Utopia Avenue

I really just cannot vibe with the way this is written. I gave it a little bit and it's just not for me. 

David Mitchell is een van mijn favoriete auteurs, dus een nieuw boek gaat zonder enige voorkennis in de pre-order. Het zonder enige voorkennis lezen van het boek kan dan ook leiden tot een kleine verrassing: het boek leek toch in eerste instantie erg weinig op de meeste van zijn andere boeken, anders dat er in elk geval een knipoog was naar The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, met een verre afstammeling, Jasper de Zoet, als een van de personages.

“Sunday evening pools in London's gardens, seeps through cracks and darkens streets.”

Het boek speelt in de jaren 60 in Engeland, en volgt een viertal “jongelui” en hun Canadese manager bij het opzetten van een band, en het pad naar (het eventuele) succes. Ondertussen heeft iedereen wel een handvol persoonlijke issues waar gedealt mee moet worden, met die van Jasper wel het zwaarst. Niet geholpen door iets wat we vandaag de dag waarschijnlijk onder het autisme-spectrum zou vallen...

“The present is a curtain. Most of us can't see behind it. Those who do see - via luck or prescience - change what is there by seeing. That's why it is unknowable. Fundamentally. Intrinsically. I like adverbs.”

Door de achtergrond van Jasper komt er ook soms wat nederlands voorbij, niet vertaald ook (ook andere talen worden niet vertaald). Er zat alleen 1x een foutje in, bij de bitterballen.

“The darkness was coloured by a glow-in-the-dark Dutch gnome called Mr Kabouter”

Taalgebruik van Mitchell is altijd weer mooi, met soms subtiele, en soms minder subtiele omschrijvingen:

“The river slid by. The river slid by. The river slid by.”

“‘And you still believe now ... that he was real?' The clock's pendulum thinly sliced half a minute.”

Ergens halverwege of zo in het boek komt Mitchells “universe” opeens met volle vaart alsnog het boek in [het kan geen kwaad zowel Thousand Autums als Bone Clocks te hebben gelezen voor deze], maar uiteindelijk is het wel meer een boek aan de randen van dat universum (al zag ik wel een kandidaat-personage voor een toekomstig boek, Bolivar :-)

Samengevat: een prachtig boek, maar niet een die je als eerste van hem moet lezen. Then again, het is wel een van de “normalere” boeken, want het abnormale zou je in dit boek ook heel anders kunnen uitleggen...

“The chain of events would fill a hefty novel, replies Marinus”

Veel, maar dan ook veels te lang.

Heel leuk thema, maar het mist de vaart en drive van Daisy Jones & The Six. Als je een boek wil lezen over een mythische fictieve rockband, lees dan dat.

this is my daisy jones and the six

There was so much I hated about this book, but the last third was good. A lot of it just felt like David Mitchell's wet dream of what it would be like to be in the music scene in the late 1960s, but maybe some ppl have the same dream and it was fun for them instead of sounding incredibly pretentious and name-droppy. I finished it only because of Jasper de Zoet's storyline and was not disappointed. I might even go back and read The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet again.

This book seems to have a little of every genre. It follows the rise of a band in the 60's and their highs (ha!) and lows. I particularly enjoyed getting to know the band members - I cared about their personal lives and their particular demons.

What didn't work as well for me were the party, name dropping scenes. It felt like fan fiction and author wish fulfillment rather than the authentic experiences.

Overall though - an engaging (if rather long) read. (Note: I think it contains spoilers for the author's previous novel The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet - although I haven't read that one yet).

Amazing.

David Mitchell is one of my favorite living authors, and I suspect the only one who could write a 600 page novel about baby boomer music engaging enough to keep me reading until the end. That said, it's still a 600 page novel about baby boomer music, with an exhausting amount of name-dropping. Things pick up a bit two-thirds of the way through the book when we veer towards the supernatural, but for the most part this book is a love letter to the rock and roll of the late 1960s.

“The sort of book yer never want to end!” - Dean Moss. I'd give this 4.5 if I could.

Absorbing

Deep and dense and worth the effort

I expected a light and breezy, easy read but I should have known to expect much more from the author of Cloud Atlas. The story was dense and deep and worth the unexpected effort of experiencing the lives of Utopia Avenue.

