Cloud Atlas (if you're finished)

[Orla]

Hey guys so if you've finished the book then here's the space to air your views.

Also thoughts on meeting up next week on Wednesday or Thursday evening?

I liked Cloud Atlas but not as much as I thought I would in parts. I loved Frobisher, loved Rufus and Luisa and Somni but I'm less sure beyond that.

[Dermo]

SPOILER ALERT I thought the 'Ghastly Ordeal' was listening to Timothy Cavendish go on and on. It took me a while to get into, but I liked the constant change of tone and pace, like Luisa Rey being written in short little bursts like a cheap pulp fiction US crime novel. Adam Ewing was insufferable, Frobisher was entertaining, and Zachry's language took a while to get used to. After that, I was pleased it came sort of full circle and was true to itself. The Sonmi episode was the fastest paced and I think that's probably the point. Fast action for fast living people. As enjoyable as a Papa Song's dog burger. Cheap, satisfying and ultimately forgettable. Having said that, it was probably written that way on purpose, and if so, it's a fairly damning insight into our own times, because, lets face it, we aren't so far off a Nea So Copros-style corpocracy. I haven't read Brave New World (yet) but I imagine there are plenty echoes of it here. So on two levels, I think this is almost the culmination of the book. We can't get to Zachry except through Sonmi, and from there backwards to our other stories, and also it feels as though the events of The Sonmi segment are critical to the future in ways that the other sections aren't. Although I may be blinded by its futuristic fluorescent dystopia.
Also, it's fun just figuring out the corpocratic jargon.
Long review, whoa. Overall, I had it finished in under a week. I think that says something about the quality. A Good Read.

[Orla]

I agree that Timothy Cavendish was both confusing and uninteresting.

I definitely feel that it was raising issues but I think one of the things that makes the book a little forgettable is the fact that at the end you're not sure what ultimate point it was trying to make. What was it saying about destiny? What was it saying about people? What was it that this book wanted you to take away from it? I'm not sure.

[Dermo]

Agreed.