Cloud Atlas in The Alternative Worlds

Jul 11, 2008 Terry rated it it was amazing

Shelves: post-apocalypse, favorites, historical-fiction, sci-fi

This book kicks my ass. I love it. David Mitchell is that guy who is able to take all of that airy-fairy po-mo jargon and marry it with actual story to produce something worthwhile. The premise behind the book sounds pretentious as all heck, but, to me at least, it isn’t that at all. Mitchell just tells six, count ‘em six, great stories with real panache. This makes _Cloud Atlas_ sound more like a short story collection than a true novel, but Mitchell pulls off making this both by having all of This book kicks my ass. I love it. David Mitchell is that guy who is able to take all of that airy-fairy po-mo jargon and marry it with actual story to produce something worthwhile. The premise behind the book sounds pretentious as all heck, but, to me at least, it isn’t that at all. Mitchell just tells six, count ‘em six, great stories with real panache. This makes _Cloud Atlas_ sound more like a short story collection than a true novel, but Mitchell pulls off making this both by having all of the stories nested within each other, both structurally and temporally, with backwards and forwards references to each other throughout. It really is an impressive achievement.

On top of that is the fact that there is something here for just about everyone, the novel starts off with a couple of stories that could be classed as historical fiction, moves into a murder mystery, changes to tragic farce, and then ventures into pre and post-apocalyptic sci-fi. Some stories are better than others, but they are all well worth reading. Despite the differences between each of the stories there is an overall thematic arc of how horrible people can be to each other mingled with the hope we are still able to experience in the midst of this that Mitchell is playing with and he manages to find a wide variety of ways in which to explore it. He is able to pack the novel with tragedy, action, humour and thoughtfulness.

Details on the stories follow. I'm not sure how much these descriptions might give away important details to new readers, so I've marked them as spoilers just in case. (view spoiler)

Each tale, except for the central/final one, is cut in half only to continue where it left off in the latter part of the book. It’s an impressive structural achievement that is made more impressive by the thematic and narrative hooks that link all of these tales together. All in all I highly recommend this book. It manages to be both entertaining and enlightening in just about equal measure and never loses its sense of story in the name of literary tricks regardless of the obvious care with which it was designed.
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Oct 20, 2009 Kara Babcock rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: utopia-dystopia, science-fiction, 2013-read, postcolonial, historical-fiction, owned, post-apocalyptic, nebula-nominee

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Cloud Atlas is not as difficult to read as some of its reviews led me to expect. I suspect they did this because it is difficult to review (and I’m even going to be employing spoilers, though few and far between, those who have only a minor aversion to them will be happy to know). I’m going to ramble for a bit about my reactions to the book versus the movie and ruminate on the structure of the novel. Then I might actually say some things about the book as a whole. No promises.

I read Cloud Atlas ...more

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Mar 11, 2010 Nicky rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: speculative-fiction, dystopia, crime, historical-fiction-alternatehistory

I really enjoyed Cloud Atlas. I knew about the 'matrushka doll' plot beforehand, which helped: if I hadn't, I'd probably have found it frustrating, which is partly what keeps me from giving the book five stars. The structure is a little gimmicky, but patience with it is rewarding, ultimately, I think. My favourite story was undoubtedly Sonmi's. My favourite feature of the book was the use of period-appropriate language -- the way each piece seemed to belong perfectly to the world it illustrated: ...more

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Nov 29, 2007 Sarah rated it really liked it

Shelves: speculative-fiction, mystery, fiction_non_genre

Mitchell's character Timothy Cavendish remarks "As if Art is the What, not the How!" Cloud Atlas is all about the How. Fascinating concept, memorable characters, well written (except for the sixth and central story, which was a bit of a slog). Definitely the first historical fiction-future dystopian-contemporary thriller I've ever read. ...more

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Apr 27, 2008 bsc rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own, science-fiction, favorites, fiction, read-2008, literary-sf

Incredible. Very well written, unique, and fun. All six intertwined stories were excellent, and I was pleasantly surprised that two of them had science fiction elements to them. One is a future society of replicant slaves and the other is about a tribe of post-apocalyptic natives trying to survive in the now primitive, brutal world.

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Aug 03, 2012 Daniel Roy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf, historical

Much has been written about Cloud Atlas's unique Matryoshka doll structure, and although it does explain in large part the appeal and staying power of the novel, it overshadows the elegance of the six novellas that form the meat of the book. Which is a pity, because some of them are truly excellent.

