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Cloud Atlas
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[Buddy Reading] Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (Participants in the first post; Eavesdroppers: Angus, Mae, Monique, Tricia) Start Date: Sept 1
Yes! Tuloy na tuloy na talaga ang buddy read! :)My experience when I read Cloud Atlas last February was like this: I was so frustrated with the first chapter, The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing, because of its archaic/old English prose. Since it is in the form of journal entries, and Adam Ewing writes in the manner of the circa 1800s, I am sure you guys will also find it difficult to understand the text. (No, it's not like the LOTR-ish archaic English. It's a little more challenging than that.) But when I was through with the first chapter, and I was onto Letters From Zedelghem, and then read about Mitchell's favorite theme - interconnectedness of lives - I just couldn't.stop.raving. :D
So. There will be parts when you will feel that the narrative is dragging, or that Mitchell isn't exactly making sense about stuff. Whenever, at any point, you start to entertain these thoughts, just go on. Don't dwell too much on the idea and just continue, even if you feel like it didn't really make sense, because it will, promise. :)
The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing is a very challenging chapter, but since it's the first, I know how much it will set the tone for the entire book. But please give it a chance. Once you get past this chapter, you will be hooked. :)
Ayan na! Ayan na! Yay!If I remember correctly, there are 11 chapters/parts, with the 6th chapter twice as long compared to the others. So I don't know, maybe take a couple of days or so per chapter (double that for the 6th) depending on how fast you want to go?
And I agree with Atty. Monique. There are things in first few chapters that will not make a lot of sense but just push through. Ang sarap lang ng feeling when it comes together later on. :)
KD, Doc Ranee, and I did a buddy read of this last year. Initially kasama sina Jzhun and Aldrin, but they flaked out and had other affairs, hahaha. Unfortunately, it was one of those threads deleted by The Extinguisher (parang wrestling lang, hahaha). What we did is what Mae suggested, but we actually read the middle chapter in one day (it's 80+ pages, me thinks).What I suggest, since there are a lot of participants and eavesdroppers, is to read each part in 2 days, lalo pa't medyo mahirap basahin ang Pacific Journal (I actually found Sloosha's Crossin' harder). The Letters of Zedelghem ay baka may mahirapan din (because it reads like a classic novel). The rest ay madali na lang.
And tama, do not dwell on things you didn't understand. Every loose end will tie up in the end. :D
Angus wrote: "KD, Doc Ranee, and I did a buddy read of this last year. Initially kasama sina Jzhun and Aldrin, but they flaked out and had other affairs, hahaha. Unfortunately, it was one of those threads deleted..."I saw bits from that thread but since I wasn't very interested in the book back then, di ko na tinuloy. Haha. :)
Monique/Mae/Angus: your descriptions remind me of how we described Jellicoe last May :) So 2 days per chapter should be okay? What do you think, initiates?Reev: will add you to the list! Start bugging Fully Booked, medyo mahirap maghanap ng copy ng book :)
Saturday talaga ang start hindi Monday?Okay okay.
Started on a new book this morning pero I'll try to finish it before September the 1st. #MyBodyIsReady
Hindi naman, hahaha! Bashing is limited to online discussions. Bawal ang physical brawls! (At hindi ka naman nagpapakita, so you shouldn't worry about that. :p)
Eavesdropping (raises hand!)Sloosha is the hardest read, most challenging to decipher, not in context but in actual prose. We had classics in our F2F discussions, I think you will survive the first chapter.
Angus, I share the same sentiments regarding our "lost" thread, we had loooong, detailed summaries and thoughts/after thoughts per chapter in there. (insert cue to start singing: Kung maibabalik ko lang...)
Reev, I think Bookay Ukay is currently selling this for 200 pesos, not really sure. You may want to check their FB page
Doc: Oo nga! Bagung-bago pa lang ang Buddy Reads noon, at bawat participant ay career! Summary + interpretation galore!
KD: Gusto ko makita actually sino sino tatagal. haha knowing me...mabagal ako, so baka maiwan nila ako. :P
Tina, oo nga. Parang War and Peace yan. Maraming nag-attempt, maraming di nakakatapos.Blue, oo. Nadoble ang reading time mo. Tsaka pag medyo hapon ka nang mag-post, parang wala ka nang masabing di pa nila nasabi haha.
