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A review by anteus7
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
5.0
I did not know that David Mitchell wove his stories together. I really should have put it together before now, but I read them 'out of order' (there is no real order, really) and spread out over years, so I didn't see the connections.
This piece was strictly (I thought) historical fiction. It is a well-researched journey through the lives of several people associated with the trade between the Dutch and Japanese at the end of the 1700s and the beginning of the 1800s. The characters are well-drawn, the writing is evocative--all of the things I have come to expect from a David Mitchell book. Though now I come to see that expecting things of David Mitchell books is a silly thing to do. They are always bastions of the unexpected.
The twist happened (with foreshadowing) later in the book where I saw some connections to Mitchell's The Bone Clocks (which is one of my favorite books of all time).
So. Who would I recommend this book to? Anyone who likes well-researched historical fiction that is also written well would find much in this book to love. Anyone who likes their fantasy with a heavy shellac of realistic details won't go wrong here either. If you are just looking for a good book and don't much care about genre, you could do much, much worse.
This piece was strictly (I thought) historical fiction. It is a well-researched journey through the lives of several people associated with the trade between the Dutch and Japanese at the end of the 1700s and the beginning of the 1800s. The characters are well-drawn, the writing is evocative--all of the things I have come to expect from a David Mitchell book. Though now I come to see that expecting things of David Mitchell books is a silly thing to do. They are always bastions of the unexpected.
The twist happened (with foreshadowing) later in the book where I saw some connections to Mitchell's The Bone Clocks (which is one of my favorite books of all time).
So. Who would I recommend this book to? Anyone who likes well-researched historical fiction that is also written well would find much in this book to love. Anyone who likes their fantasy with a heavy shellac of realistic details won't go wrong here either. If you are just looking for a good book and don't much care about genre, you could do much, much worse.