It would have been easy for this novel to devolve into a mere literary gimmick because of its structure; instead, the unique sequence actually manages to illuminate the six individual stories into som Much has been written about Cloud Atlas's unique Matryoshka doll structure, and although it does explain in large part the appeal and staying power of the novel, it overshadows the elegance of the six novellas that form the meat of the book. Which is a pity, because some of them are truly excellent.

It would have been easy for this novel to devolve into a mere literary gimmick because of its structure; instead, the unique sequence actually manages to illuminate the six individual stories into something that exceeds the sum of their parts. The first half of the book feels like running up a hill; there is very little payoff, and as soon as one story becomes enthralling, we are yanked away to witness a new beginning. But once the central piece is crossed, what follows is a pleasant downhill stroll through stories we have learned to miss in the meantime.

Cloud Atlas's meta-narrative is not as clever and awe-inspiring as, say, Paul Auster's The New York Trilogy. For the most part, the meta-story of Cloud Atlas appears through not-so-subtle links with previous stories in the form of hints of reincarnation, as well as unrelated references to the protagonist witnessing the previous story in the series. In some cases, these hints are so heavy-handed as to break the flow of the story with the gauche aplomb of a stage actor winking at the audience. But mostly through its central story and the first story that bookends the novel, a deeper, subtler theme emerges; it hints at the moral destiny of the world, and the struggle between compassion and greed. It traces the tenuous golden thread that links tragedies in the past to moral triumphs in the future. And in this, Mitchell's gambit succeeds and Cloud Atlas transcends its parts.

But the main reason Cloud Atlas succeeds is on strength of its individual stories. Each of them has its appeal, and all of them for very different reasons. While they were not all excellent, at least half were superb and well worth a read. The tale of Robert Frobisher was by far the best, showcasing a unique, wry, and witty voice, some beautiful insight into the meaning of music, and some amazing character exchanges with an old, curmudgeon music composer. Likewise, Mitchell's take on futuristic Seoul in An Orison of Sonmi~451 showed a masterful foray into hard science fiction, without the usual trappings of a literary author trying his hands at the genre. Somni's tale was engaging enough that I would gladly have read it as a standalone novel.

The other stories were not as stellar at these two, but they all found their own special ways to keep me interested. The Luisa Rey story felt less like a virtuoso take on the detective novel, and more like a pastiche. Likewise, the comical tale of Timothy Cavendish was funny, but was at odds with the dramatic tone of the stories that precede and follow it.

Cloud Atlas is a unique novel, both for its structure and for the masterful crossing of genres on display. It takes time to reveal its depth, but once it does, it's a satisfying tour de force, albeit an uneven one. Take heart as you make your way through the first half; once you reach the halfway point, the clouds will come into focus and reveal their depths. ...more

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Mar 02, 2008 Brooke rated it liked it

Shelves: 2015, science-fiction

Was expecting something much grander than what I ended up getting, based on the overwhelmingly enthusiastic reviews. I found it curious and interesting but not exactly compelling. The impression I was left with was that so much time was spent on the cleverness of the structure that not much was done with it, content-wise. I liked some of the individual stories much more than the others, and thought it was unfortunate that the beginning was such a boring slog - I really dreaded looping back aroun ...more

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Jan 29, 2008 Lee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, 2008

Another one I'm glad I stuck with. If you can get through the first couple of sections you will be compelled to finish. Wonderful but not for the faint of heart! ...more

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Jul 25, 2008 Lori rated it really liked it

Well, I'm a bit wary of starting this since I'm in the middle of a brilliant series but frustrated because I don't have the next book on hand. I've heard this is a wonderful book, but most definitely NOT an easy read plus it's long. Yet I want to become engrossed in something and not just kill time between books 2 and 3 of the Night Watch series, and only an equally brilliant book will take over my mind. So here we go! ...more

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Oct 02, 2010 Ryandake rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

oy! GR keeps eating my past reviews...

so this is my third time through with this book. i read it not long after it came out and thought it was a virtuoso literary performance, but not particularly deep.

the second time i read it, i still thought it was a virtuoso performance, but saw some depths in it i hadn't before.

this is my third pass (audiobook this time), and i am utterly blown away. if any kind of civilization still exists 100 or 200 years from now, they will be reading this.

i will try lat ...more

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