Cloud Atlas (Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell)

Member Name: lady_natalie

Product:	Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
Date:	16/09/09 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: fast paced, a wide variety of different plots, characters and writing styles packed n one book

Disadvantages: hard to read if you didn't like a story

Cloud Atlas was first released in 2004, and I had been wanting to read it for quite a while before I finally got the chance to. I didn't actually know much about it however, so when I finally got to sit down and start reading it I was a bit surprised by the way it's written, Cloud Atlas is divided up into six different stories, each completely different from each other, but all having something that links the following story to the previous. There are five stories that are split into two parts, the first half of each is written and then there is the sixth story in its entirety in the middle, and then the other five follow on, giving their conclusion.

The stories come in this order: The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing, Letters from Zedelghem, Half-Lives: the First Luisa Ray Mystery,The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish,An Orsion of Sonmi~451,Sloosha's Crossin' an' Ev'rythin' After, An Orison of Sonmi~451, The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish, Half-Lives: The First Luisa Ray Mystery, Letters from Zedelghem, The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing.

The six stories not only follow on from each other in some unique way, they also move through time; the first story is set furthest back in the past, and time moves forward throughout each story, until you get to the middle one, where it's set in a post apocalyptic future. Each story is about something completely different and written in a vastly different writing style from each other, which reflects what is happening in each story, and the time it's set it.

The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing is set on tropical islands close to New Zealand around 1850. This story is written as a journal written by Adam telling about his stay here, what the people were like, the race issues of the islands and then goes on to talk about his journal sailing home.

Letters from Zedelghem is written as letters from Robert Frobisher which are always addressed to his friend 'Sixsmith'. He has gone to Belgium to help an old composer write his music and is staying in his large house while he works there. The letters are written around the 30s and he talks about how he's staying there just because he needs the money, how much he dislikes the family and how he wants to compose his own work, which he does, called the Cloud Atlas sextet. Whilst he's there he finds half a book called The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing.

In Half-Lives: The First Luisa Ray Mystery, Luisa is a reporter folling in her fathers footsteps. She meets Rufus Sixsmith who, whilst they're stuck in a lift together, tells her about a nuclear power plant in the area he worked at and how it is set to pollute the whole area with unsafe practises. He is soon killed, but suspecting that he would be he sends her a report of his work at the plant. Luisa does her best to find the report and tell the truth about the plant. Rufus' daughter gives Luisa the letters that Robert Frobisher had written to his friend Rufus Sixsmith in the 30s. This story is set in the 70s.

Timothy Cavendish is a publisher living in the present day. Whilst one of the books he has published become famous he finds out that the author has brothers who want more money off him than they deserve, and as they have a bit of a reputation he goes to hide for a while. His brother says he'll help him out and gives him an address in Hull that he can go to. When Timothy gets there he finds out it's actually an old peoples home that he's signed himself into and can't get out. Whilst he's there he reads Half-Lives: The First Luisa Ray Mystery, which is the only manuscript he's taken with him.

An Orison of Sonmi~451 is set in the future in Korea, which is now called Nea So Copros. Sonmi~451 is a cloned human, one of many Sonmi's, who works as a server at Papa Song's, a chain restaurant who uses clones at workers until they have worked enough to be sent to a paradise in Hawaii. However, Sonmi~451 isn't like the other clones, she thinks too much and is able to develop a broad vocabulary. She is taken out a Papa Songs, which she would have thought would be impossible, it is the only world she knows. She's educated more about the world she lives in and wants to rebel against the society that makes and exploites her and clones like her. She is having her story recorded on an 'orison' for future reference. At some point she watched a 'Disney', a film, called The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish.

Sloosha's Crossin' an' Ev'rythin' After is set in the distant future in Hawaii. Zach'ry is a tribesman who is visited by Meronym, one of the last members of a society which still knows technology. The tribe he belongs to worship Sonmi as their God and Zach'ry discovers the orison of Sonmi~451 when he looks through Meronyms belongings.

There is a lot of variety in this book, each story is written in such a different style and is about such a different subject that at first it would seem that each story is too different, and the book is slightly disjointed. But on deeper reading, you can see the connections. It's surprising to find the links to each story as you read the next one, and whilst it never features deeply in the next story, it's a nice added extra to be able to link them all up. Also, each new protagonist has a comet shaped birth mark. Having the book split up like this is good in some ways, and not in others. Some stories I liked so much that I really didn't want to wait to read the end, and as each section is quite short it does get frustrating having to move on just as it getting good. But then when you have moved on, the next story seems even better, and it's easy to get just as into that one. It also breaks up the book which makes it fast paced throughout. The biggest problem, I think, is if you dislike one of the stories. The novel on a whole wouldn't be the same if you didn't read them all, but I know that if I was going to read a book and I didn't like the writing style, or the plot, I just wouldn't read it, but with this you really do have to. To be honest, I didn't Sloosha's Crossin' very much, the writing style was hard to get on with, but I didn't want to give up on it. And then when there is a story you love you do think you would like to read a whole book just of that, but of course you can't, there is more space taken up by other stories. There was only the one story I didn't really like though, and it's not like I hated it. I wouldn't have read it if it was just that book, but as it's short enough; it's easy enough to work through. And then of course another good thing about this book is that you find yourself reading stories with writing styles and plots you might not usually pick up, so it's good to try something a little different.

This is really one of the best books I've ever read, you feel yourself wanting more of each story and once you've read the first half, you can't wait for the second, until you start reading the next story and then find yourself wishing that that one would just carry on instead. I'd recommend this to anyone who's not read it; it's nothing short of fantastic.

Summary: 6 awesome stories