Reviews

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

roulan's review against another edition

2.0

It took me two tries to muscle my way through this one. On the surface, the concept of the book (the nested narratives) interested and amused me. Mitchell seemed relatively clear on where he was going, to himself at least, and I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. The ever-intensifying need to drive home "the point" became more and more grating to me as I worked my way through the latter half of the book. As a reader, I felt pandered to by the lack of subtlety. Additionally, I felt the voices from novella to novella relied too heavily on dialect shift the create personality and not nearly enough on innate personality. Characters within novellas blended together for me. Not my favorite book.

alwayscariabook's review against another edition

Too complicated without enough interest 

rickwren's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

alesh's review against another edition

4.0

Yup. Tour de force of writing and all that, but not enough of a payoff in terms of the 6 stories connecting to each other for me.

gioulireads's review against another edition

informative mysterious reflective slow-paced

matildawalker07's review against another edition

adventurous reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

usersavvy's review against another edition

5.0

What a trip!
David Mitchell broadcasts his skill of writing dialects in this masterpiece. This book was so artistic and beautiful it made me wish I were an author. A cool story that is told through multiple cross sections of time.

gatedrive's review against another edition

inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

heidilreads's review against another edition

3.0

the book was a unique conglomeration, but i can't say it kept my attention enough to really get into the story. and, if i hadn't been listening to the story, i don't think i would have finished it.

lactomar's review against another edition

5.0

Great read. Engrossing story. More like a collection of weirdly interrelated short stories. Almost an adventure to get through moving through each of the storylines. It was jarring to move from each chapter to the next, but after the first few I was too excited to see what was coming to worry about it.