Ghostwritten

Gave up at 35%.

I can't even force myself to stay interested. So that's it – for now at least.

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of this book, which I mostly listened to on audio (although I also got a copy out of the library to help me keep track). I enjoyed spotting the connective tissue between the chapters when it occurred, although those connections didn't ultimately seem to mean anything (unless it had something to do with the random electrons the Irish physicist spoke about). Anyway, I can't say I understand this book, but it is amazing to be in the presence of such virtuosity.

A fascinating read of interconnected stories. David Mitchell knows how to bring his characters to life and I felt like a knew every one of them by the end.

Jerome can't bear the sight of his own reflection, he once confessed after drinking a bottle of cheap sherry, and he's never owned a mirror. I asked him why. He told me that whenever he looks into one he sees a man inside it, and thinks, “Who in God's name are you?”

The fact that this is a debut novel is wild. How the fuck is this a debut novel?! The ambition, breadth, and scope is bananas. I am a sucker for intersecting storylines, which is the crux of this novel, as it threads together individuals' experiences throughout history, from a doomsday cult member in Japan, to an Irish genius whose work in quantum physics threatens to engender nuclear war, to an all-night radio host in Manhattan, and so on.

I am certain I missed a great deal and will benefit from researching it a bit. Highly recommend.

After the mild letdown of Number 9 Dream I didn't have high expectations for this, but it was surprisingly good. At least if you have a brain like mine that is obsessed with finding the interconnections between the stories, it's very satisfying as a puzzle-box. I thought I had it figured out at about the halfway mark, and was feeling quite smug, but it went in a different direction entirely. This one feels more closely connected to Cloud Atlas / The Bone Clocks / Slade House than many of his other novels, and it was pretty cool to see how many of those later themes are present even in this first novel. Four stars because I'm still not sure about that last section ???

I have no wish to compete with some of the wonderful reviews that I have just read. What I will say is that I am having a “what the hell happened” moment. Ghostwritten? Who by?

David Mitchell's Ghostwritten is described as a novel in nine parts. Mitchell molds the formats of the novel and the short story into one with varying levels of success. Many consider this book to be the work of a master, and it's not hard to see why, but whenever somebody does wild experiments such as this, there are bound to be effects other than those intended.

None of the stories were written as short stories, so none of them are able to hold up on their own. Because the stories don't hold much weight on their own, the reader is asked to memorize names and events in order to uncover connections in the story which do not reveal themselves until later. This book is a giant puzzle which seems nonsensical until the last pieces are put into place. While I find that sort of thing to be extremely interesting, I did find myself over halfway through the book without a clue as to what this novel was about.

Despite the distracting format, this book is extremely well written and has some big ideas behind it. This review was written immediately after finishing, so hopefully I will have more polished thoughts about it soon.

This is a hard book to rate because, let's be honest, it's David Mitchell: that's an automatic 5-star rating there. But knowing that it's David Mitchell, I find this book a little lacking. It's his first novel; it's not perfect. Despite its imperfections, however, it still destroys most of its competition. I certainly couldn't have written it. So it deserves all five stars.

If you've read only one Mitchell novel, it's likely you've read his third, Cloud Atlas. Ghostwritten is Cloud Atlas, Junior. It is Cloud Atlas taking its first steps, burying its face in a birthday cake, making it through its first day of school, playing at the park, kissing the neighbor girl, surviving its first day in junior high, learning to drive, and attending prom with the girl with a comet-shaped birthmark. Cloud Atlas is everything Ghostwritten hoped to become. But it was Mitchell's first and, as such, he tried to cram a lot in here. Maybe that's just David Mitchell—he does try to fit much into all of his stories—but here it feels a bit forced at times. It's all about interconnectedness, but sometime the connections are a little too flimsy. Sometimes the style Mitchell employs to tell his story is strained. Sometimes the narrative voice is a little too shaky. And once—dare I even say it—Mitchell switches verb tense for an entire section for no reason. It's almost like he just... made a mistake.

But putting all that behind us, Ghostwritten is a brilliant novel. It's intelligent, thought-provoking, and fun. Though not as grand as Cloud Atlas, it utilizes the same variety in place, method, and voice. And best of all, it connects us to Mitchell's other works—the Cavendishes, Luisa Rey, Neal Brose, and a certain birthmark all make an appearance. It's an ambitious work from a very ambitious author. Ironically, I'd say my favorite episode from this novel is the least ambitious, that being “Tokyo”; it was interesting and full of heart without trying as hard as the other stories.

I really like David Mitchell. I wouldn't say he's my favorite living author because I think there are other writers who can capture my heart and mind without gimmicks—which is exactly what Mitchell employs in his works, albeit with exceptional skill—but his works certainly keep me more riveted than any other writer does. I look forward to the next.

This is my third Mitchell, and I can honestly say that he really does know how to carry the narrative(s). While his debut is much closer to Cloud Atlas (the first book I read) than my personal favourite The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, the undersong of tension that he's able to weave to his stories is already there, strong and commanding.

Although I prefer his (at the moment) newest book also in terms of how concentrated the narrative is – despite the fact that it, too, carries the story through with the aid of multipled narrators – Ghostwritten is a thoroughly engrossing tale of transmigration, life, death and relationships in the middle of it. In other words, the little brother to Cloud Atlas.

The challenge is immense. The book is divided into chapters that all follow a different character, their destinies and lives somehow interlinked, in fact in a very particular way, which one will realize when all is said and done. How does one then carry the story so that it stays fervent and interesting? I think Mitchell does an admirable job, although there are some stories that didn't do it for me at all, the Hong Kong chapters for example. The mysteries of consciousness is the one topic with which Mitchell makes the most out of not only the story but his skill as a writer, and I think the theme works better here than it does in Cloud Atlas, although it might be I'm mixing too much of the film with the book.

In retrospect, the intertextuality between this and Cloud Atlas manages to deepen both works.

6 February,
2014

Hmm. . . I'm still thinking about this one. Liked the overarching theme, and the individual stories were mostly interesting. I would like to go back and figure out how the puzzle pieces fit together, but it's not good enough to read twice. Looking forward to my book club's discussion. The story is kind of impressive, but it's also kind of dated. It was probably more amazing at the time it was published.