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Ghostwritten
COZY READS -GENERAL
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Ghostwritten by David Mitchell - BR Feb 2021
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Gorab, TheGunman
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rated it 5 stars
Feb 24, 2021 11:56PM
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I finished Night train about 20 minutes back and I felt I was on a train of insanity riding in black tunnels chasing god knows what.I had to had to Hadd to google to understand what the hell just happened and saw lots of poor mindf**ked folks like me trying to figure out what exactly happened.
However after reading a few comments I realised that there's too much info hidden smartly behind that insanity.
Do check out this link after you're Done with the Last chapter
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/bookc...
check out all comments by user Olle
Ok, I've finished the book.This needs to be discussed over a call !!
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if that's the case, lets get over a call to discuss this! I'll let you guys know once done.
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Manju, neither did I fully understand this book. It is rather difficult to put a finger on the exact plot however some Googling helped. a few things like Alfred running after Alfred aren't explained directly and i only understood it after someone claimed that it might be David's way of showing Cause and Effect that he explains in the same chapter.Likewise, lots of things were a complete bouncer but I enjoyed most of it. I see myself grabbing this book again, a year later perhaps.
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that conversation between Mongolian and Zookeeper!!! oh my God!!!
till that moment, i used to think Mongolian at one point has his host as Quasar.
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I'll have to look up a someone called Emily here in night train... i suspect it could be Emily from Utopia Avenue.
also Sergundo's name sounded familiar.... maybe he was also in Utopia.
all the 3 books have a good dip in music.
night train connected Satoru (he played one), Mongolian, Zookeeper, SerenDippy :D, Mo,....
rest of the characters in the book were indirectly connected via either Mongolian, or that Russian mafia guy... Suhbaatdaar or some such name.
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Hell yeah!!! It was a splendid read
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"‘But you’re a writer. They are lunatics.’
‘Lunatics are writers whose works write them, Bat.’
‘Not all lunatics are writers, Mrs Rey – believe me.’
‘But most writers are lunatics, Bat – believe me. The human world is made of stories, not people. The people the stories use to tell themselves are not to be blamed."
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‘Listen! The radio!’
Angus listens. ‘That’s you.’
Elf can only nod. They listen to the whole song. Bat Segundo only speaks after Elf’s closing refrain. ‘That slice of pop perfection was “Darkroom”, a brand-new song by Utopia Avenue. They’re English, they’re happening, and they’re this week’s Tip-for-the-Top brought to you in proud association with Rocket Cola, the with-it pop drink for the with-it crowd – and if that didn’t give you goosebumps, please see your doctor because you may well be dead.'
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Gorab wrote: "I'm good to tickle my taste buds with number9dream. let me know when you guys want to roll... no hurries :)"Awesome!! How about Mid March / End of March?
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hehe.. thanks! I was thinking of Weaveworld when I wrote that comment. That book had a magical carpet and the design on the carpet actually was a doorway to many worlds... hence the comparison.
And I have decided to reread BSG with you guys. :)
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That chapter was a masterpiece from start to finish.
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"‘But you’re a writer. They are lunatics.’
‘Lunatics are writers whose works write them, Bat.’
‘Not all lunatics are writers, Mrs Rey – believe m..."
Were you expecting/hoping to find Sloosha here?
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I love tea, so when I read the sentence I thought of Syl and myself. ;)
I was wondering if we could setup a call to discuss a little bit on Ghostwritten before we move forward if that's feasible for both of you.Clearly, all of us have understood different parts of the book and interpreted it in our way. It would be interesting to know and enlightening too. I am sure by the time we hang up, we'd have a better understanding of the book! What say?
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I am happy with whatever I was able to understand here. :) No complaints. there are more books to connect the dots.
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nay nay nay... wasn't xpectin' 'ny Sloosha or 'nythin'
aye aye aye... 'd be glad seein' it again somewhere :)
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Yeah lets wait till 15th March and then decide...
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Yuhoooo!
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I love tea, so when I read the sentence I thought of Syl and myself. ;)"
Thought Syl was into coffee. I guess you meant Syl as an agent to soothen your soul :)
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Clearly, all of us have understood different parts of th..."
Saw this message only now :|
Since we have at least a couple of weeks before starting number9, i'll try finding that "cause and effect" link between chapters... or any other interesting trivia on Ghostwritten that I come across. Trust you two will do the same :)
Yep yep very much!!
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https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitst...
