Join David Mitchell to talk about THE THOUSAND AUTUMNS OF JACOB DE ZOET, our September Book of the Month, on Wed 28 September, 9-10pm

[TillyBookClub]

September's Author of the Month has been named as one of the most influential novelists in the world. David Mitchell has twice been shortlisted for the Booker and his novels attract vast numbers of readers and glowing reviews alike.

His latest book, THE THOUSAND AUTUMNS OF JACOB DE ZOET, is a masterpiece of historical fiction. Set in 1799, in the Japanese trading port of Dejima (run by the Dutch East India Trading Company, it is Japan's only window to the outside world), the novel follows young Dutchman Jacob de Zoet's struggle to win his fortune, battle with corruption and begin his love affair with the beautiful but scarred Japanese midwife who is dangerously close to the local Samurai lord. Ambitious, poetic, pacy, full of detail and immaculately researched - this is a novel that creates a world so fully realised that you become utterly engulfed in its pages.

We have 100 free copies for Mumsnetters - find out more at our book of the month page.

And get your paperback or Kindle version now.

We're delighted that David will be joining us for the chat on Wednesday 28 September 9-10pm. Look forward to seeing you there.

[browneyesblue]

Mine was waiting for me when I got home - thank you :)

It was postmarked 22nd Sep

[TheMonster]

Mine arrived this morning. I shall put 'How to be a Woman' aside and get reading on Mitchell's masterpiece!

[missorinoco]

My copy has arrived today - thankyou! Noter sure I shall finish it in time though.

[stopthebus]

No book here, guess I wasn't quick enough to email! Congrats to all those lucky people who did get one.

[GeraldineMumsnet]

Just flaggin' that we've started our very own @Mumsnetbookclub Twitter feed. If you're partial to tweeting, please follow us and spread the word. Thanks :)

[LaVitaBellissima]

Mine arrived today too - I better get started tonight!

[TillyBookClub]

Great that you got the copies at last - has anyone received two? I know they sent a second batch so still not sure if these are the first or second wave.

And if you can't make it, please do pop any more questions up here...

[CalatalieSisters]

I only received one. It is a wonderful book, a huge page turner (though I don't know if I will turn enough pages in time for the chat). So rich in atmosphere. Reminds me a bit of Joseph Conrad in that it takes me to such exotic times and places, with so much salt and manliness.

[browneyesblue]

I only received one copy too. I am really enjoying it so far, but will not have read anywhere near enough of it to discuss it by Wednesday. I think I held my breath for the entire first chapter though...

[aristocat]

i only have one copy too .... and its very good so far thanks

[TillyBookClub]

CalatalieSisters and browneyesblue, not necessary to have read the whole thing - we'll be discussing all David's books, plus how he writes/what his favourite books are etc. Come along and join in, however many pages you've done.

See you all tomorrow - and don't forget it's an hour later than before, 9-10pm.

[TillyBookClub]

By the way, did you know that Cloud Atlas was being made into a film? One of the most unfilmable books of all time, I would have thought - but then they said that about The English Patient...Looking forward to asking David more about that.

[MaxineQuordlepleen]

I'm not able to join you tomorrow so I just wanted to say how much I loved The Thousand Autumns. It took me a while to get into it but then I couldn't put it down. The combination of the minute historical detail and the different psychological insights make it a stunning achievement. I particularly liked the portrayal of the oppression of women although the general sense of powerlessness and imprisonment for everyone was almost palpable. Thankyou so much for such a great read.

Which character did you imagine first? Also, SPOILER ALERT (and sentimental alert, for that matter)- did you want Jacob and Orito to get together? Or did you see it as all doomed from the start?

[DavidMitchell]

Hello Mumsnetters,

This is David Mitchell just posting a message a day early (to make sure I know my way around the website a little.) Thanks for all your kind remarks about my book and writing - I've gotten a big kick out of reading them. I always feel that if you can persuade a busy and tired mum to stick with your story, then you're doing something right. My own wife is my most trusted reader of my manuscripts for this reason.

