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watermelleon's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
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? Yes
5.0
If you haven't read this book, read it with as little foresight as possible. Do not read reviews, pass go, sink in unprepared.
If you have read it, read this:
Vague enough spoilers await..
Disclaimer, it's my 4th (. 5?) book by David Mitchell. As a stand alone with no prior knowledge, it is a 5 star read.
If you've read any other David Mitchell novel, it becomes even more special.
This book is a beautifully skilled craftwork jigsaw puzzle, with pieces that snap into place perfectly despite at first being unpredictable. You can start in the centre or form the edges, or from a corner outwards. It does not matter which order you fill them to get the satisfying conclusion that appears.
An odessey through the 60s, this book is your own personal tour through time, it's glitter and it's failures. It's real, but understands naivety, inspiration, hope and other complicated human feelings.
This novel hinges on the story of human potential, who we are and who we will become (or who we could be, given the chance). We follow the band reach stardom and everything in between in the peak of their youth, but we also see revisited characters in their younger selves, and the legacy of others long gone, their periods of potential and hope. This 'glory days' epic reminds you there will be an eventual end to these experiences, but they will never leave who you have become in the way they have changed you.
Bone clocks spoiler - I think back to an older Levon speaking to an older Crispin hersey, both with their own regrets, what they could have done better. At the time, Levon loved his band and forgave them for their youthful incidences. Because of this I expected a fallout, a feud over losing a record deal, a dramatic end, a tour bus that crashed. Instead I was hit with the nature of life - the script doesn't pick and choose favourites, it shoots where it may.
Thoughts and questions that made me existential while reading this book:
A young Crispin Hershey points a finger gun at Dean. And then the writer erases him.
Is the love between luisa and elf really forever? An older elf writes on amongst the stark cliffs of sheep's head.
Speaking of Holly Sykes, it's peculiar that she's a gravesend girl too.
Bolivar is a scary and familiar sight. But what does he want? Is it a call forwards into something new, or someone we have seen before? Who had to die at that point in time to be there?
"I hope somebody made a quality bootleg of this"
How popular were utopia avenue then to be forgotten now? Is it a universe teetering on the edge of ours, or a perfect copy? Is another point being made about what happens to David Mitchell's world when it comes to the end of the timeline?
"it makes you wonder if you've actually been living not in the real world but only a description of it" -
It is only a script after all.
Speaking of the end of the world, only some unknown coincidence in hawaii saved utopia avenue's last record. And a man with impossible technology that almost disappeared from the world in only 50 years.
I wonder if/when the horologists will show us any possibility of moving through time in order to preserve it, and I wonder if any meddling has taken place so far.
Griff Griffin. I guess it wasn't his time to be a Protagonist yet. I wonder about Steve also. An important part of the band, written as "an important piece of the puzzle", or a "heartbeat", you're convinced he's important but you're left wondering how. He never thinks out loud to us. It's curious. Or maybe he's just dyslexic and can't write a chapter.
Why does the cloud atlas sextet sound so familiar to Jasper?
I wonder what sixsmith was doing at this point in time.
"How come the rich own the world when they're so bloody useless?" - dean's transition through social class and what remains. The poetry of ordering a boring sandwich as room service. Class was a point of contention initially for dean/griff and elf, seeing their relationships change was a voyage.
Other things about elf and griff that can be thought and not written. If David Mitchell is Elf, I'm Levon.
If you have read it, read this:
Vague enough spoilers await..
Disclaimer, it's my 4th (. 5?) book by David Mitchell. As a stand alone with no prior knowledge, it is a 5 star read.
If you've read any other David Mitchell novel, it becomes even more special.
This book is a beautifully skilled craftwork jigsaw puzzle, with pieces that snap into place perfectly despite at first being unpredictable. You can start in the centre or form the edges, or from a corner outwards. It does not matter which order you fill them to get the satisfying conclusion that appears.
An odessey through the 60s, this book is your own personal tour through time, it's glitter and it's failures. It's real, but understands naivety, inspiration, hope and other complicated human feelings.
This novel hinges on the story of human potential, who we are and who we will become (or who we could be, given the chance). We follow the band reach stardom and everything in between in the peak of their youth, but we also see revisited characters in their younger selves, and the legacy of others long gone, their periods of potential and hope. This 'glory days' epic reminds you there will be an eventual end to these experiences, but they will never leave who you have become in the way they have changed you.
Bone clocks spoiler -
Thoughts and questions that made me existential while reading this book:
A young Crispin Hershey points a finger gun at Dean. And then the writer erases him.
Is the love between luisa and elf really forever? An older elf writes on amongst the stark cliffs of sheep's head.
Speaking of Holly Sykes, it's peculiar that she's a gravesend girl too.
Bolivar is a scary and familiar sight. But what does he want? Is it a call forwards into something new, or someone we have seen before? Who had to die at that point in time to be there?
"I hope somebody made a quality bootleg of this"
How popular were utopia avenue then to be forgotten now? Is it a universe teetering on the edge of ours, or a perfect copy? Is another point being made about what happens to David Mitchell's world when it comes to the end of the timeline?
"it makes you wonder if you've actually been living not in the real world but only a description of it" -
It is only a script after all.
Speaking of the end of the world, only some unknown coincidence in hawaii saved utopia avenue's last record. And a man with impossible technology that almost disappeared from the world in only 50 years.
I wonder if/when the horologists will show us any possibility of moving through time in order to preserve it, and I wonder if any meddling has taken place so far.
Griff Griffin. I guess it wasn't his time to be a Protagonist yet. I wonder about Steve also. An important part of the band, written as "an important piece of the puzzle", or a "heartbeat", you're convinced he's important but you're left wondering how. He never thinks out loud to us. It's curious. Or maybe he's just dyslexic and can't write a chapter.
Why does the cloud atlas sextet sound so familiar to Jasper?
I wonder what sixsmith was doing at this point in time.
"How come the rich own the world when they're so bloody useless?" - dean's transition through social class and what remains. The poetry of ordering a boring sandwich as room service. Class was a point of contention initially for dean/griff and elf, seeing their relationships change was a voyage.
Other things about elf and griff that can be thought and not written. If David Mitchell is Elf, I'm Levon.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and War
jordangddrd's review
emotional
funny
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
4.25
I loved almost every part of this book, and the fresh take on a classic rock band where the members don't all hate each other's guts really compelled me to finish this book more than other similar recent releases. <The ending was Stand By Me levels of shocking and heartbreaking.> That being said, the descriptions and roles of POC characters in this book didn't meet the standards I would expect from a book written in 2020. Also, the dialogue from American characters but especially <Janis Joplin> (who was from Texas) felt to me like David Mitchell has maybe never had a conversation with an American person.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, and Alcohol
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexism, Car accident, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Fatphobia, and Antisemitism
apersonfromflorida's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Sexism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Police brutality, and Grief
Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and War