Hahahaha no doubt it is definitely an epic book
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1. Had Quasar not screwed up Underground, he wouldn't have made that call to Seren Dippy (i like this name!)
2. Had Quasar not called, Satoru wouldn't have gone back to pick his call, and wouldn't have met that girl... and eventually wouldnt have gone to Hong Kong.
3. Had Neil not seen Satoru and that girl, he wouldnt have remembered about her wife and wouldn't have withdrew cash, and maybe send that antique chair as a parcel before he died.
4. Had Neil not withdrawn that money, Tea Shack lady's grand-daughter wouldn't have got it, and old lady wouldn't have felt peaceful at her time of death.
5. some link missing... can't connect the same chain with tea shack lady... here starts a new chain of the mongolian overhearing that 3 animals story.
6. Had Katy not received that chair, she wouldn't have thrown Marco out of house at the exact moment when she did.
7. Had Marco not been thrown out, he wouldn't be in time to save Mo from that accident. Now we know how critical it was to save Mo at that moment ;)
8. Had Mo not lived, wouldnt be possible for Zookeeper to exist!
9. some link missing.... i know somehow old lady->Mongolian-> Russian gang Suhbaatdaar or something -> links back to Neal -> Katy -> Marco -> Mo -> Zoo and so on.....
so in a way Neil is a crossover between these two links.
I'll probably come back and delete this message when I find a better cause and effect link!
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Yes Gorab excellent job. Like Manju said, don't delete this , it's a precious message :)Thanks
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Yeah lets wait till 15th March and then decide..."
I'm good to start anytime now. How about you guys?
I am also almost done with my current read, how about on Monday?
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1. Had Quasar not screwed up Underground, he wouldn't have made that call to Seren Dippy (i like this..."
Finally managed to read through the thread! And you know what, I really felt I should have BRed this book with you guys!
Fantastic bit of correlation and interesting discussion. The zookeeper chapter was my best pick. Also, you probably already covered it, but the pun on the title in each chapter is worth noticing (Ghost actually writing, Ghostwritten, Host relationship).
Some of the missing links in your book get covered in other books. The seed gets addressed in his universe.
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i saw only the Mongolian and Zookeeper as "ghosts".
Are the protagonist in each chapter really ghosts?
Quasar? maybe yes via Zookeepr.
Old Lady? maybe yes via Mongolian.
Neal?? that story itself had ghosts!
Satoru? No way!
Marco? yes he was the real world ghostwriter!
Mo?
Bat Segundo?
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if(Mo host to Mongo):
pondering whether Mongo had even an iota of contribution for creating Zookeeper
else:
Mongo and Zoo interacted for the first time in Night Train
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Reminds me of Twilight :D:D:D
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i saw only the Mongolian and Zookeeper as "ghosts".
Are the protagonist in each chapter really ghosts?
Quasar? maybe yes via Zookeepr.
Old Lady? maybe yes vi..."
Given you just completed Utopia Avenue, Bat segundo is a good positive recall. Zookeeper as the ai system gone awry is 'ghost controlled'.
I don't recall exactly, but I think he says in one of the stories that memory is actually a ghostwriting of the actual events.
As I said, this is one of the very few books I might choose, If i ever decide to re-read.
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Okinawa:
A panel of ‘experts’ was discussing the ‘atrocity’. They kept playing the same footage over and over again, a scene of the uncleansed running out of the metro station, handkerchiefs smothering their mouths, retching, scratching furiously at their eyes. As His Serendipity writes in the 32nd Sacred Revelation, If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out. Pictures of the cleansed, lying still where their cleansing had freed them. Their skin families, sobbing in their ignorance. Cut to the Prime Minister, the bushiest fool of them all, swearing that he wouldn’t rest until ‘the perpetrators of this monstrosity were brought to justice’.
Is this hypocrisy not blinding?
Can’t they see that the real atrocity is the modern world’s systematic slaughter of man’s oneness with his anima?
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We abdicate certain freedoms, and in return we get civilisation.
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"It’s better to fight and lose than not fight and suffer, because even if you fight and lose your spirit emerges intact."
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"Grainy mauve smoke drifted across the road. My eyes were watering. I was under a vast tree that fanned out across the sky and hid it incompletely as words will hide whatever is behind them."
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Old lady's thoughts on her dying father:
"Sometimes his lidded eyes closed, and his cigarette shortened. Was anything under those lids? Remorse, resentment, even indifference? Or was there only nothing? Nothing often poses in men as wisdom."
Indian Readers
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