Anyway, looking forward to communicating with you tomorrow from 9.

[DavidMitchell]

To Maxine Quordlepleen (whilst trying to work out the QUOTE function) -

I imagined Jacob first. He is the reader's vehicle into this odd, compressed world, and he was originally the writer's way in too. You can only plot so much in advance until you reach a point where you have to 'write your way in'. In an earlier version I did intend (SPOILER ALERT) for Jacob and Orito to get it together, and quite early on, too - the novel would have followed their marriage. Then I realized I was writing a sort of Nagasaki EastEnders, and went back to the drawing board. That's okay, tho' - novels are built from changes of mind. Doomed? Only sort of.

Have a good evening tomorrow night, any road up.

[browneyesblue]

An early message (hello David!) - now I'm really excited about Wednesday night :)

I'm really enjoying the book. The detail is wonderful; it paints such a vivid picture. Cloud Atlas has long been a favourite of mine, but The Thousand Autumns has me hooked in a completely different way.

Just in case I forget later, I also wanted to ask about future projects. Are you working on anything/taking a break/giving up novels to become a hotshot Hollywood darling (please don't)?

[CalatalieSisters]

Still haven't read enough to participate properly in a discussion of Thousand Autumns. But I would like to ask a question about some of the beautiful juxtapositions and passing metaphors.

I loved the fact that following the childbirth in chapter 1, chapter 2 had a spilling of "fecund" (or was it "fertile") ink, alongside blood, that left Jacob delivered onto the floor at the birth of his own story. And then later, again, Aibagawa speaks of words having blood, smell, pain, and of the fact that she has to be inured to such things in her job of delivery. Beautiful beautiful slidings between blood and language, between literal births and (something to do with) linguistic creativity. I wondered how systematic such lovely touches are. Do you see yourself as pursuing a theme, or rather as being spontaneously playful just as the words hit you? Do you think of it as an attempt to communicate a definite metaphorical meaning to the reader, or do you just play, and in the course of that hope for the reader to be presented with something rich enough to stimulate her own play?

I adored the two conversations between Jacob and Aibagawa that I have read so far -- the monkey in the warehouse and the scene where he assists her translation.

[strandednomore]

Unfortunately I didn't see send off for a free book and certainly don't have time to buy and read it before the webchat but I will now look out for it as I am another one who LOVED Cloud Atlas and totally agree with CatalieSister's remarks about the novel being almost poem-like.

That's it really! Good luck with the webchat.

[TillyBookClub]

Just a quick one to say see you all 9pm - and also to say don't worry, David is not doing a Christos and jumping the gun, just testing out the posting.

David, let me know if the quote button isn't working - I'll get it fixed by tonight.

Till later.

[sfxmum]

Hi David
Points for the conscientious early testing and appreciative comments of the missus

First many thanks for all the books they are a joy to read

Question
English is not my first language but I have lived here for the past 19yrs, it often amuses me the influence both languages have in the way I express myself
my question is, I understand that you have immersed yourself in another language and I wonder if this as a particular influence in the way you use/ approach/see/ use English
many thanks

[DavidMitchell]

@sfxmum

Hi David
Points for the conscientious early testing and appreciative comments of the missus

First many thanks for all the books they are a joy to read

Question
English is not my first language but I have lived here for the past 19yrs, it often amuses me the influence both languages have in the way I express myself
my question is, I understand that you have immersed yourself in another language and I wonder if this as a particular influence in the way you use/ approach/see/ use English
many thanks

Hi sfxmum,

Not QUITE Doing a Christos and jumping the gun, and not quite understanding the 'missus' remark, tho' I'm enjoying imagining what it might mean...

