Mitchell's current project?

[Jonathan]

Anyone know what Mitchell is working on these days?

[Matilda]

I have heard that he is working on a book with 7 novellas set between the 1970's and 2030's. A character from The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet will re-appear in the book. The rumour is that the character is a reincarnation of Dr. Marinus, but David Mitchell does not want to say too much since once it is out on the internet it is difficult for him to change his mind.

It sounds as if he is going back to a Cloud Atlas/Ghostwritten kind of structure, with several interlinked stories, of which some are set in the future. I am quite exited about that.

He has also said that he has a clear idea for his two next novels and vague ideas for the 3rd and 4th. Seems promising!

[Jonathan]

Thanks for the information, Matilda. I loved Cloud Atlas too, but I'm not sure I'd necessarily welcome another book with a similar structure. I'm worried it might seem redundant. I suppose if the stories are varied/good/impressive I'd go along. Should I give Ghostwritten a shot?

[Nick]

I've read something very different to the book that Matilda mentioned. The novel I heard he's working on is about a young girl growing up in an Irish family. It could be one of the novellas in that book though...

I'd rather see something more personal - like Black Swan Green, than another large scale, structured novel. But hey, I'm excited to read anything that he writes.

Jonathan: If you liked Cloud Atlas, then you'll find something to like in Ghostwritten. It hops between locales and characters, so if you don't like one segment, you know that another will be about soon enough.

[Matilda]

I am happy to hear your point of view since I was wondering if some fans would prefer that he did not go back to doing what he did in Cloud Atlas. I personally feel that with several stories you really get to enjoy his imagination and talent for writing in many different voices. And I am sure that it will be different from anything he did before. In some ways number9dream and Black Swan Green were also composed of several stories but with one main character and an over-arching storyline.

I liked Ghostwritten a lot and definitely think you should give it a try if you like David Mitchell's other work. It has some great stories that are nicely interlinked. I found the "ghost/spirit" aspect of the story a little annoying the first time I read it, but otherwise I loved it. For me strange and supernatural aspects need to be well done to feel real and Mitchell did not manage quite as well as some other authors are able to (especially Murakami is a master at making the weirdest things seem relatively normal). I prefer the way Mitchell "hints" at things in his later work (eg. the reincarnation in Cloud Atlas).

[Matilda]

Nick wrote: "I've read something very different to the book that Matilda mentioned. The novel I heard he's working on is about a young girl growing up in an Irish family. It could be one of the novellas in that..."

The story about the girl in an Irish family sounds familiar too. But I have heard about the book I mentioned in many places (once live when he came to Brussels) so it seems it is being written. But as he has a few books in mind already it might be that one will come later. Or maybe it is several stories in the life of one girl/woman from an irish family. If she is born in the 70's she would be 60 in the 2030's.

I loved Black Swan Green so I agree that a personal story would be great too. But I am sure that whatever he does will be good.

[Jonathan]

Thanks for your comments. I'm torn between Black Swan Green and Ghostwritten for my next Mitchell read. The "ghost/spirit" bit sounds intriguing actually.

[Matilda]

I think the reason I did not like the ghost part on my first read was that I was not expecting it (although you would think I would have gotten the hint by reading the title).

I was a little sceptical about Black Swan Green before staring to read it since it seemed so different to what he had written before, but once I started reading all my doubts vanished. It is impressive to make a book about the everyday life of a young boy growing up in the UK in the 80's so interesting and poetic. And since the book is inspired by Mitcell's own experiences it gives some insight into his life.

Both of them are great books! I am so envious that you can still read them for the first time. I am just hoping that Mitcell does not take too long to write his next book (whatever it is). He said that it usually takes him 3 years, so hopefully we will see something new in two years time.

[Jonathan]

Wow, being envious about me not having read them is a great recommendation.

[Takato]

Karen wrote: "Matilda wrote: "I have heard that he is working on a book with 7 novellas set between the 1970's and 2030's. A character from The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet will re-appear in the book. The r..."

If it was a trilogy, I would say;

#1 The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
#2 Ghostwritten
#3 The Bone Clocks

[Cecily]

All his books are connected, but in more of a web than a line, so it doesn't necessarily matter which order you read them.

In interviews when The Bone Clocks was published, he described it as the second of the Marinus trilogy, that started with Thousand Autumns. He said the third was one of six books in the pipeline, but that it probably wouldn't be one of the early ones.

However, it's now announced that there will be a new novel, barely a year after The Bone Clocks, and, contrary to those previous interviews, it sounds quite closely related to TBC:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/artsb...

[Cecily]

Some people have already read and reviewed advanced copies of Slade House (not me).

[Joe]

Just FYI - I'm not a consistent reviewer or poster on Good Reads but my daughter and I are avid Mitchell fans, having read all but two of his books (currently finishing Number 9 Dream). We are planning to attended his reading, Q&A, and signing in Pittsburgh in November which includes a copy of Spade House. If anyone's interested, I'll submit a post about the event and my first impressions of his new book.

To be honest, I'm more than a little nervous. They say you should never meet your heroes

[Kate]

Slade HouseI just finished reading Slade House. On the surface of it Mitchell has written another book for the Vampire fans, soul vampires - and its under 300 pages - so it can be a quick read. But b/c it's David Mitchell there are cool twists and returns of our heroes from Bone clocks. What did you all think?

[Cecily]

Kate wrote: "I just finished reading Slade House. On the surface of it Mitchell has written another book for the Vampire fans, soul vampires - and its under 300 pages...What did you all think?"

It's not my favourite genre, but if you approach it as a bit of entertainment that he wrote for the sheer fun of it (rather than a carefully honed work, like most of his others), it's fun. I've written a detailed review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Barrett]

Anyone know what David Mitchell has for is next? (After slide house)

[Christophe]

You can tweet him at @david_mitchell and he might answer. When I asked him about his next novel, the answer I got was:

"Thanks Christophe. Um, it's a big novel, set in the not-too-distant past, it has a character whose name begins with M and ends in S, and as usual I'll try to get at least one reference to Belgium in it. With luck it'll be out sometime next year. Just have to write it first."

This was on January 31.

[Anna]

That sounds promising... Can't wait! Thanks for sharing

[Kate]

Did you see his article in the New Yorker 9/14?

[Kate]

It’s called “ a writer’s imaginary cartography”

[Chris]

https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-...