Reviews

I'm sorry, what??? I wish the pace question had an optionof 'it's complicated.' The fast stuff is closer to the beginning, the weird stuff throughout, but definitely in the end, where several storylines simply don't resolve or even hint at resolving. I feel like I entered an art gallery where you're supposed to 'get' the pieces of art, but really, all you can see are blank canvasses or dead bananas taped to the wall. But somehow not getting it is my own fault and the most pretentious ones completely get it. In the end I found myself reading just to be done, while grasping for some understanding of why the tone shifted so drastically. And left, finally, feeling quite disturbed.
Definitely not my book.

Content Warnings

ecgerritse's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

sfletcher26's review against another edition

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3.0

I've been working my way through David Mitchell's books for about ten years. Cloud Atlas was my first foray and it remains one of my favourite books. I then went on to read The Thousand of Jacob de Zoet, Slade House and Ghostwritten and I've loved each and every one. Number9dream though is a strange one and I'm not sure what to make of it.
It's clearly a homage to Haruki Murakami, being almost more Murakami than Murakami in places, which is fine by me as I love Murakami. It ticks all of the right Mitchell boxes, intercut, interlinked stories, elements of magical realism, reoccurring Mitchell world characters but it just, somehow, doesn't feel complete.
Oh well even the best writers have an off book I suppose.

4laskaa's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

sjh541's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

I’m sure I’ll love this one day on a re-read, but it’s a hard one to get into at first. It really picks up steam as it goes, though. There’s a tonal weirdness that doesn’t fully click for me at this moment, e.g., a super compelling yakuza plot that somehow feels like a distraction from our main plot line? Anyway I loved Ai. That ending though….

ivo3185's review against another edition

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3.0

This book was a pain to read... Mitchell loves to describe every possible dream sequence, every book read, etc. All of that probably took up more than half the book. There was very little actual plot. Around 3/4 of the way through you start getting interested in the story, and it becomes easier to read, even some letters the main character reads you for literally tens of pages. It could be a matter of me slowly getting used to enjoying the literature itself instead of focusing hornily on the plot, but still my enjoyment of the book as a whole was a 2.5/5.

docpacey's review against another edition

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4.0

re-read as part of my journey through the Mitchell canon. A much more cohesive narrative than I had remembered.
Worth noting that the phrase 'cloud atlas' appears as a toss away descriptive near the end, and that the Mongolian KGB agent Subhartta appears, as in Ghostwritten.

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