Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell

2 reviews

ethanlj's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This book is gorgeous. 

I read this five years after reading Mitchell's <b>Bone Clocks</b> and I shouldn't have waited. I know all of Mitchell's books are connected, but I didn't realize that <b>Thousand Autumns</b> is the first of a subset trilogy, Bone Clocks being the second, and the third as-yet-published. (I don't believe Slade House is the third, although it's clearly closely related). You don't need to read them in order, though. It was fine having read BC and SH first. If you have read none, start with this one, though.

Mitchell writes in the afterward that he set out to write a bicultural book. I am ignorant of Japanese culture regardless of the century and about as familiar with Dutch culture. That said, the book felt like two intertwined settings and I loved it. I read this in paper and found myself scrambling for a pen to underline wonderful turns of phrase. There were a couple of parts that I don't think added to the narrative, but that ending left me in devastated quiet awe.

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swdancer's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0


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