Cloud Atlas David Mitchell

[garlictwist]

Anyone read this? I've just finished it and not sure what to think. I think I enjoyed it, some really good writing, but I am not quite sure I get it. What is it meant to be about?

Can't help on what it was about but I felt much the same. I really enjoyed the stories up to the middle section and down again, but hated that middle section story - but that's very much his way. Slade House and The Bone Clocks are amazing writing but no idea what they are really about, but if you want a much more tangible one of his then Black Swan Green is probably one of the best books ever written about bullying.

I really enjoyed the first half but lost interest somewhere around the middle and sadly never finished it. But i do regret that and often think about trying again. It's one of those books I really thought id love.

What is it you’re not understanding, OP? It’s just interlinked nested stories…?

Haven't read it but 'Us' by him was brilliant- read it 8 years ago now!

No, different guy. Us is by David Nicholls, who also wrote One Day and Starter for Ten. Very different beast.

I loved it. At first I hated the way the stories all jumped around, but then as each one resumed and resolved, the picture of how they are all interlinked slowly comes into view... almost as if you're watching clouds take shape and suddenly the image is unmistakable and you wonder if it was always there and if so how you didn't spot it before.

I read an excellent post on here ages ago that changed how I saw that book, and I loved it already. It's all about the civilisation of the savage, and what that really means for a developing society, and how 'we' view 'the savage'.
It's worth a re-read as you miss so much following the plot the first time.

@SoIAmGlad - thanks for pointing that out to me - made a massive schoolgirl error there - I've thought Cloud Atlas and Us were by the same author for about 10 years now! I definitely recommend 'Us' - one of the best books I've ever read! I've not yet read any David Mitchell books

I read one of his (about a house and garden where people kept disappearing; can't remember the name) and I really enjoyed it. I read somewhere that some of the characters/themes reappear throughout the rest of his novels so I bought a load of them. Tried one and couldn't get into it, so that was the end of that.

Slade House? Which I’ve never actually read, as the element I don’t care for in DM’s novels is the soul-eating immortal Anchorites/Horologists stuff that erupts, in my mind, completely unnecessarily in excellent novels about something else entirely — but if you liked it, the best place to start in other DM novels would be The Bone Clocks, as SH (which I think started off on Twitter) was intended as a companion piece to it.

Thanks for this, it's really helped me 'get it. I'm struggling through it just now

I loved Slade House, but didn't like The Bone Clocks. I thought TBC started brilliantly - I started reading it and said to dh, 'this is incredible, I can't believe how good it is', but I found it went downhill with each chapter. Sounds like Cloud Atlas might be similar. Slade House worked for me, because it was short and sinister. I think he has good ideas but can't execute them well over a long novel.

I watched the film then picked up the book.
Loved the film and I'm not sure I would have made the link between the stories had I not seen it. It's been a while since I read it so maybe I did?!
I really enjoyed the book, but love the take a pp mentioned about how we view the savages throughout the ages.

It’s years since I read it. I quite liked it but my favourite David Mitchell novels are The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet and Black Swan Green.