rather for the sake of entertainment. Much of his inventiveness and linguistic strength—and the guy can write like fiend—seems to be deployed for entertainment purposes. Similar to Tom Robbins in this regard. Robbins has some inventive metaphors and language, but none of it is to be taken as serious description of phenomena.
You’ll notice that Mitchell’s mode is a constant slight exaggeration of reality. Nothing is kind of big but it’s brontosauran; a woman’s neck isn’t just graceful but gut-wrenchingly beautiful; an insane character will dutifully broadcast amusing off-the-cliff insanity every time he’s whisked on the page. Kind of like Dickens (strained comparisons will be a theme throughout this review).
Like your standard "thriller" or other "page turner" (or so I've heard), he uses a plot device in N9D right out of Titillating Plots 101: Have two plot lines going (usually back-and-forth in a rigid pattern), and interrupt each plot line right before a particular built-up event is about to be resolved, filling the reader with suspense and making them wait twenty or so pages to “find out what happened.” For readers like me who never care about what happens, it’s just aggravating. The same strategy is used on TV relentlessly, of course: right before a commercial break you will be given a tantalizing plot-bit, stay tuned etc.
Also I feel like the juxtaposition of the two plot lines in N9D is a little clichéd. The flashbacks are neat chunks, cleanly demarcated from the present-day-drab-world story line (in these bifurcated plots it’s often Eden on one side and humdrum monotony on the other). You’re either in one or the other; there isn’t any rich mingling of times such as you get with Proust, for example, in which one occurrence sets off an echo-reflection of another time, which in turn might avenue into another discursive branch of events altogether before meandering back. In Proust memory is integrated with the present, and vice versa; each creates/informs the other.
Anyhow, I stopped reading this around page 100. I’m a little baffled by the extent to which this book annoyed me; I really got into Cloud Atlas. I think I’ve just had it up to here with fiction, or at least 99% of it.
(less)

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06/07/07

Audrey rated it:

Read in June, 2007

I was really disappointed by this book. It was well-written but it couldn't compare to Cloud Atlas, or even Ghostwritten. David Mitchell is a fantastic writer, but it felt like I was reading Haruki Murakami. If I had wanted to reread Kafka on the Shore or The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, I would have. This was Mitchell's second effort, so maybe he was in a sophomore slump? I still have high hopes for Black Swan Green.

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12/27/08

Mari rated it:

bookshelves: literature-fiction

Read in January, 2009

recommended to Mari by: Don
recommends it for: Mitchell and Murakami fans

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

My favorite line comes from an inmate telling a psychiatrist that he (the inmate, that is) is God, "The worst part is, if I stop imagining every last atom it will all go poof! Solopsist Doctor, has only one l."

[Dr.:] Polonski frowns and changes the angle of his notebook.

This is the third Mitchell book I've read, and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. It departs from his usual style of multiple narrators and follows the main character, Eiji Miyake in his search for his ...more

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05/25/09

Lisa rated it:

Read in May, 2009

I love Mitchell's writing style. It's not too 'in-your-face', but well described and gripping. This is the second book I've read by him and I appreciated the COMPLETELY different story-lines. He made the main characters in each book so understood to the reader and - in turn - you liked (& respected) them..... and liked the book.

This story was more of a thriller, which made it more of a page-turner. I think more specifics could have been said about the 'meaning of life' question t...more

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05/12/09

Jenny rated it:

bookshelves: read09

Read in June, 2009

While I'm not sure I like this as much as Ghostwritten, I really enjoy reading David Mitchell. number9dream is a crazy ride through dreams and events that may or may not be happening, all surrounding the 20 year old Eiji Miyake as he looks for his father in Tokyo.

This had moments that made me laugh, particularly one where Eiji has witnessed something horrendous but then it is possibly having to do karaoke that puts him over the edge. It is all these little things that make Mitchell s...more

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05/24/09

Eric rated it:

Read in June, 2009

I actually didn't finish reading this book. I gave up half way through. Maybe I'm just experiencing David Mitchell overload, having read both Black Swan Green and Cloud Atlas within a few months, but I didn't care about this character. I didn't care about the plot, and just as I was starting to get familiar with who was what, the book starts jumping around (which I enjoyed in other of Mitchell's books, but, now I'm seeing it only has a tried and true method of his, not something unique). I gre...more

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02/21/09

Paula rated it:

bookshelves: novels

I am such a fan of Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas and Ghostwritten that I had to read the novel he wrote “between.” Sigh! Number 9 Dream just doesn’t measure up to its predecessor nor its successor. Unlike the nested narrative structure of the other two novels, Number 9 Dream unfolds in a fairly linear fashion, albeit with much digression and many parallel fantasies. The core tale is that of a quest (a search for a father only to find a mother) and the coming-of-age of Eiji Miyake, a 20 year o...more

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10/08/08

Christoffer rated it:

(review of isbn 0340747978)

bookshelves: 5-stars, books-i-own, fiction

Read in October, 2008

Eiji Miyake has moved to Tokyo in order to track down his father who abandoned Eiji and his twin sister Anju. He searches high and low, inside his head and outside for clues as to where he could find him. His quest leads him down many side roads where he stumbles across a pianist with the perfect neck, yakuza bosses, a witch, a hacker, a cat and many more.

This book sucked me in from the start and kept me there up until the much unexpected end. Sometimes not much happens and still a w...more

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08/27/08

Mister Nurenberg rated it:

Read in July, 2008

I am a huge Japanophile, so my standards are very high when reading a book set in Japan, with all-Japanese characters, written by a gaijin (Westerner). Yet unlike Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha, David Mitchell really nails it. The characters in this book FEEL like Japanese people, the settings feel like Japan, and how the characters react to their situations feels utterly appropriate. I read this book having just spent some time in Japan (my fifth trip) a week earlier, so his Tokyo descr...more

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09/16/07

Martine rated it:

bookshelves: british, modern-fiction, postmodern

Read in January, 2007

Number9Dream is the most coherent and accessible of Mitchell's first three books. Which is not to say it's an easy read. Its endless switches between different levels of reality (real life, dreams, daydreams, video games, stories within the story, you name it) can be quite confusing. But still, it's one narrative (as opposed to several) with one clearly defined protagonist: 20-year-old Eiji, who leaves his small and remote hometown for Tokyo to find the biological father he has never known. What...more

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08/01/07

Jess rated it:

bookshelves: greatfiction

Read in July, 2007

recommends it for: Anybody who likes Japanese literature, or a fast-paced fantastical adventure

I found this book to be much more cohesive than Mitchell's first novel, Cloud Atlas which seemed more like a compilation of (very compelling) short stories, unnaturally forced into novel form.

Though it touched on many of the same themes, and employed a similarly fragmented style of Cloud Atlas, this kaleidoscopic story transitioned naturally, and created the impression of order, sense, and even beauty from the violent chaos of each story-section.

I guess the "glue"...more

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04/08/07

Eli rated it:

Read in October, 2006

I could never tell if what I was reading was supposed to be a little bit true or entirely fantasy, but fantasy on different levels. Levels of daydream, dream dream, video game reality, organized crime film reality... whatever. I think it's the switching between different types of realities/fantasies that's hard to navigate... you get used to one and allow for certain possibilities as a result, and then the next section there's a totally different set of rules. It's a bit hard to follow and the n...more

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