The Sword and Laser discussion

I'm about 35% into the audio book right now. I'm in the middle of The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish and I think close to the transition to the next story.

The first section of Adam Ewing's story was definitely a bit on the tougher side due to the language, I found myself having to rewind more often that usual to figure out exactly what was happening.

Unfortunately, I'm not really feeling the audiobook for this one. I think the narration in and of itself is great - but I think the varying writing styles make it difficult to follow as a whole in audio format. The first two being epistolary they didn't seem to flow right for me. I flipped through the book in the library to get a feel for what the format was like in print, and I'm almost dreading the Orison story in audio form.

Story wise I'm liking it though and I have to say I think it's impressive to be able to pull off so many different styles and dialects in one novel.

Cavendish is my favorite story so far... it's got a strange sense of humor that I'm enjoying.

My thoughts on the first part, Adam Ewing's story. (view spoiler)[As Vicky said the language was something else. Rich, old fashioned, filled with words I haven't seen in a while, but also quite readable. I was surprised and fascinated by the story of Maori and the Moriori, which I knew nothing about at all. Ewing's enlightened view towards the other races seems a bit too far ahead of its time. The sudden ending has left me very curious... (hide spoiler)]

Jeff wrote: "My thoughts on the first part, Adam Ewing's story. [spoilers removed]"

I work with a New Zealander and as I was reading during my lunch break I was able to ask him if he knew anything about the Moriari. He knew quite a bit and was able to confirm a lot of the history from the first story.

I've just passed the 50% mark and while I'm struggling with this particular story a little, it picked up speed and I am SO CURIOUS about the second half of the novel.
I also like how the stories are interconnected so far. Sometimes it's just a little hint at the previous story, sometimes one story ties two or even three of the others together. Very cool.

Confession time, I have tried to read it before and lemmed it quite early on. I am really glad that Jenny encouraged me to read it, again. I am about 40% in and I am really finding it interesting. It's just dawned on me why it's a sword and laser book. Yes, I know I am slow, blame the muggy weather. I am looking forward to knowing where we go from here. BTW (view spoiler)[ anybody else spotted the allusions to a certain food chain in 'An Orson of Sonni" (hide spoiler)]

It has one of the most challenging first chapters in the history of books.

Victoria (vikz writes) wrote: "BTW anybody else spotted the allusions to... in 'An Orson of Sonni""
Yes, when you are done with the second half of the "An Orison of Sonmi~451" chapter see spoiler here:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/9... ;)

Finally, I've made it through Sloosha's Crossin' An' Ev'Rythin' After
That was by far the most difficult chapter, both because of its language and because of the plot. There were parts that I found brilliant, followed by parts that bored me to death.
But I passed the 60% mark and am now back with Sonmi. Very curious to see how all the stories play out.

I'm in the chapter mentioned above and I agree it's tough, mostly because of the language (so far). This is one chapter I'd probably find easier in audiobook...I'm finding myself reading aloud in my head to make send of the dialect.

That all said, I'm loving this book now that I'm really into it (just shy of halfway through). I am bummed I have to go to bed so I can get up for work tomorrow, as I've been sucked in and want more.

terpkristin wrote: "I'm in the chapter mentioned above and I agree it's tough, mostly because of the language (so far). This is one chapter I'd probably find easier in audiobook...I'm finding myself reading aloud in m..."

It was the language of this chapter that was the highlight for me. I just thought it was hilarious. And one liners like "tell-it-true my voice was jus’ a duck fart in a hurrycane" left me inconsolable.

I spent 8 years of my childhood in Papua New Guinea - So I'm fluent in Pidgin English. But I also like to think I'm fluent in Broken English - which was what the locals used if they wanted to impress you with there grasp of English. I have another Australian friend who spent time in New Guinea as well, so when we get together we like to yabber in Broken English for a laugh. This chapter reminds me of that.

David Sven wrote: "terpkristin wrote: "I'm in the chapter mentioned above and I agree it's tough, mostly because of the language (so far). This is one chapter I'd probably find easier in audiobook...I'm finding mysel..."

I found that chapter difficult but it worked. The language was appropriate to the setting.

