Thirteenth Meeting: Cloud Atlas

In December, Aaron hosted the thirteenth meeting of Eat, Drink, and Be Literary. For me, it seemed like "unlucky 13" because I did not particularly enjoy his pick Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell. The book consisted of six short stories that wove through time and space. The book itself was like a palindrome-- the first story ended abruptly (I'm talking mid-sentence) about half way through and didn't continue until the very end of the book. In other words, it was both the first and last story, and the second was also the second-to-last.

Each story was told from the point of view of a wildly different character. First up was Adam Ewing, a sailor exploring New Zealand in the 19th century, next was Robert Frobisher, a pompous young composer in the early 20th century living in Belgium; third was Louisa Rey, a young woman living in the 1970's in California, fourth was Timothy Cavendish, a book publisher in what seemed to be present day England, fifth was Son-Mi, a clone turned revolutionary in a futuristic Korea, and finally was Zachry living in post-apocalyptic Hawaii. Each character seemed to be reincarnations of the previous character, and also read or watched the same short stories as we read.

If nothing else, I was incredibly impressed by Mitchell's abilities to write from the point of view of these wildly different people. However, it was mostly lost on me. I especially couldn't read the sections told in dialects (Zachry's in particular). I found myself turning pages without knowing at all what I was reading. The book club meeting definitely helped me appreciate the book more, and I left feeling like I should re-read the book. (I'm not going to, mind you, but I think I should).

As usual, the book had a mixed review among the group. Of eight or so people that came, I think half liked it, and half didn't... though most of us were probably hovering towards the neutral feeling. I will not be recommending this book to anyone anytime soon, unless they are a philosopher or really into thinking hard and not understanding anything... but again, I have to hand it to David Mitchell for writing such an incredible book. I feel bad that most of it was lost on me.

* This novel is being adapted into a film sometime soon, and has an incredible cast. I'm definitely going to check it out, and maybe (hopefully!) I will get more out of it.