On a score of 1-5 stars (5 being the best), how do you rate Cloud Atlas?
* Couldn't stand it!
8%
[ 1 ]
**
8%
[ 1 ]
***
8%
[ 1 ]
****
16%
[ 2 ]
***** Loved it!
25%
[ 3 ]
Gave up on it (explain why below)
33%
[ 4 ]
Didn't read this one
0%
[ 0 ]
Total Votes : 12
Author
Message
sirg1006 Administrator
Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 2142 Birthday: 10th June
Location: Scottish Borders
Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 3:05 pm Post subject: February Book Choice - CLOUD ATLAS by David Mitchell
CLOUD ATLAS by David Mitchell
Discuss here your thoughts on the book once you have finished reading it. Did you (not) enjoy it? Anything that struck you or maybe someone else could answer if you have a question? We're not really looking for in depth discussions... just tell us what you think of it!
For those who have finished it, please choose a star rating for the book based on how much you liked it. What did you think of it? Do you have any questions based on the book?
Joined: 01 Oct 2006 Posts: 192 Birthday: 12th July
Location: N.Ireland
Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 8:56 am Post subject:
Hated the style and content, read a few chapters and the thought of continuing almost had me in tears....lol _________________
Currently Reading:-
"Amy's Honeymoon"- Julia Llwelleyn
Joined: 22 Aug 2006 Posts: 381 Birthday: 16th February
Location: Upper Largo, Fife
Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 1:00 pm Post subject:
I liked this when I read it but I fear I missed the point to be honest. I liked the unusual writing style and the links between the stories (although they were sometimes a little obscure).
Gave it 3 stars. _________________ Currently reading: Man in the Dark by Paul Auster
Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 148 Birthday: 18th February
Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:50 pm Post subject:
Read the first two chapters and then thought life is too short to struggle thorugh another book I m not enjoying to packed it in. Not proud as I am not usually a quitter but my spare time is greatly reduced at the moment and I want to enjoy every moment. _________________
Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Posts: 180 Birthday: 20th April
Location: Middlesex
Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:01 pm Post subject:
OMG I'm shocked !!!
I thought this was one of the best books I've ever read. Loved the style of different stories interconnected & it didn't feel like a book of short stories. (I never read books of short stories.)
I thought it was very profound, well researched, well written, ingenious idea of interconnecting all the stories. Some were obviously stronger than others. The story of Sonmi I thought was fantastic & could be a novel on it's own. It reminded me of why I loved sci-fi but haven't read any for years.
All those themes- slavery, power & even the environment. In a way it was scary to see the future as the author does. It was so realistic. Also the theme of history repeating itself.
Please someone on BB enjoy this book I want to discuss it more
Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 7637 Birthday: 7th July
Location: Shropshire
Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2007 12:33 am Post subject:
Have read the first story and once I got into the style, really enjoyed it. Started the 2nd story and it's a bit of a drag to be honest - but it doesn't help that my head is pounding and my throat is on fire So will read it when I'm better. I find if I read a book when I'm ill I struggle with them, and as soon as I'm better, I associate the book with being ill.
I have a feeling I'm going to miss the point of the book and what links the stories together.
Will report back when I've (hopefully) finished it _________________ Reading: Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg
Reading Challenge 2009: 8
2008: 4
2007: 10
I really like this book too, I was confused for a long while, but by the time i got to the Luisa Rey Mystery, I was beginning to get the point of it, and I agree the Sonmi section was the best. I can see why it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 7637 Birthday: 7th July
Location: Shropshire
Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 10:08 pm Post subject:
Quote:
and I agree the Sonmi section was the best
Am over half way through now and have to say I think the Sloosha Crossin' tale is the most compelling. I've become fond of them all. When I look back I can't help liking Robert Frobisher and I enjoyed the Timothy Cavenish tale. I keep getting them all mixed up. I really got into the style of Adam Ewing's tale.
Will post a proper review when I've finished the book. _________________ Reading: Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg
Reading Challenge 2009: 8
2008: 4
2007: 10
Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 7637 Birthday: 7th July
Location: Shropshire
Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2007 7:12 pm Post subject:
Questions for discussion - Cloud Atlas
Quote:
1. What were your overall impressions of Cloud Atlas? How well do you think it flows as a whole?
2. Which was your favourite story in the novel? Why?
3. Why does Mitchell create each character with a comet shaped birthmark? How do you think this links all the characters together?
