Cloud Atlas

by David Mitchell | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0340822783 Global Overview for this book
Registered by linguistkris of Remscheid, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany on 11/20/2009
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3 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by linguistkris from Remscheid, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany on Friday, November 20, 2009
What a ride.

This phantastic book has been with me for over four years, when I received it from my dear friends Candide and Philip when I had just embarked on a certain journey of my own. Only now, where that quest is slowly beginning to see its achievement, have I actually picked up the book and read -- and as always in such cases, I feel the story has entered my life precisely at the right time.

Cloud Atlas is a rare and special book, and I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it. In the fashion of a matryoshka doll, it tells the stories of six people, intertwined in various fashions and connected by sometimes more obvious, at other times very oblique references. What makes Cloud Atlas so unique is the language: each character tells his story in a tone very much of their own, and each protagonist has a unique and believable voice. Mitchell does a phantastic job at making these different characters in their different days and ages come to life. Each of those would in their own ways have been worthy of a book for themselves, but only in combination with the others can Mitchell weave a bigger picture, complete with a massage that he manages to bring across quite sincerely without being tacky for a moment.
Wonderful!

I am tempted to make this a bookring, but then... what good is hanging on to things if it robs them of their lives?

Journal Entry 2 by linguistkris at OBCZ Café Scherbe in Graz, Steiermark Austria on Friday, November 20, 2009

Released 14 yrs ago (11/20/2009 UTC) at OBCZ Café Scherbe in Graz, Steiermark Austria

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Beim Stammtisch.

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Vielen Dank und viel Spaß mit dem Buch!

Journal Entry 3 by feloris from City of Westminster, Greater London United Kingdom on Wednesday, December 9, 2009
3 Wochen ist das gute Stück bei mir gelegen, ohne dass ich geschafft hätte, es in Ruhe zu beginnen. Am letzten Feiertag war es endlich so weit, und es musste mich nicht mehr vergeblich von den verschiedensten Orten aus (vom Nachttisch, aus dem Rucksack, vom Sofa, verführerisch neben dem Laptop etc) anlachen.
Ich bin schon (oder erst?) mitten in Teil 2. Herumblättern und Kopfzeilen lesen hat mir verraten, dass das Buch anscheinend pyramidig angelegt ist (oder, wie Linguistkris so schön schreibt, wie eine Matryoshka-Puppe), was mich nur noch gespannter darauf macht, wie die Geschichten miteinander verwoben sind - bzw. ist es ja irgendwie gemein, erst ganz am Ende zu erfahren, wie Geschicht 1 weitergeht etc.
Den Schreibstil (bzw. die Stile, heh) finde ich jedenfalls schon wirklich super.

(Ich hab auch letzten Montag einer Freundin das neue Buch des Autors gekauft, einfach nur, weil ich die Idee, die hinter Cloud Atlas steht, so gut fand, dass ich mir dachte, das kann nur gut sein...dann hab ich reingeschnuppert und meine Meinung war bestätigt. Ich bin also schon jetzt der Meinung, dass ich mir die restlichen Werke des Autors auch noch zulegen möchte. :))

Journal Entry 4 by feloris from City of Westminster, Greater London United Kingdom on Monday, January 4, 2010
It's a shame it took me so long to read the book - I needed almost 3 weeks. I'm afraid this lessened the fun a bit, but it was still an amazing read. I've never read a book like this before, and I guess I never will again. I loved each of the characters, with the possible exception of the aged editor, and I thoroughly enjoyed guessing what might lie beyond the stories told (especially in the 5th and 6th story, being a huge fan of dystopias).
I will definitely read something by Mitchell again, "Ghostwritten" I've got lying around here (by pure chance!) in its German translation, and the rest of 'em...well, someday they'll hopefully find their way into my bookshelves.

I think I will keep this book until the community in Graz receives its newest 'catch' into its folds. ;)

Journal Entry 5 by feloris at Controlled Release, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases on Friday, March 12, 2010

Released 14 yrs ago (3/12/2010 UTC) at Controlled Release, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases

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Geht heute an anathema-device. :)

Journal Entry 6 by anathema-device from Wien Bezirk 20 - Brigittenau, Wien Austria on Friday, March 12, 2010
Whoo - thank you so much, Feloris! This is not only a very nice way to welcome me to my new city; it's been on my wishlist _and_ it's a "1001 book"! I guess I will devour it in no time at all! :D

Journal Entry 7 by linguistkris from Remscheid, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany on Friday, April 2, 2010
I just found something on Wikipedia that I think bears some relevance to the second-to-last/-innermost story... Honi soit qui mal y pense?

Journal Entry 8 by anathema-device at Graz, Steiermark Austria on Sunday, May 30, 2010
It actually took me a long time to finish this, but then I haven't been able to finish any other book either, so I'm blaming Joss Whedon. ;P

Wow. The stories, the literary styles, the dystopian panorama, and the recurring motive, not only of (human) power, but of individuals striving for escape from external control.
My two previous readers have said it all, so I can only add: I really liked this book. Even though I "cheated" and read the ending of each story before beginning the next. It's possible; you won't miss anything (okay, maybe a bit of cliffhanger suspense).

Oh, one more thing - maybe for the redemption of Timothy Cavendish (who was not a favourite but IMO shouldn't be looked down upon):

[...] watching London roll away, yes, you, you sly, toupéed quizmaster of a city, you and your tenements of Somalians; viaducts of Kingdom Brunel; malls of casualized labour; strata of soot-blitzed bricks and muddy bones of doctors Dee, Crippen et al.; hot glass office buildings where the blooms of youth harden into aged cacti like my pennypinching brother.
(p. 163)

It's not a pretty picture, but somehow lyrical, and it even shows the love and knowledge (or research) that went into it - and, most of all, what did it instantly remind me of? (Click here for the solution.)
Now all that remains is the question, where did those two writers get their images from? Is this the true image of London, one that you can't miss if you only look close enough (the bones, the glass, all the cooked-down details)? Or who read whose book(s) first? ;))

Journal Entry 9 by anathema-device at Ramingstein, Salzburg Austria on Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Released 13 yrs ago (7/9/2010 UTC) at Ramingstein, Salzburg Austria

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Passed on to Secundus. Hope you'll enjoy it! :)

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