My Japanese is OK rather than great, but as you know if you study any language other than your own, you get to see your mother tongue as a building from the outside as opposed to a house from which you never leave. You see its strengths and weaknesses. And it's fun, and informative about what language is, isn't it? I can't say what sort of a writer I would be if I hadn't dabbled in foreign language because I can't see into that parallel universe, but I do think I'd be a somewhat different writer. One of my recurrent themes is communication, and miscommunication, and non-communication (the book before '1000 Autumns', something called 'Black Swan Green', is about stammering) and my time as a struggling operator in Japanese certainly informs this theme - it can't not.

Right, I'd best stop before Tilly scolds me for leaving the blocks before the starter whistle blows - I just wanted to test the QUOTE function. Nice fetching colour I've been given, I see - gold with undertones of mucus and baby poo - appropriate, I guess...

David

[DavidMitchell]

@CalatalieSisters

Still haven't read enough to participate properly in a discussion of Thousand Autumns. But I would like to ask a question about some of the beautiful juxtapositions and passing metaphors.

I loved the fact that following the childbirth in chapter 1, chapter 2 had a spilling of "fecund" (or was it "fertile") ink, alongside blood, that left Jacob delivered onto the floor at the birth of his own story. And then later, again, Aibagawa speaks of words having blood, smell, pain, and of the fact that she has to be inured to such things in her job of delivery. Beautiful beautiful slidings between blood and language, between literal births and (something to do with) linguistic creativity. I wondered how systematic such lovely touches are. Do you see yourself as pursuing a theme, or rather as being spontaneously playful just as the words hit you? Do you think of it as an attempt to communicate a definite metaphorical meaning to the reader, or do you just play, and in the course of that hope for the reader to be presented with something rich enough to stimulate her own play?

I adored the two conversations between Jacob and Aibagawa that I have read so far -- the monkey in the warehouse and the scene where he assists her translation.

Thanks CalatalieSisters,

What an observant posting. I'm not sure if 'systematic' is quite the word for these resonances between theme and style and language, tho' I'm not sure what the word should be. It's more like you train yourself to spot them in the stream of ideas that occur to you as you construct the narrative - to spot them and, if appropriate, to use them. I can't do all the reader's thinking for him or her, nor would I wish to - it's more like presenting the reader with a posh buffet with dishes I think will go with one another well, and then leaving the reader to dine (find meaning and, I hope, pleasure) on those aspects of the text (the buffet) his or her own tastes draw him or her to... (Hear that metaphor come crashing down? Me too...)

I couldn't get Jacob and Orito together often - the rules of Dejima make chance encounters very very tricky to bring about, but you've got a sweet one in the garden ahead of you...

[CalatalieSisters]

Yes. Thank you for that very thoughtful answer. A mixture of sponteneity and selection. Like evolution.

So words/ink are blood and a buffet. Gets knife and fork

I'll look forward to the garden scene.

[jamaisjedors]

I wanted to jump in with my question and appreciation before tonight because I will probably be in bed (am an hour ahead here in France)!

But actually I see that sfxmum has got in before me!

I am 3/4 of the way through "The thousand Autumns..." and enjoying it very much.

I wanted to say how much I appreciated your "translation scene" with Jacob helping out the interpreters with Dutch/Japanese.

As someone who spends her life translating backwards and forwards between two languages I found it fascinating and very accurate - not that I know any Dutch - do you? by the way? (In some ways it's quite wierd to read the Dutch/Japanese exchanges in a third language,English).

You are obviously totally fascinated with language, as all good writers should be are, I loved the palimpset quality of Cloud Atlas and the way you seemed to be having fun with language there (but not in an off-putting self-conscious way I thought).

Can you trace back where your fascination with language came from? How many languages do you speak?

Anyway I am taking up way too much space AND have probably exceeded my quota of questions - I'm hoping someone else is going to ask about the title - or will all be revealed when I finish the book?

Thanks for your books

(oh and sneaky extra question - what was the last book YOU read?)

[sfxmum]

thanks for reply, that was fast, I only posted early as was not sure I could be here at 9
earlier I meant you made a nice comment valuing your wife's role/ contribution

Since you mentioned Black Swan Green I really liked it, so full of the the awkwardness of growing up, I hear it is being adapted for telly