by David Mitchell

I found this book very intriguing. On the surface a series of mostly unrelated stories, in fact there are very interesting threads of character and theme that weave the book into a cohesive whole. Cloud Atlas contains  a sort of post-modern experimental structure, where each episode not only takes place in a different period of time, but also expresses a different style of writing. An ambitious undertaking which Mitchell pulls off quite well.  The Dystopian Korean story of an awaking clone is particularly memorable and haunting. The stories encompass the arch of our civilization running from the dawn of the the industrial age to a plague ravaged and resource wasted end game.  The view from this rarified distance is a bit depressing as Mitchell writes it. but any arc that must encompass our eventual waning days is going to be somewhat disparaging.

I highly recommend this book. Each episode has an infectious nature that keeps you turning the page and the connection between the stories are just evident enough to add a sense of overall continuity. Like Mitchell's Number 9 Dream, this book has a dream like quality, only in this case the dreaminess lies in the  connective tissue between the essentially straight forward stories. 

Plus, the cover art is not unlike something I would do!