Cloud Atlas

by David Mitchell | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0340822775 Global Overview for this book
Registered by BookGroupMan of Chester, Cheshire United Kingdom on 9/20/2005
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2 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by BookGroupMan from Chester, Cheshire United Kingdom on Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Booker shortlisted last year (04) - picked as our book group read for next month. It look's quite a challenge!

From the blurb:

'A tremendous novel...one of the most shamelessly exciting books imaginable'

'A corncucopia, an elegiac, radiant festival of prescience, meditation and entertainment'

ooh, ah

Journal Entry 2 by BookGroupMan from Chester, Cheshire United Kingdom on Thursday, November 3, 2005
(4/11) *includes spoiler*

What a brilliant novel, or rather 6 novellas that Mitchell interweaves around the central idea of the ‘Cloud Atlas sextet’, although we don’t find the details of the composition until p463, "sextet of overlapping soloists...each in its own language of key, scale and colour. In the 1st set, each solo is interrupted by its successor..."

Now whether the leads in each story, Adam Ewing, Robert Frobisher, Luisa Rey, Timothy Cavendish, Sonmi-451 & Zachry (Baily) correspond to the instruments ‘piano, clarinet, ‘cello, flute, oboe and violin’ I can’t tell, its complicated enough for my little brain! DM not only gives separate (and complete) through-provoking stories but he also has a number of themes threading subtly or obviously through the novel; most notably the comet-shaped birthmark (what does that mean!), travel throughout the pacific rim, and the ‘Cloud Atlas’ itself. Cavendish talking about his life’s journey, "...in my youth did I glimpse the Joyous Isles, before they were lost to fogs, depressions, cold fronts, ill winds and contrary tides...I neglected to record their latitude, their longitude, their approach. What wouldn’t I give now for a never-ending map of the ever-constant ineffable? To possess, as it were, an atlas of clouds’"

There is so much rich detail, code & allusion in this book that it’s hard to pick specifics out. Two last things;

In ‘Half-Lives - The first Luisa Rey Mystery’ the double-crossing Indian says, "Power, time, gravity, love. The forces that really kick ass area all invisible"

And, in the closing ‘soliloquy’ in the journal of American notary Adam Ewing (first and last in the book), he draws together a final linking message about the nature of history, civilisation and the human condition no less! "Scholars discern motions in history & formulate these notions into rule that govern the rises & falls of civilisations. My belief runs contrary, however. To wit: history admits no rules; only outcomes." The outcomes of ‘vicious & virtuous acts’, the role of belief to guide the hand and actions of believers, dominance of the strong over the weak, the vainglorious over the humble. Its not as depressing as it sounds, in fact, looking back the individual stories all end more or less with a satisfying conclusion, maybe that’s the best and the worst that we can all hope for?


Journal Entry 3 by BookGroupMan from Chester, Cheshire United Kingdom on Thursday, November 10, 2005
Reserved for Angi612UK

Journal Entry 4 by BookGroupMan at on Saturday, December 3, 2005

Released 18 yrs ago (12/2/2005 UTC) at

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On its way to Angi to enjoy. May be too heavy to pass on - unless by hand? Your call :)

Journal Entry 5 by angi612uk from Whitchurch, Somerset United Kingdom on Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Thank you so much Tony, I'm really looking forward to reading this and so is my OH.

Journal Entry 6 by angi612uk from Whitchurch, Somerset United Kingdom on Monday, April 17, 2006
It was a challenge!! A marathon read, but worth it in the end! Many thanks Tony.

Journal Entry 7 by angi612uk from Whitchurch, Somerset United Kingdom on Monday, September 25, 2006
Passed on to a neighbour without internet access.

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