Cloud Atlas

a novel

509 pages

English language

Published Nov. 3, 2004 by Random House Trade Paperbacks.

ISBN:
978-0-375-50725-0
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3 stars (23 reviews)

From David Mitchell, the Booker Prize nominee, award-winning writer and one of the featured authors in Granta’s “Best of Young British Novelists 2003” issue, comes his highly anticipated third novel, a work of mind-bending imagination and scope.

A reluctant voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a disinherited composer blagging a precarious livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; an ambitious journalist in Governor Reagan’s California; a vanity publisher fleeing the mendicant and violent family of his star author; a genetically modified “dinery server” on death-row; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander witnessing the nightfall of science and civilisation -- the narrators of Cloud Atlas hear each other’s echoes down the corridor of history, and their destinies are changed in ways great and small.

In his captivating third novel, David Mitchell erases the boundaries of language, genre and time to offer a meditation on humanity’ s dangerous will to power, and where it may …

12 editions

Review of 'Cloud Atlas' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I liked following the different stories and bouncing back and forth between them. I'm not totally sure what the thread that wove them all together was, but the individual stories kept me reading and the book as a whole was fun to read. Having seen the movie before reading the books, I had already formulated pictures of what all the characters looked like, which was probably helpful since there were many to keep track of.

Review of 'Cloud Atlas' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

The travel journal, the lover's letters, the thriller, the comedy, the sci-fi, and the after-collapse; six novellas in as many different genres and voices. A historic and dystopic vision of human nature, reminding us how it doesn't matter the century or the level of civilisation - humanity has always been about the strong crushing the weak. And yet, with some extraordinary human treats, how it is possible for the weak to succeed, even if posthumously, and with the help of sometimes a whole community.

There are a few gems for learning for those involved in struggles against the powerful nowadays.

Unlike other books ... this book is excellent and every one should read it.

Review of 'CLOUD ATLAS.' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

All in all a very good book. The writing was all over the place. It considering the different voices it all made sense. Confusing but I now get it. And the ending is not what I expected. It was really good and I finally figured it out about the voices. Made perfect sense. Can't wait for the movie which probably won't make sense.

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Subjects

  • Fate and fatalism -- Fiction
  • Reincarnation -- Fiction