Cloud Atlas

Name: Cloud Atlas
Author: David Mitchell

David Mitchell

— 2004 —

“

Six nested stories spanning from the 19th-century Pacific to a post-apocalyptic future, each interrupted at its midpoint and resumed in reverse order.

Decide its fate

The record

Time
An eveningA season
537 pages, about 11 hours: the length of 1.7 typical books on the shelf.
Getting in
Walk right inSteep climb
Two readers report struggling through Adam Ewing’s opening Pacific journal before the book wins them back.
What it gives
Plot and actionIdeas to live by
In 17 reviews from critics and book blogs, 5 credit the plot and 9 credit the ideas or a change in how they live.
One of a kind
Others do thisNothing else does
A blog says Mitchell attempts Calvino’s device in If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, on the shelf at 260 pages, without matching it.

The case for it

on the six styles
“Cloud Atlas likewise jumps in and out of half a dozen different styles”
Jeff Turrentine · The Washington Post, 2004
on Robert Frobisher
“nailing the tones of the dissolute composer/amanuensis Robert Frobisher”
a book blog
on Cavendish’s escape
“the Cavendish ordeal that I most enjoyed was when Cavendish escapes with 3 others”
a book blog
on Sonmi’s story
“part of the book, it gave me strong vibes of Blade Runner and Nineteen Eighty-Four”
a book blog

The case against

on Zachry’s pidgin
“The pidgin English Mitchell used to write it was really hard to read quickly”
two stars · a book blog
on the length
“I was counting down the pages until I reached the end”
a book blog
on some sections
“a couple devolve to the pedestrian, marring the overall effect of the novel”
Art Winslow · The Chicago Tribune, 2004
on Ewing and Zachry
“I found Story 1 and 6 a little hard to follow because they’re written differently”
five stars · a Substack review