book: Cloud Atlas
author: David Mitchell
where: on the beach (bragging)
how: borrowed (dad)
I really love to go to the movies (this is important to a post about books). I also, as much as I love watching trailers, I also like going into movies relatively blind. However, this means I go see some real stinkers. Cloud Atlas was one of those movies that made me happy to go to the movies again. It restored my faith in movie making. So naturally I had to read the book.
Mitchell may be one of my favourite new authors (well, the year is brand new, but lets just go with it). His talent with language is just astounding. I ended up reading two Mitchell books while I was in Mexico (see part 3) and what that man can do with english is unreal. Cloud Atlas is such a striking example, as every character has a totally different language and rhythm. It really is a book that feels like six different authors wrote it.
I feel like, in a way, that Cloud Atlas shouldn't work. whenever I describe to someone how all the characters are actually linked, despite being from different eras, and all of the stories echo each other thematically, I can see disbelief crossing people faces. We've all read these type of stories before, and the multiple narrative rarely works. Often, its just too difficult for authors to create a voice other than their own and all the characters end up sounding the same. Mitchell not only pulls it off, but pulls it off brilliantly. He essentially creates a new language in his super future stories, and manages to connect the stories just enough that we feel the pull, but not so that we feel we're being bashed about the head with symbolism.
if you can get a copy, read it. and go see the movie. right now.
xoxo
ellebee
author: David Mitchell
where: on the beach (bragging)
how: borrowed (dad)
I really love to go to the movies (this is important to a post about books). I also, as much as I love watching trailers, I also like going into movies relatively blind. However, this means I go see some real stinkers. Cloud Atlas was one of those movies that made me happy to go to the movies again. It restored my faith in movie making. So naturally I had to read the book.
Mitchell may be one of my favourite new authors (well, the year is brand new, but lets just go with it). His talent with language is just astounding. I ended up reading two Mitchell books while I was in Mexico (see part 3) and what that man can do with english is unreal. Cloud Atlas is such a striking example, as every character has a totally different language and rhythm. It really is a book that feels like six different authors wrote it.
I feel like, in a way, that Cloud Atlas shouldn't work. whenever I describe to someone how all the characters are actually linked, despite being from different eras, and all of the stories echo each other thematically, I can see disbelief crossing people faces. We've all read these type of stories before, and the multiple narrative rarely works. Often, its just too difficult for authors to create a voice other than their own and all the characters end up sounding the same. Mitchell not only pulls it off, but pulls it off brilliantly. He essentially creates a new language in his super future stories, and manages to connect the stories just enough that we feel the pull, but not so that we feel we're being bashed about the head with symbolism.
if you can get a copy, read it. and go see the movie. right now.
xoxo
ellebee
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