4. What do you think are the key themes?
5. Why is the book structured as it is, with the stories only half told to start with, and then being finished in the reverse order? How does this reflect the themes of the novel?
6. How does this novel portray giant corporations? What is being said about them? How far do you think this is a fair portrayal?
7. What role does science play in this novel? Do you think it is portrayed positively or negatively?
8. What do you think this novel is saying about interfering with nature and genetically modifying humans? Does it approve or condemn this sort of activity? To what extent does our society accept such human engineering? What are your views on developments in this area?
9. To what extent do you think this is a novel about stronger and more powerful people preying on those who are weaker?
10. How do you think this novel - in particular the ‘Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing’ - portrays Christianity? How does Mitchell create this impression? How far does this presentation fit with your perception of Christianity?
11. What role do beliefs play in this novel? Why do you think that religion is something that only features in the first and last stories, at stages were humanity is living in a primitive state? Do you agree with the idea that religion is something that is replaced by science as a society progresses? Why/why not?
12. What do you think of the concept of reincarnation that appears in ‘Sloosha’s Crossdin’ an’ Ev’rythin’ After’?
13. Hae-Joo says to Sonmi~451: ‘You are allowed to feel messed up and inside out. It doesn’t mean you’re defective – it means you’re human.’ What examples are there in this novel of humans feeling messed up and inside out? To what extent can you identify with that feeling? The Bible teaches us that all humans have rejected God as the ruler of their lives and we so are not living in a personal relationship with God for which we were created. This means we act selfishly and do not behave in the way we know we should. How well do you think this view explains human behaviour?
14. In explaining what has caused ‘the Fall’, Meronym in ‘Sloosha’s Crossdin’ an’ Ev’rythin’ After’ says; ‘Old’uns Smart mastered sicks, miles, seeds an’ made miracles ord’nary, but it din’t master one thing, nay, a hunger in the hearts o’humans, yay, a hunger for more’. How accurate a reflection is this of human behaviour? Why do you think we always want more than we have?
15. Mitchell takes the biblical idea of the fall in the Garden of Eden and uses those words to describe the destruction of the civilised world in Zachery’s story. Why does Mitchell use this imagery? How does that relate to ‘the Fall’ in Cloud Atlas?
16. Why do Zachery and the other villagers worship Sonmi when they don’t even know who she is? Why do many people seek to worship something outside of themselves? The Bible teaches us that we are all made to worship our creator God, and unless we do that we will instead give our lives to something else, be it a god, money, ourselves or career etc. What do you think of the Christian claim that it is God we must worship and that by revealing himself to us in the Bible he has shown us who he is so that we can worship him?
_________________ Reading: Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg
Reading Challenge 2009: 8
2008: 4
2007: 10
Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 7637 Birthday: 7th July
Location: Shropshire
Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2007 7:15 pm Post subject:
Found the questions online just now. Don't mean for them to come across as homework!! I know I'll need them when I've finished the book to get my head round a couple of things.
Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 7637 Birthday: 7th July
Location: Shropshire
Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 11:51 pm Post subject:
Oh my gosh...I've been ill with a tummy bug since yesterday and haven't been in a reading mood. So the thought of picking up Cloud Atlas is, as Fi rightly said, enough to reduce me to tears. I've read the last story - Sloosha's Crossin', but after that the other 5 stories pick up from where they left off and I don't know if I want to go through it all again. The book is full of great ideas, but Mitchell's writing style and a lot of the content of the stories are a real drag. The book is starting to feel like a ball chained to my ankle. It might be cos I've been ill and am associating the book with being ill. But right now, it's enough to put me off reading.
Each of the stories were hard to get into. Not just because of his writing style, but because I just didn't care about the characters. I found I got into each story just as it was about to end, and I then didn't want it to end but it did, mid-sentence too. I liked the tale of Timothy Cavendish. That started off with a good hook. I couldn't bear the Sonmi-451 story - dull as ditchwater; it just droned on and on, but whaddya know, got fascinating just as it was about to end.
