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. ( )

almost every narrative voice was overdone and annoying in some way (too loquacious, too redneck, too many gimmicky x's, says "ruddy" too much, etc...) and the connections between characters merely existed, instead of being meaningful (like in the movie Babel, saying "we're all linked in some way" is not a profound statement). Also extremely heavy handed throughout, i.e. the Son-mi chapter & the ending journal entry. Unable to make an argument through symbolism or imagery. Deeply disappointing. ( )

Absolutly fantastic!
David Mitchell has a unique ability to interweeve stories in a way which has captivated me. I spent the time it took me to read this book on the lookout for the little links and wondering where the story would take me next. It was almost disappointing when, half-way through, the layers of the tale ceased to increase in number.
I've been trying to decrease the number of books on my bookshelf, but this is one book this is not destined to a BookCrossing release. I look foward to reading more of David Mitchell's works in the future. ( )

Soaks you into possible and unlikely worlds and 'never ending' cleverly (dis)connected stories of (de)human condition. ( )

Rather than actually enjoying the story, which involved 6 different narratives of different characters in different times and places around the world, I found myself become more and more fascinated with the author as I read on. I also spent most of the book trying too hard to figure out what it was that linked them together, but I couldn't really figure out, except for one thing, which was the strange birthmark they all had, but I'm sure that there is something much deeper and more interesting than that. Seriously, though, talk about imagination! What I didn't like about the book was that it ended in midsentence. Noooo!!!

Is that annoying or ( )

Some of us liked the language and writing of this book. It raised more questions than answers in our group, but made for a good discussion. What wast the overall theme? WAs there one - connecting the strands together. Would love to see study notes on this book - it'd be great! ( )

A collection of short stories on the topic of slavery. But the fascinating thing is that each one is split in half - like pealing an onion the stories are interlinked.

It's amazing. ( )

I bought this because my son recommended it. I really couldn't get on with it at all, I found the format contrived and the characters unattractive and was unable to really empathise with any of it. I suppose technically it is very good and shows a lot of research but it left me uninvolved and unmoved, and so I have to say it really didn't work for me - I actually thought it took a long time and a lot of detours to be long winded and unpleasant. But it has had rave reviews and my son loves it, so I seem to be in a minority. ( )

Mitchell is a talented writer, in that he can turn it on and off at will - the different styles, the construction of narrative, the rounded but quirky characters, the vividness of description. However, his attitude towards writing feels a bit like that of a surgeon towards the body: slice, dice and try to leave everything in good working order but once you leave theatre, you have forgotten whose body it was you have just worked apparent miracles on.In other words, the sensibilities informing this work, like the rather banal comments that some of the figures in this kaleidoscope of a novel pronounce as profundities that are in fact no more than platitudes, are cold and abstracted. There is no warmth that a lover or carer might lend to the body of writing under their affection or charge, but more of a sense of job done.If you want a slightly more challenging and more than usually diverting aiport novel, this is it; if you are looking for great literature, give this guy maybe another 20 years of living. ( )

This book,( along with 9 of the 10 Library Thing recommendations for those who like this book), picked me up by the shoulders and carried me along, leaving me dropped and wrung out after 509 pages. A ripper. ( )

A drift through time?alternate universe?a dream? Usually don't have patience with such, but book moves through the lives and times of who/what/wherever and is painful, moving and lovely all at once. Dont' worry, it does have structure and a plot of sorts, it just takes a while to put it all together, so don't get irritated. Mitchell is a fine writer. ( )

An intricate series of somewhat connected stories that begins on a 17th-century ship and culminates in a post-apocalyptic Hawaii, Cloud Atlas is a precisely crafted and challenging novel. Each story ends abruptly, wrenching into the next, moving forward in time like progressive notes on a scale, and then descending back to the beginning.

