Cloud Atlas: Book Review


 Book Review

Title: Cloud Atlas
Author: David Mitchell
Genre: Fantastical fiction

Cloud Atlas is a book that comprises of six stories that are interconnected with one another. It spreads over a good time frame, taking readers from the Pacific islands in the nineteenth century to the post apocalyptic world. 

The first story is of an American lawyer who is awaiting to repair his ship and encounters a series of events and several people including tribes. The second is about an English musician set in the 1930s, the third is a mystery thriller about a journalist, fourth is about a publisher who lands up in an old age home, fifth is a dystopian story of clones and the sixth story is set in the post-apocalyptic world. 

After the sixth story, the stories are arranged in reverse chronological order. What makes this book interesting is the way the author maneuvers the language according to the time period that the story is set in. It is dense at the beginning and then shifts to a easier style. The structure of the stories vary from complex narratives, journal entries, letters and interview formats. Reincarnation is the main theme here where the author provides a link to the several characters in subtle ways. He captures the universality of human emotions, aspects of power play, predation and deception. 

Irrespective of the varied settings and time frame, it's fascinating to note how issues like the  treatment towards the unwanted still resonate with the current times. There are a few instances in the book that readers find it hard to digest. Reading Cloud Atlas feels like travelling in the ocean. It creates a ripple effect across characters, leaving the readers with several thoughts . It is intriguing to see how the stories that seem unrelated in the beginning are now connected in a beautiful manner.

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