The second story, told in letters, is about a young English composer living in Belgium in the early 1930s. Robert Frobisher is neither sweet nor naive but he is charismatic as he relates his adventures. Disinherited and disgraced, he has fled England to seek a post as amanuensis to an elderly composer.

The third - the only one told in the third person - involves a young journalist in California in 1975. Luisa Rey is investigating a nuclear power plant that seems poised to create a Three Mile Island type disaster on the Pacific coast. The connection with the previous stories is underlined, but this does not save this section from coming off as typical adventure/whodunnit fare. The film would star Ashley Judd.

Next is a story set London in the present day involving a struggling publisher who unexpectedly hits the big time when he publishes the memoirs of a gangster. This is the most involving of the stories, as Timothy Cavendish is a likeable character and his misfortunes are entertainingly told.

The fifth story - the Orison of Sonmi 451 - is set in Korea at some undefined future point, when clones are created to provide a slave class. This story has all the Orwellian overtones of much science fiction, and the same contradictions - understandable in '1984' given when it was written, but just odd here - wouldn't a society so technically advanced have surveillance cameras?

The final story is set still further in the future, at a time when technology has been lost and people are living in medieval conditions. This central section was for me the weakest part of the book and far too long. It is a first person spoken narrative from an old man recalling his adolescence on the Big Island of Hawaii. He speaks a corrupted English dialect, and the pages are smothered with apostrophes for all his s'posin' and reck'nin'. After the first paragraph this was irritating to read and it dragged on for ninety pages.

After this the book goes into reverse, tracking back through the previous stories and telling their endings. Some of the endings are a little predictable, especially after waiting most of the book to get to them. However, the linking between them provides interesting layers to each plot.

This is an inventive and entertaining book. I would have preferred to see more of the historical stories and less (none?) of the two set in the future.


Another Layered and Heliotropic Masterpiece   March 16, 2004
 9 out of 13 found this review helpful

I'm not so much surprised by how good David Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas" is, as I am surprised that he's been able to do it AGAIN. Both "Ghostwritten" and "Number9Dream" had me remembering parts of their intricate stories without being able to place where I knew them from; so twisted is the narrative course Mitchell designs that each book feels like many books, gently joined by faint memories of previous parts. "Cloud Atlas" is bold in the disparity between its individual stories and brave for the authenticity the author displays in the voice he selects for each segment of the novel. It also contains genuine suspense, maintained between decades. Finishing his books, one can be let down that the ride is over, or thrilled that Mitchell is young and must have many more like this in him.


drilled russian dolls   March 13, 2004
 9 out of 13 found this review helpful

Author of Cloud Atlas David Mitchell described his book as as being like a set of six russian dolls that fit inside each other and are inseperable also, like they had a metal drill through their navels (his words, not mine). Mitchell has an imagination, that much is obvious; he can create a world that is at turns surreal and exaggerated, but generally grounded in reality. Cloud Atlas follows on from his previous works ('Ghostwritten' and 'Number9Dream') in proving that Mitchell may well be one of the best British writers alive. Stylistically, he is faultless, managing to shift his tone effortlessly in accordance with the many charcters he assumes. It has been said that he has 'no voice' as a writer: thank God may be the response this discovery deserves; his brilliance lies in the ability to use many voices, to merge many worlds. 'Cloud Atlas' is a long book and you may even be forgiven for thinking it overlong; but it is an experience, a true novel (no gimmicks) and probably the best thing you'll read this year.


Booker prize winner 2004?   March 12, 2004
 5 out of 8 found this review helpful

Cloud Atlas is an ambitious work and an astounding achievement. A sextet of narrators takes the reader around the globe, through time and back again. They are all interlinked in subtle but immensely satisfying ways. Each segment arouses more pleasure than the last and the end of a narration brings anticipation as to the sequential connection to the next rather than disappointment at leaving a character. It has been a long time since I read such an accomplished, polished and beautifully intact novel. Mitchell's last book, Number9dream, was short-listed for the Booker prize and I am tipping Cloud Atlas to go further still.


undoubtedly good, but...   March 12, 2004
 6 out of 13 found this review helpful

I thought David Mitchell's "Ghostwritten" was one of the most exciting new books I'd ever read: I was transfixed by what he'd imagined, stories all round the world beginning to connect in some weird transmutation of psychic powers and globalization. I waited excitedly for his second book, but I didn't like "Number 9 Dream" nearly as much. Now Mitchell has returned to the form of "Ghostwritten" for his third novel, and the book consists of connected stories. It has the world's most beautiful cover, and begins on a nineteenth century voyage of discovery, then travels to 1930s Germany, and from there onwards.. Slowly you begin to see the links between all the different characters in time. But, I still don't think it's as good as "Ghostwritten". Nevertheless, I believe that David Mitchell will still be being read in the next century, and really you can't give higher praise than that.