During the upward run, it’s difficult to grasp the connections between, say, the South Pacific schooner and a composer’s mansion in 1920s Germany, or between 1970s California and a near-future Japan where our clones are our servants. Although the physical connections are apparent — one character in each story experiences in some way the story that came before, such as through discovering and reading a lost manuscript or watching a computer-projected hologram. And it’s implied that one character in each story is the reincarnated version of someone who came before. But the theme that connects all the stories — of apocalypse and annihilation of the “other” — does not become clear until the reader is descending backward in time. ( )

David Mitchell is an amazing writer. He makes such good use of metaphor in his language. He writes engagingly, without wasting words and his work is thoughtful, powerful, and with a clear message.

There were parts of this book that had me laughing out loud. But it is not a comedy book. Indeed it is really 6 short books in one, set out with a clever mirrored structure and interconnected despite their very different styles, structures and stories. This is really a very clever novel, and one that I highly recommend.

But honesty forbids that I give it 5 stars despite the fact it is so good. The structure of the book caused a problem for me in that the book started very slowly, and I was more engaged in some of the stories than others. But despite that criticism, it is really worth reading.

Ultimately the book makes some very profound points about human nature, and the mirror structure of the book reflects also on us its readers, encouraging introspection and a deeper consideration of who we are. ( )

Fantastic book. Several separate but linked stories told pyramid style, one is about an investigative journalist, another about Darwin-era explorers, another about AI in the future. ( )

I admit that this was 'clever stuff' but I ran out of steam by half way. I've never been at ease with science fiction - if that's what you'd call the chapters set in some north Korea like state and so when when we returned to that setting in the second half I couldn't summon up enough oomph to continue. ( )

6 separate stories, ever-so-slightly interlinked. Finished it feeling kind of lost. but i think that was the point. ( )

Excellent book, and unlike anything I've read before. ( )

This was one of those books that I loved to hate, I muscled through and really was completely awed by the scope of the book but THE MIDDLE SECTION! Oy vey, so tedious. And yet, I read this years ago and I still remember it, and mostly remember the tedium of the middle section, so does that mean it was actually good?! ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel the first time I read it when it came out and I still enjoyed it on this second reading although perhaps not as much. Mitchell's prose is (apparently) effortless and it's a pleasure seeing the way the words unfold on the page (and it makes me aware of how clichéd my wording of this review is). Each section of the novel holds my attention but how they fit together thematically is something I still haven't fathomed even though I was looking out for this in particular this time. I felt sure it went beyond the comet marks and the other relationship connections but now I'm not so sure - and will enjoy looking at other reviews to help me see what I haven't found myself. ( )

At the end, I'm still sorting out what I think of this book. In one sense, I feel let down by it. Common elements and images appeared in each story that built suspense throughout the novel, which gave me the expectation that as the book came to its conclusion something would fall like a lynchpin and completely alter the significance and context of each of the stories, uniting them into a coherent whole. This was not to be.

Each story was it's own, with only vague connections to the other stories. The relationship between the stories enriched them somewhat, but less than I had hoped. I found myself devouring the book just to get to the end and find out why these stories mattered so much to each other and when I got there, I didn't find it.

The moral--the common thread--seems little more than a platitude, and for that I'm disappointed.

Finally, the characters in one story seemed contrived and shallow to me, specifically, the female reporter and her boss were, to me, caricatures of Lois Lane and Perry White, and I found myself distracted from the story by the cliched dialogue. In another substory, I think setting it in Korea made an interesting story out of what would otherwise have been yet another dystopian cliche, and I don't know whether to admire the choice of setting or condemn that it may otherwise have been unimaginative.

BUT. . .

Cloud Atlas still gets 3 stars from me. I didn't love it, but it had many redeeming features.

First and foremost, the mood of the book was achieved remarkably, and I was particularly impressed at how the author selected such different writing styles to achieve different tone and mood from one story to the next.

The prose, tempo, and flow of the writing was fantastic. The book really pulled me into the characters' worlds (except for the noted exceptions), and I couldn't set it down.

I enjoyed the read, and I enjoyed how engaging the book was, but some of it had a bit of a pulpy and sentimental cast, and after I finished, I had a feeling like I'd been reading too much fiction and needed to dig into something more significant. ( )

Fantastic read and a brilliant display of how to construct narrative! ( )