Victoria (vikz writes) wrote: "I found that chapter difficult but it worked. The language was appropriate to the setting. "

Absolutely.
In fact, every story so far with its own unique style was perfectly consistent with the world it was set in. I really liked how in Somni's story (view spoiler)[certain things are only referred to by brand names, such as sony or nikes (hide spoiler)].
I'm back with Somni now and can't wait to find out what David Mitchell has in mind for all of his characters.
I have no idea how this book might end. And I like it that way. :)

Michael wrote: "~ 12h into the 19,8h audiobook, I finished the "Sloosha’s Crossin’ An’ Ev’rythin’ After" chapter. Yes, the language of this chapter is as tedious as the title suggests and I didn't much care for it..."

spoiler comment
I agree that the linguistic patterns are a challenge when you first read them. However, it seems to be a means to demonstrate the decline in education in pocket remnants of 'civilization', as well as the effects of small 'hill-billy style' community isolation over time.

David Sven wrote: "Aloha wrote: "The only thing is I don't know how it can revert to tribal days considering that Hawaii and its original inhabitants have been irreversibly modernized"

I think that advancing technol..."

I agree, it is cool that he ties the patterns of a non-industrialized future community to that of those that existed (v few still exist in any practical sense) in pre-industrialized nations. Spoiler Alert. As to the question of how the community could revert, it does clearly state that people had what sounds like radiation poisoning, and the communities were dying off and disappearing all over the globe. So they lost population as well as technology, which does more damage.

David Sven wrote: "Aloha wrote: "80% in. I'm at the second half of the Luisa Rey part, and it is a snoozer. I've read better thrillers. It doesn't have the flair of the good thriller writers out there. I can't wa..."

oh, I think I might have missed the 'aha'. Do clarify, if you would pls.

I'm also almost done. 87% and somewhere in the second half of Robert Frobisher's letters.

I still love how the stories bleed into each other but if Mitchell doesn't have a big surprise or a shocker waiting for me at the end, I'll be disappointed.

I finished a few days ago and I really enjoyed it. Each of the stories separately left a bit to be desired, but I was constantly impressed with how the stories weaved together and Mitchell's ability to write in so many varying styles and dialects.

The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish and An Orison of Sonmi~451 were my favorites. Letters from Zedelghem is up there too, but mostly for the musical imagery as I found Frobisher rather... annoying.

I'm definitely planning on re-reading this at some point (as a book and not an audiobook) as it seems like one of those books that has a lot of subtleties to pick up on in a re-read.

Dinah wrote: "oh, I think I might have missed the 'aha'. Do clarify, if you would pls. "

I had a few so I'm having trouble remembering what I was referring to exactly. Perhaps it was (view spoiler)[ Frobisher's foreshadowing that he and Sixsmith would meet again in the next life (hide spoiler)]

Finished it and not quite sure what to think. Part of me really admires its cleverness, all the different styles etc but it feels less than the sum of its parts somehow.

Loved the Sonmi story, I think that is where its at its strongest. Think by sticking to his 123454321 structure he made the ending a bit weak.

But then I try to read something else after this and it kind of feels shallow in comparison. So it must have really affected me in some way....

Not sure whether I just liked it or loved it - hmmm - got me stumped

One thing is for sure - no way can you make this into a halfway decent movie even in 3 hours!

Read my review at http://vikzwrites.wordpress.com/2012/....

I just finished this on the plane today and really enjoyed it. There were some slow points and some points I probably didn't need, but the body of work was really good...at least, that's my impression now.

I'll mull it over a bit more and write my review this week. I have 60+ S&L emails from the last 3 days...sooo much to get through!

Did anyone else notice that according to the S&L Calendar, Cloud Atlas is going to be the October book? Guess it'll be a good time for me to re-read it as a book instead of listening!

Yeah, that was kinda sneak peaked about two episodes ago. I think it's going to roughly coincide with the movie.

I suspect that even though I just read it, I may listen to the audio version during the October "club read" section...depends how I'm feeling after my surgery.

Hmm - given that a lot of folks struggled with Tigana and Hyperion, I predict a 50% lem rate if this is the club pick. I liked this but I'm not sure how accessible it is and its only borderline sci fi in my eyes (2 out of 6 storylines), I would classify it more as a contemporary fiction novel.

I'm surprised that this would be the mainstream pick

I enjoyed it overall despite the novel’s structure. Not to get into too much details but I kept thinking that the overall narrative structure did not make sense and when I did think about it I had trouble suspending my sense of disbelief. It’s a very dark ride and found myself rather melancholic while reading the book.

I agree with Ian this book is going to be Lemmed like nobody’s business.

