Cloud Atlas

Finishing this list is now starting to seem like a reality - hence my reading has become more purposeful (for this read: I am reading when I should be ironing, washing up, cleaning...oh well).

Before reading Cloud Atlas I had a sneaking suspicion that I had already read it, but as I couldn't remember anything about it, I thought I should read it again. About 2 chapters in, I was sure that I'd read it, but still couldn't really remember what was coming next so carried on.

I have a grudging admiration for David Mitchell, although I really don't enjoy his writing. I think this is predominantly because he tends to construct his novels out of a short story format, where the individual elements are very cleverly linked together to form a whole, but it still essentially feels like reading short stories. And I don't like reading short stories. My first DM experience was Ghostwritten, recommended to me by my brother after I had read and raved about Memoirs of a Geisha...the two are really not very similar, so I think the gap between expectation and reality also coloured my opinion! However, this challenge was partly about reading books that I wouldn't normally pick up, so I tried to approach Cloud Atlas with an open mind.

The thing is, it's really good. Intelligently constructed as a palindrome, there are four interlinked stories which take you forward through time and then back again. If you apply yourself to noticing, there are loads of little details throughout which connect the stories together, ranging from the fairly obvious birthmark to locations, music, and so forth. The scope of the work is wideranging, moving from a 19th century (I think) ship voyage to a post-apocalyptic future, with the style of writing adapted to suit each period and scenario.

I found the Adam Ewing and Zachry sections really difficult to read due to the style adopted in writing, but I'm probably just fussy.

There is a suggestion that Luisa Rey, the central character of the third story, has a spiritual connection to Robert Frobisher, of the previous story, given by her sense of recognition of the music he wrote despite never hearing it before...this is a little bit weak. But this is about the only hole I could pick in the storyline.

Cloud Atlas definitely deserves its place in this list. It isn't easy reading - well, you could make an easy read of it, but this would result in missing most of the clever plot devices and connections, and wouldn't do justice to it. I'm glad I read it, David Mitchell displays such creativity and imagination in pulling the elements of the story together, but...I'm really sorry to say, I still don't like it. Perhaps I'm lazy and don't like to work too hard for enjoyment of a book, maybe it's something to do with his tone and characters...I don't know, but I haven't been converted! You should read it though, if you haven't already.