Used Books Blog

I’d heard quite a bit about The Curious Incident prior to picking it up - which may have tainted my reading of the book. I know many others had the same problem with Eggers’ A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genuis. Thankfully for me, I didn’t have that problem with AHWOSG, and picked it up after seeing someone reading it on BART. That was not the case with The Curious Incident, which I’d heard many a person gush over.

Sure, it’s quirky and stylistically interesting given the point of view of the main character. But other authors have tackled similar territory far better, most notably in Jonathan Lethem’s Motherless Brooklyn. Yes, the story does take a few mild turns that might raise eyebrows but they weren’t altogether unforeseen. I mean really, you didn’t see a few of those twists coming?

It was enjoyable, but simply that.

Jonathan Carroll’s Outside the Dog Museum is par for the course as Carroll goes. Having read many of his quirky, surreal, out-of-left-field titles, this one is thematically on point, but seems incomplete. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it - in all it’s odd eeriness and existentialism.

This is certainly the best book I’ve read in 2007. And I can’t keep it out of my head, it keeps leeching back into my conscious mind, insinuating itself into my thoughts as a reference point. This is the first David Mitchell book I’ve read. I purchased it on Alibris after reading up on it on LibraryThing. Though not stated, I received a signed copy which I now treasure given my affection for the book. I’ve since purchased all of Mitchell’s books and have them in queue for reading in the near future.

In less skilled hands, the structure of the book would likely have been a distraction. Mitchell handles it with ease and leads readers from a long-ago era, to modern day, to the future and then, stepping backwards, complees each story in turn. The writing is fantastic with slight echoes from other works like Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood or an updated version of Asimov’s Rise of the Robots.

The genius of this novel is the structure, storytelling and language. There are six very distinct stories, ranging from Adam Ewing’s South Pacific travails to a post-apocalyptic landscape on what seems like a Hawaiian island. They are strung together from past to present to future and back again. Stepping away from the story, the structure is really and truly amazing. A narrative palindrome of sorts.

In each of these stories there is a unique voice and in many cases a totally different language altogether. I’m reminded of Burrough’s Nova Express or A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. Mitchell invents language in some cases and falls into the cadence of long ago eras during others. Despite these ‘gimmicks’ the stories are all compelling.

The stories do connect to some degree, but not directly in most cases. However, the overarching tone, content and theme of each is consistent. Mitchell explores loyalty, power, love and man’s place in his own world. Sure you’ve read about these things before, but never like this. Read Cloud Atlas and become a David Mitchell fan.