A curious set of stories within stories, arranged as a kind of ladder or chain, in which each story has some reference to the one chronologically before it. The time frames range from colonial Pacific days to way after tomorrow, the tone and style different in each, but the opinions of human interactions are consistent, sometimes grim, sometimes hopeful. In all, a cautionary set of tales. ( )

Spent much of the book having absolutely no idea what's going on. But that's okay. Basically it's a series of interconnected stories that go through the diary of an American man in Australia in the 1850s, a British musician in the 1930s, a mystery-solving American journalist in the 1970s, an elderly British publisher in the present day, a clone on trial in nearish-future Korea, a goat herder in post-apocalyptic Hawaii, and back again. I'd hoped there would be a little more connection between the stories - more on the comet-shaped birthmark, for example - but that was not to be. It also got a little preachy in places. My favorite was probably the elderly British publisher who gets committed to an old folks' home against his will. All in all it's a decent read, but far too long for the amount of interest it held for me. Which sounds about like how I felt about the other Mitchell book I've read, Ghostwritten: great characters, probably could use a reread, but if you prefer less convoluted tales, you might want to skip this one. ( )

A complex yet strangely elegant dance across time and back; a nice study in unintended consequences, genre bending, and the perils of being on the outside looking in. Must read. (Originally posted to LivingSocial 2008) ( )

Amazing book. Started out modestly - I wondered what the fuss was about. Then, gradually, it became more and more absorbing, until I was thoroughly impressed. The two sections set in the future are particularly stunning. ( )

Interesting to see that not everyone loved this novel. I found the format of different tales, all except the middle one placed in two halves, clumsy. The characters mostly failed to be engaging, although I took a liking to Sonmi and the tortured musician. Some of the tales are interesting enough, although not prize winning, in their own right. The middle tale completely failed to engage me and I skipped most of it, as it by then seemed clear that the links between them were tenuous at best. There was a theme of slavery, that he could have illuminated in many better ways, but he did succeed in portraying the different ways we are enslaved. Reasonably skilled writing. ( )