The best tale was Sloosha's Crossin'...probably cos I was nearing the end of the book. No I jest, it's the most compelling. I can see what Mitchell's getting at - how all the stories are connected through time like clouds passing and overlapping one another in the sky. Also the idea that we're all made from the same atoms. But the book just doesn't do it for me. I sooo want to like it too. It's a very jerky journey - A story starts, it takes ages to get into it and when you do, that part of the journey ends and a totally different one begins. It's like that throughout the entire book.
The idea's great but it's hard work. I'll persevere with it though. It's not me to give up. I love challenging books, but I usually enjoy the challenge. This one I ain't
Didn't this book win R&J's book of the year? _________________ Reading: Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg
Reading Challenge 2009: 8
2008: 4
2007: 10
Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 7637 Birthday: 7th July
Location: Shropshire
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:05 am Post subject:
Quote:
All those themes- slavery, power & even the environment. In a way it was scary to see the future as the author does. It was so realistic. Also the theme of history repeating itself.
Please someone on BB enjoy this book I want to discuss it more
This is exactly why I want to finish the book Amarie. I love all the ideas he's put into the book and think it's all very clever. It really is a drag to read. I think a lot of it is down to me being ill twice whilst reading it. I go off reading when I'm ill. I've been told it all comes together in the second half so will do my best. Before I came down with the tummy bug, I was looking forward to reading the second half as I was familiar with the style of each story. I will finish it as it would be hard work for nothing. I really want to discuss the book too. It's a very ingenious novel.
I'll be back!!
(We should start issuing special awards for Babblers who persevere with books. I should def get one. ) _________________ Reading: Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg
Reading Challenge 2009: 8
2008: 4
2007: 10
Joined: 29 Jul 2006 Posts: 4137 Birthday: 12th December
Location: Cumbria
Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:49 am Post subject:
ShropshireBlue wrote:
I will finish it as it would be hard work for nothing. I really want to discuss the book too. It's a very ingenious novel.
I'll be back!!
(We should start issuing special awards for Babblers who persevere with books. I should def get one. )
At this rate you won't have anyone to discuss it with most of us have given up on it!
I just could not get into the writing style at all and give up before I had finished the first chapter. Maybe I should keep it and try again sometime in the future but at the moment I just can get my head around it. I kept having to go back and re read bits as my mind had wondered while reading.
keep looking at this one sitting on the shelf in cancer research....
maybe today i wont resist it....or more likely its been sitting there for weeks and today it`ll be gone
Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 7637 Birthday: 7th July
Location: Shropshire
Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 1:24 pm Post subject:
You might find you like the style of one of the other stories within the book, Blueflower, so don't give up on it totally. _________________ Reading: Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg
Reading Challenge 2009: 8
2008: 4
2007: 10
I loved this book but I can see why it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. I like authors who take risks, not just for the sake of it, but to play around with the structure of the novel as we know it. I can understand how some might perceive the author as some sort of pretentious con artist - I can't really explain why it worked for me - I did sort of cheat at times and go onto to the other half of the story as I wanted to know what happened! However the whole novel still worked for me which shows how cleverly he's structured it. It's very different from the norm of beginning, middle, end with engaging characters. I have Black Swan Green on TBR and must get round to it some day - Step away from the book, I hear you cry!! _________________ Currently reading - The Italian Boy - Murder and Grave Robbery in 1830s London - Sarah Wise
Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 7637 Birthday: 7th July
Location: Shropshire
Posted: Tue Feb 27, 2007 10:26 am Post subject:
I have finished Cloud Atlas - do do do do do do dooooooooo!
I'm glad I persevered. I enjoyed the second half of the stories much more. It's a very clever novel, but I did find it dull in places. Each story can stand alone as a novella/short story. I suppose Mitchell interspersed them so you'd get embroiled in each and confuse one with the other (I did) because of the common themes & threads that hold the novel together as a whole. It really does work. When you finish the book you can see how the stories interconnect. You need patience to get through it. Maybe if I hadn't have been ill twice, I would have enjoyed it more.
