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].