Di ko pa rin naranasan ganyang karami. Excited na ako for you.
in fairness naman sa book, parang compilation siya ng short stories so iba-iba ang feeling after every story. Kung na-bore ka sa iang part, babawi ka naman sa iba. Paunahan na lang ng pagpick-up ng clues to link the stories to each other. (kasi nga novel sya, so dapat connected to each other pa rin)
Reev wrote: "Hunt for a paperback copy: Day 2."Ang hirap talaga maghanap! Mapipilitan na lang ata akong mag ebook... O_o
Umm, dahil addict ako sa versions...I noticed that there are narrations/lines in the Kindle and Audio version that were not in the bound copy. Most of the discrepancies were on the 5th chapter. (dahil nandoon pa lang ako, hehehe)
Hi Tina, kindly add me on the list.Come Saturday, let's see what the fuss is all about.
Oh yeah, the resident basher is here. Nyahaha!
Yaaaay! I don't want to spoil you with my favorite parts pero nasabi ko na yata haha! Anyway, ang nakakatuwa about dyan kay Mitchell, hindi nageeffort sa connection between the stories. Pag new story, talaga new story lang at no kaartehan to connect from the last story. (Kaya naguluhan ako ng bonggang bongga). Will eavesdrop talaga since until now, naguguluhan pa din ako sa Sloosha's na yan. EXCITED!!! Hinay-hinay lang sa thread, late ako magbackread haha
Angus wrote: "Yes please! Thanks! Ano pang meron? (Abusado na naman ako, haha!)"Hmmm, so far, mga Man Booker 2012 Longlist in epub ang meron. In audio, The Fault in Our Stars and Water for Elephants.
I refuse to read the ebook version of this :) Habol ako once my book arrives on the 18th! Goodluck sa atin :)
JL ang tagal pa! Pero sige, fine, ikaw bahala. :D Maria: welcome to the initiation. :))
2 days pa. Gusto ko na rin magstart. Pero antay pa. Bwelo lang muna ako sa In Cold Blood para sa Saturday uninterrupted reading ako. :)
Guys and girls, this starts tomorrow! #whatisexcited Kung sino man mauna mag-post over the weekend -- you know the drill: keep the spoilery parts inside spoiler tags! :)
Heh! I lent my book to a friend but luckily, binalik niya. I can sneak a peek while eavesdropping! (Or may gustong humiram?)
Ranee wrote: "Eavesdropping (raises hand!)Sloosha is the hardest read, most challenging to decipher, not in context but in actual prose. We had classics in our F2F discussions, I think you will survive the fi..."
Thanks! Will check.
K.D. wrote: "Hiramin mo na lang sa akin, Reev?Nakakakita ako nito sa FB mga two months ago. P75-115."
Thank you K.D. Sige while waiting for my copy. San ko po pwedeng daanan? :)
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Books mentioned in this topic
The Fault in Our Stars (other topics)Water for Elephants (other topics)
Suicide (other topics)
The Knife of Never Letting Go (other topics)
Okay, first: if you'll see the topic name, I didn't put the names of the participants simply because I think we're too many. Like, way too many compared to the normal buddy reads. So I'll just list the participants here, based on whoever said "aye" in my review. :D
Participants/Initiates:
Tina, Aaron, Ingrid, Blue, JL, Alona, Beejay, Louize, Reev, Maria
Eavesdroppers/David Mitchell Fans Club Members:
Angus, Mae, Monique, Tricia, Ranee
Anyone else who wants to join either group, just post so I can edit.
Reading plan:
Honestly? I have no idea what's the best way to read it, so I will ask our fans club members/eavesdroppers to tell us how. So...Angus/Mae/Monique/Tricia, help? :DAs suggested by the eavesdroppers/fans club members, we will follow a 1 chapter : 2 days reading plan. For the long chapter, we can do 4 days. Let's just keep each other on track here. :)
Also!
We're planning to have an informal offline discussion for Cloud Atlas with members from Flips Flipping Pages before the movie shows. This is set tentatively by end of September/early October, but I will still check with them so we can find a perfect schedule. :D For sure it will be after F2F9 and before the movie, but I have to make sure it won't clash with our F2F10 and their scheduled discussion too. :D Informal lang -- more of "hey let's all squee about the book!" thing.
We start September 1! Ready, ready? :)