Questions for discussion - Cloud Atlas
Spoiler:
[quote]1. What were your overall impressions of Cloud Atlas? How well do you think it flows as a whole? Reading the first parts of the six stories took some getting into as they're all so different. They ended as I was beginning to enjoy them. I enjoyed the 2nd parts of each tale much more as I knew what style to expect. It flows as a whole as Mitchell cleverly knits each tale to the next and the one before. It was a jerky ride to begin with as each tale starts and stops. I loved how the same thread flows through all stories. Reminded me of reincarnation or idea that we're all made of same molecules & might recall memories of another soul. Repetition of comet birthmark reiterates idea we are all made from same atoms. We are taken hundreds of years through time, and around the world. Each tale is hugely different to the next, yet there's a common thread that links them all together...humanity & the idea that it doesn't really change even though times do. That's the overall message I got from Cloud Atlas. Like Russian dolls nested in one another - each one different yet part of the same source. Like clouds overlapping in the sky. Like snowflakes, each unique yet made of the same stuff. Mitchell ties the stories together so they produce a whole. Hope that makes sense
2. Which was your favourite story in the novel? Why? I liked The Ghastly Tale of Timothy Cavendish. It was funny. I also liked Sloosha's Crossin. I didn't really have a fave.
3. Why does Mitchell create each character with a comet shaped birthmark? How do you think this links all the characters together? They're all part of the same source, made from same atoms, all human
4. What do you think are the key themes? Nature of humanity; religion; survival of fittest - eat or be eaten idea; reincarnation; common experiences shared by people throughout history - even though times change, humanity doesn't really alter; life coming full circle - life after the fall of civ'lisation (post-technological) is similar to life say in American West circa 1840. Hostile & primitive - pre-technological.
5. Why is the book structured as it is, with the stories only half told to start with, and then being finished in the reverse order? How does this reflect the themes of the novel? to get embroiled in them, so they overlap in your mind. Mitchell puts them all in the same pot and mixes them together. We're all from same melting pot idea.
9. To what extent do you think this is a novel about stronger and more powerful people preying on those who are weaker? Eat or be eaten. Hadn't thought of the novel like this, yet it is simple when you look at it. Henry Goose preying on Adam Ewing; Frobisher preying on Vyvyan Ayrs (but he gets found out and doesn't prosper); Timothy Cavendish being preyed on by the nursing home and the Hogginses; Sixsmith hunted by an assassin; Cloned humans being exploited; Zachary & his kinsmen being preyed on by Konas (sp?).
_________________ Reading: Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg
Reading Challenge 2009: 8
2008: 4
2007: 10
Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Posts: 180 Birthday: 20th April
Location: Middlesex
Posted: Tue Feb 27, 2007 11:18 pm Post subject:
I'm glad u persevered also Glynis.
I hope you are feeling better now.
It's really strange but I started this book when I was off sick also & I'm the opposite to you! All I want to do when sick is snuggle up in duvet & sleep & then read when not drugged by Day Nurse!! I had the flu/virus twice within 3 weeks!! & also sick,so sympathy get better hugs to you
The other strange thing is the stories you liked best are the ones I liked least
I struggled with Sloosha's Crossing & only cos I read a review on Amazon that said this was the weakest part of book & to persist I did. I thought the Timothy Cavendish was the weakest after this & didn't add much to the overall novel - although the themes of power etc.. were well depicted but I didn't like it
I also felt that the recurring comet birthmark obviously represents reincarnation & that Frobisher/Ewing/Somni were all the one soul living through different reincarnations & the others probably as well as Luisa Rey recognised the boat Ewing had been on -- sorry haven't got book in front of me.
I thought this book was so good I managed to get a swap for Black Swan Green- his latest novel even before I'd finished Cloud atlas I was scared all ye other BBers would be requesting it I got in early!! Needn't have bothered!! but that's what I've started to enjoy about BB is all the different opinions. So keep up the good work girls - Debs & Glynis
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So will read it when I'm better. I find if I read a book when I'm ill I struggle with them, and as soon as I'm better, I associate the book with being ill.
)
However the whole novel still worked for me which shows how cleverly he's structured it. It's very different from the norm of beginning, middle, end with engaging characters. I have Black Swan Green on TBR and must get round to it some day - Step away from the book, I hear you cry!!
I was scared all ye other BBers would be requesting it I got in early!! Needn't have bothered!! but that's what I've started to enjoy about BB is all the different opinions. So keep up the good work girls - Debs & Glynis