The Incomparable podcast is going to discuss it as well.

well i think i'm 90% finished, back to Ewing again and i gotta say i really

liked it, pretty solid even though it could've been great! i guess in the book a lot of things are unclear but the fact i read the movie's IMDB page and see that they are casting some actors for more than one part depending on which era we are reading made more sense to me (more than one soul gets reincarnated perhaps?)

i still have some questions but i think i'll wait till october discussions start off!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQFAPe...

new trailer !

First review of the film:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylis...
Having read the book, the flaws pointed out by the reviewer are quite comprehensible.

Without reading that review, as I was writing my review of the book, I had to wonder how they could pull it off as a movie. There's just too much going on that's deeper than the plain text of the book, it's got potential to really confuse viewers and make them think they're watching mini-movies...

Just finished. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. It's certainly one of the more unique books that I've read in a while. This book needs to stew in my mind for a while. Looking forward to October discussions

Found this link on reddit showing all known multiple character roles.
http://www.empireonline.com/features/guide-to-cloud-atlas/p2

Going to be getting started late, but I may get it done before the end of the month.

I finally finished. I enjoyed it, and I have a lot to say about it. But, I guess I should wait until October.

But it's not an easy read. I join others in predicting a high rate of Lem.

Anyway, thank you Jenny for suggesting it as a renegade read.

I finished my reread yesterday, so here is my updated review. I'll say more later, but if anyone wants to come to a SecondLife book club discussion about it tonight (10 pm est) send me a private message. We always come dressed as characters, hehe...

I loved this book! Specific thoughts and questions:

(view spoiler)[I don't think it was necessary to imply that the main characters were all the same person reincarnated, or whatever the implication was. It would have been just as cool if they were just all connected by coming into contact with some artifact. Like when Frobisher discovers Ewing's journal, that was cool. For me, it doesn't add anything to say that they had the same birthmark. It might even take away.

My least favorite chapters were the Luisa Rey ones, probably because they're the closest to a contemporary setting and written in the style of a movie thriller. Even those were not bad though.

The central "Sloosha" chapter is the hardest to adapt to reading, but it's definitely the masterpiece of the whole thing. It's what elevates this book to be something special.

Re: Hawaii and Hawaiians: I assumed that the main characters in "Sloosha" were descendants of Sonmi and her followers, and therefore possibly of Korean ethnic origin. In Sonmi's chapters, the fabricated slave people (I've forgotten the proper terms already) are told they get to go to Hawaii when they retire. The Hawaiians in "Sloosha" worship Sonmi. So I figured that at some point in the Sonmi revolution (which we don't see), her followers decided to set up a colony there. Is that crazy? (hide spoiler)]

I want to strangle Second Life's scrawny little neck, with its monthly mandatory updates. Sorry, work related.

Tamahome wrote: "I want to strangle Second Life's scrawny little neck, with its monthly mandatory updates."
TIL that Second Life is still around.

I agree, David, on your least favorite chapters. Those chapters kept it from being a full 5-star book for me.

I like your take on Sloosha, David, an interesting thought.

I also wanted to say that the author himself has said the reincarnation thing; I personally wouldn't have taken it that far from reading it.

The author is wrong!

I have to agree, the author is wrong, the book is better without reincarnation.

Renegade interpretation!

Tamahome wrote: "The author is wrong!"

Unreliable narrator?

Unreliable narrator?

LIKE.

Unreliable author?

Tamahome wrote: "Unreliable author?"

In my case often, Unreliable reader.

I liked the other David's (I'm the real one) connection with the Somni clones and the Sloosha characters. I missed that.

In my online book club (YES in SL who cares, :P) we all agreed that the reincarnation tattoo was unnecessary and a little ridiculous, actually, but that didn't stop us from enjoying the book otherwise.

Reading between the lines of the movie reviews (Toronto Film Festival, for example), I think the movie script took that idea and really went for it, so I'm expecting to sit there rolling my eyes the entire time. It is hard to find satisfaction with a film adaptation.

All novels should be adapted as HBO miniseries.

(Full disclosure, I'm about 90% done) The reincarnation thing is pretty disappointing. Especially because it isn't needed to tie the stories together.

I'm also done with the book but my holidays kept me from posting the review here. I liked it overall but the reincarnation thing was unnecessary - I loved the links between the stories as they were, with or without comet-shaped mole.

The ending was a bit anticlimactic. My full review can be found over at SFF Book Review