If you like David Mitchell's pretentious fractal interwoven brand of magical realist literary fiction (to be clear: I DO), this book is great.It does function perfectly well as a standalone story, so you needn't have read [b:The Bone Clocks 20819685 The Bone Clocks David Mitchell https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1398205538l/20819685.SX50.jpg 26959610], [b:The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet 7141642 The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet David Mitchell https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320540908l/7141642.SX50.jpg 7405757], and/or [b:Cloud Atlas 49628 Cloud Atlas David Mitchell https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563042852l/49628.SX50.jpg 1871423]; but if you have, the interconnections with the other works are deeply satisfying.The writing is great, interweaving perspectives and time periods in a sort of free-associating, constant-flashback style that seems like it shouldn't work, but it does. It's a slow burn of a story that immerses you in the London rock scene of the late 60s, featuring cameos by many big names but not allowing them to steal the spotlight from the main characters – in and of itself an interesting feat of perspective. By the end, each member of Utopia Avenue felt like a dear friend. Also, the way the individual chapters were each the backstory behind particular songs, with the major sections of the book being the band's LPs, was really clever. As someone who loves music (but knows nothing about playing it), I appreciated the overarching theme of music as storytelling and autobiography. In true Mitchell fashion, there's a sense that everything influences everything else.I may have to revisit The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet after this, as I suspect I didn't give it enough credit.. or at least, that it will appear richer through the Utopia Avenue lens.As a side note, it seems like I've read a lot of novels lately that follow the members of a band! Shelve this one alongside [b:The Lola Quartet 12856198 The Lola Quartet Emily St. John Mandel https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1337278850l/12856198.SX50.jpg 18007817] and [b:Space Opera 24100285 Space Opera Catherynne M. Valente https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1518017807l/24100285.SY75.jpg 59979691].

David Mitchell quotes one famous rock musician saying that “writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” I had read this quote before and that there was some debate as to who said it.

Whoever said it may have had a point depending on one's view on the topic of writing about music. Writing about any of the arts in general is fraught with danger. Aesthetic values are a very individual pursuit, as is reading and then reviewing a book on Goodreads. I was telling some work colleagues who are immersed in film and TV culture about a novel I recently finished and explained the length; rather long, the prose; deeply thought provoking; and the final outcome; a youthful pursuit of the arts and spirituality. “That author wrote all that for just that?” blurted out one colleague. Yeah, the author did write all “that for just that” and I personally loved that. Maybe it was dancing to architecture. So can this be applied to Utopia Avenue? Mitchell admits it as such by his use of that metaphor and if he is nothing else he is at least honest about that. His long tome is just a generic rock and roll band story and for vast parts of the story is mere dancing to architecture.

I have written elsewhere that I received advice that it was a good idea to read Mitchell's works in order, just start at the very beginning. That was the best advice ever given to me about a specific writer's oeuvre. Yes, many will love this as a stand-alone book, I understand that, but I suspect that plenty will need to do a bit of research because the usual Mitchell jigsaw puzzle pieces that are references to his past writings are littered throughout this reading journey. First time Mitchell readers will not understand some rather subtle nods and winks, Chetwynd Mews anybody? One major character, Jasper De Zoet, is an obvious jigsaw puzzle piece. So what makes this rock and roll story mostly generic is tempered with what Mitchell's admirers have come to know and love, his great big uber novel pretensions. I like his uber novel pretensions but then I like some rather pretentious music and will willingly dance to that kind of architecture.

Did I like this novel? Yes I did but I don't think it is anywhere near his others novels for inventiveness alone. For me it is just another rock and roll story with the originality, and at its best, the uber novel pretences. These will be obvious to long time readers of Mitchell. I now hope that David Mitchell writes that operatic novel I am sure he once said he was interested in writing. I think I would find that much more interesting than the rock music of the 60's. I find nothing particularly interesting about an LSD riven rock star singing in the corner of a party somewhere “have you got it yet?” even if it is a nod and a wink to some (admittedly) very good research on the era. I prefer the puzzle pieces of the fantasy rock star guitar player Jasper De Zoet much more to be honest. I just might be in a minority on this matter I suspect.

I recommend this to those that want a very readable novel about the late 60's music scene.
I recommend to those that like to research those obscure references to music history.
I also recommend it to those that know their music history.
I recommend it to those that like the uber novel concept.
I recommend it to those that like to dance to all things architectural.