Cloud Atlas: A Novel
by David Mitchell
List Price:
Our Price: $7.95
You Save: $7.05 (47%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.98 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: David MitchellEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Deckle Edge
Published: 2004-08-17
ISBN: 0375507256
Number of pages: 528
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Book Reviews of Cloud Atlas: A Novel
Book Review: "Revolutionary or gimmicky? Shan't know until it's finished."
Summary: 4 Stars
Cloud Atlas, so misleadingly referred to as a "novel," is actually a cycle of short stories that follows the reincarnations of one soul on its journey through human history. Each of the stories can be read by itself, but like any short story cycle, the work takes on new dimensions of meaning when the stories are read alongside one another. Mitchell's gimmick, if it can be called that, interrupts each story at a cliffhanger; after five cliffhangers, and one story told without interruption, CA finishes out with a rapid-fire succession of denouements and ends where the story began, circa 1850.
I would recommend CA, but hesitantly. For those looking for a book resting somewhere between thoughtful literature and thoughtless pulp, Cloud Atlas is a good choice. The characters are interesting and the plots are eccentric and fun, which makes CA an overall engaging read. Mitchell's control of different styles is also quite admirable, and is exemplified (in my opinion) by the epistolary mode of Adam Ewing and the dialectal, post-apocalyptic romp of Zachry. Each character sounds like themselves, and none of the characters rehashes any others.
On the other hand, for those looking for a book that will challenge them intellectually or morally, or will introduce them to characters so near to flesh and blood that we forget their literary origins, look elsewhere. The characters in CA were never deep or complex enough for my tastes and never emerged from the stories as real people. Frobisher comes closest with his intriguing mix of aristocratic insouciance and volatile brashness, and his unquenchable passion for music. No wonder Mitchell grants him such a meta-fictionally important role. However, he never takes on the different dimensions one might expect a character of his potential to develop; while multifaceted, he lacks the light necessary to sparkle.
Similarly, Mitchell seems to lack the maturity and wisdom to write a book of that particular sublime caliber for which some of us are always searching. If you're willing to aim below sublime, however, then give this book a chance. It's good, exciting fiction and definitely several cuts above most of the garbage circulating in print.
Literary Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Literary Books
Island (Perennial Classics)by Aldous Huxley
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2002-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
Angelsby Marian Keyes
William Morrow; Published: 2002-05-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.16
Price in other shops:
A Tree Grows in Brooklynby Betty Smith
Harper; Published: 2001-11-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.17
Price in other shops:
The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptationby Paulo Coelho
Harper; Published: 2006-07-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops:
Boonville: A Novelby Robert Mailer Anderson
Harper Perennial; Published: 2003-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Carameloby Sandra Cisneros
HarperAudio; Published: 2002-10-01; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
Headhunterby Timothy Findley
PERENNIAL PUBLICATIONS; Paperback; Book
The Crimson Petal And The Whiteby Michel Faber
Harcourt, Inc./Harvest; Published: 2003; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.50
Great Expectationsby Charles Dickens
Macmillan Pub Co; Published: 1979-06; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
This Side of Paradiseby Fitzgerald
Scribner Paper Fiction; Published: 1988-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Brick Lane: A Novelby Monica Ali
Scribner; Published: 2004-05-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.14
Price in other shops:
Never Let Me Goby Kazuo Ishiguro
Vintage; Published: 2006-03-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.49
Price in other shops:
Generosity: An Enhancementby Richard Powers
Picador; Published: 2010-08-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops:
Nine Plays of the Modern Theater: Waiting for Godot; The Visit; Tango; The Caucasian Chalk Circle; The Balcony; Rhinoceros; American Buffalo, et alby Bertolt Brecht, Samuel Beckett, Friedrich Durrenmatt, Jean Genet, Harold Pinter, Eugene Ionesco, Slawomir Mrozek, Tom Stoppard, David Mamet
Grove Press; Published: 1981-01-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.98
Price in other shops:
Black Swan Green: A Novelby David Mitchell
Random House Trade Paperbacks; Published: 2007-02-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.83
Price in other shops:
The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Poetryby J.D. McClatchy
Vintage; Published: 2003-04-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.29
Price in other shops:
Postmodern American Fiction: A Norton AnthologyW. W. Norton & Company; Published: 1997-09-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.00
Price in other shops:
A Visit from the Goon Squadby Jennifer Egan
Anchor; Published: 2011-03-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.95
Price in other shops:
Ghostwrittenby David Mitchell
Vintage; Published: 2001-10-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet: A Novelby David Mitchell
Random House Trade Paperbacks; Published: 2011-03-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.65
Price in other shops: