First Impressions
Rather than dig extremely deep into David Mitchell's rather interesting novel titled Cloud Atlas, I thought instead this first blog post to be my general first impressions of the first bit of the novel.
Beginning with some general summary of the novel itself. It is broken up into 11 parts, all with varying numbers of chapters within each. The book was published in 2004, making it fairly new, but the way with which the book is written and told is mind-blowing. It is told through the eyes of six different narrators and spans several centuries of time through different countries, time periods and even genres. It's safe to say this book is quite the journey.
Part 1 of Cloud Atlas is written through the eyes of our main protagonist, Adam Ewing; or his journal writings more specifically. He is on an island in the South Pacific where he meets the first character we are introduced to named Dr. Henry Goose; who is introduced within the second paragraph of the novel, searching for human teeth spit out onto the beach by the cannibals that inhabit the island. Yeah, this isn't going to be a weird book at all... I, as the reader, am introduced to many more characters and locations without much further background information about them (at least within the first part). Then, it is described the friendship between Ewing and Mr. Goose; introduced to us the conflict of the bloodthirsty Maori people who slaughtered most of the peaceful Moriori and enslaved the remaining (the moral being that, "Peace...is a cardinal virtue only if your neighbors share your conscience."(pg.16)). We understand that it is the 1800s through discussions of white supremacy and racism; Ewing encounters hundreds of dendroglyphs (faces carved in trees) in the woods along with a human heart; Ewing finally leaves the island on the ship Prophetess with Dr. Goose as the new ship doctor. Upon the ship, a slave by the name of Autua had stowed away in Adam Ewing's "coffin", as he calls it, in search of a job on the ship; he gets to stay. Dr. Goose diagnosis Adam with a parasite and helps him try to kill it; the section ends in the middle of a sentence. Yup, just like that, the 1st part ends in the very middle of a sentence.
As you can likely see, this novel has already made itself clear to be a complex and thought-provoking read. Not to mention the rather elaborate grammar and writing to fit the time period, but the plot of the novel itself is complex and difficult to understand. Besides this, however, I am enjoying the story so far. Let's see where this 11 part, six narrator, country, time, and genre-shifting novel goes!
Beginning with some general summary of the novel itself. It is broken up into 11 parts, all with varying numbers of chapters within each. The book was published in 2004, making it fairly new, but the way with which the book is written and told is mind-blowing. It is told through the eyes of six different narrators and spans several centuries of time through different countries, time periods and even genres. It's safe to say this book is quite the journey.
Part 1 of Cloud Atlas is written through the eyes of our main protagonist, Adam Ewing; or his journal writings more specifically. He is on an island in the South Pacific where he meets the first character we are introduced to named Dr. Henry Goose; who is introduced within the second paragraph of the novel, searching for human teeth spit out onto the beach by the cannibals that inhabit the island. Yeah, this isn't going to be a weird book at all... I, as the reader, am introduced to many more characters and locations without much further background information about them (at least within the first part). Then, it is described the friendship between Ewing and Mr. Goose; introduced to us the conflict of the bloodthirsty Maori people who slaughtered most of the peaceful Moriori and enslaved the remaining (the moral being that, "Peace...is a cardinal virtue only if your neighbors share your conscience."(pg.16)). We understand that it is the 1800s through discussions of white supremacy and racism; Ewing encounters hundreds of dendroglyphs (faces carved in trees) in the woods along with a human heart; Ewing finally leaves the island on the ship Prophetess with Dr. Goose as the new ship doctor. Upon the ship, a slave by the name of Autua had stowed away in Adam Ewing's "coffin", as he calls it, in search of a job on the ship; he gets to stay. Dr. Goose diagnosis Adam with a parasite and helps him try to kill it; the section ends in the middle of a sentence. Yup, just like that, the 1st part ends in the very middle of a sentence.
As you can likely see, this novel has already made itself clear to be a complex and thought-provoking read. Not to mention the rather elaborate grammar and writing to fit the time period, but the plot of the novel itself is complex and difficult to understand. Besides this, however, I am enjoying the story so far. Let's see where this 11 part, six narrator, country, time, and genre-shifting novel goes!
When I began reading this book, I was also surprised to learn that Cloud Atlas was written in 2004. The realistic account of David Ewing's life in the 1800's is so believable that it is hard to imagine Mitchell writing it in modern day. I was intrigued by Adam Ewing's internal conflicts about white supremacy and the white man's attitude towards natives. We gain a lot of insight into his thoughts and questions about peace and idealistic society. While this first section may be slow due to the vivid but lengthy descriptions of the Chatham islands and the diverse characters, these descriptions transport you into the story. You can clearly envision everything that the narrator is recounting. I particularly liked the character Dr. Henry Goose and enjoyed his rantings in the opening passage about Marchioness of Mayfair. I am eager to learn what happens next in this plot line. Mitchell's writing has an air of mystery about it that draws you in and holds your attention. I was also frustrated by the cryptic ending to the first story but it does add an element of realism, as if the narrator tore the last page from his journal. I don't yet understand how these stories are interconnected and I was wondering if you see any potential connections between these three vastly different stories?
ReplyDeleteI love the picture of the mountains, Bryton, and you do a good job summarizing the book. It is a lot to take in, especially at the beginning, but it will begin to make sense pretty quickly, I think. Look for patterns and trends and connections between the sections. That's my hint. Make sure you add a bit of analysis to your blog.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, I am intrigued as it seems the book is full of interesting and exciting plot elements. It also seems like a lot is going on in early in the book, so props to you for being able to capture the beginning of it. Your description really makes me want to take a look at this book and maybe even read it for myself.
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