Discussion on The Bone Clocks

[Kirsten]

Hi Everyone!

I am leading the discussion for The Bone Clocks.

Let me say that this is a "big six" book from Random House, so my expectations were high. This is David Mitchell's tenth book, and also, I had read the beginning and had a yen to read this one, so finally, it's an itch I got to scratch.

This book was not what I had expected. I am on the fence about a few issues. I was wondering if anyone else felt the same about it.

I always thought that I would write a really long book that was double or even triple the length of regular length books. Now I am thinking that this is a great deal of commitment you are asking of your reader. I found it a bit laborious at times, and now I am thinking I will never write a really, really long book. I can't imagine the time investment it must take for The Game of Thrones, for instance, which is a thousand pages.

Then there's the POV switch. My son read this book with me, felt betrayed, and put it down after page 110. Did you feel that not staying with Holly hurt the book's readability? Again, I do not feel strongly either way, and if you stick with it, you get to see that all of the different men in the book have to do with Holly.

I am also on the fence about learning so very much about these other characters. Did we really need to know so much about Hershey Crispin, for example, or would the plot moved along better if we didn't know every single thought inside all of the male characters' heads? Yet, the level of detail was breathtaking, but given the length of the book, would it been better to value conciseness and utilize it rather than feel like you have a bird eye's view of each character and know every little thing that was going on inside their head?

And then, there's the ending, which is in the not-so-far future, when oil runs out and society falls apart at the seams. I feel like this eco-friendly message was so strong, it's like getting hit over the head with a bible.

I would rate this a three, and I think I will.

How did y'all feel?

[Kurt]

I found the book disappointing. I soldiered through this book to the end.

The idea had promise. A girl with paranormal powers. Immortals battling in the eternal struggle of good and evil. It had many elements that should have made it interesting.

I am afraid I've leapt off the fence. Very rarely have I found an author who could successfully pull off switching point of view while using a first person perspective. It can be done, but David Mitchell didn't, at least in this case. Add to that was the detail about the other characters. There were flash backs that really slowed the pace of the story down.

I also felt that the timeline was too long for the type of story Mitchell was trying to tell. There was no sense of urgency.

I also agree that the eco-friendly message was too strong. I have nothing against morals to stories, but they have to be skillfully woven into the narrative or they come out "preachy," and that can loose the audience.

[Kirsten]

Yeah, it definitely slowed the pace and urgency of the story. After all, it does drive the engine of the story forward and what keeps the readers engaged. I was hoping if I just kept reading until the end, I would be satisfied because of a terrific ending, but this was not the case here.

Yes, the writing was detailed. We get a great idea and a sense of the characters. This was done successfully, and it's something I can appreciate. I just found it preachy in places too, sort of like the author was trying to let the world know his point of view about the war in Afghanistan and the terrible Americans.

By the way, I have a contact who knew several soldiers who went to Afghanistan during the war and the rebuilding efforts. The marines, who were horribly described in the book, aided efforts to rebuild the country's infrastructures. Insurgents blew up pipes we laid in the ground and schools we built. We rebuilt them a second time. They blew it up again. We rebuilt it a third time. They blew it up a third time. That's when we pulled out and brought our soldiers home. Unfortunately, the civilians not involved with the terrorist extremists were the ones to suffer, but what were we to do? I can see why the military was hostile at times. They probably thought everyone was trying to blow them up.