Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

 

 

Review:

“A postmodern visionary who is also a master of styles and genres, David Mitchell combines flat-out adventure, a Nabokovian love of puzzles, a keen eye fro character, and a taste for mind-bending philosophical and scientific speculation in the tradition of Haruki Murakami, Umberto Eco, and Philip K. Dick. The result is brilliantly original fiction that reveals how disparate people connect, how their fates intertwine, and how their souls drift across time like clouds across the sky.”

 

I wasn’t completely convinced about this book when I first started reading it. Probably because I had no idea what the connection between the characters was and where the story was going.

Imagine my surprise when one of the stories ended in the word ‘might’. I frantically searched through the book to see whether that was it, which it wasn’t. Once you start making the connections and begin to understand the complexity of the situations each of the characters is going through (plus delightful writing style) you realize this is one of the best novels you’ll ever read.

The stories start in the past, into the present and well into future. It’s something like a domino effect, one thing leads to another and makes really remote occurrences have an effect on each other.

There are five stories that get cut in the middle (everything happens for a reason) and one story that happens in the distant future that kinda glues all the other stories together. They are told from past to future in the first part of the book and from future to past in the other.

THE PACIFIC JOURNAL OF ADAM EWING

This is the very first story in the book. Not being a native speaker of English, the sailing vocabulary was a bit hard for me, but I kept going nonetheless (I’m one of those people who will finish a book no matter what). It gets a bit difficult to understand for a while, because we don’t know what’s going on with this rare disease that the main character gets and the strange methods the ship doctor uses to ‘cure’ him. To be honest, this was my least favourite story, not that I didn’t like it, I did, just not as much as the others.

 

LETTERS FROM ZEDELGHEM

This is where I started feeling the ‘I-can’t-put-this-book-down’ syndrome. It’s the much gripping tale of an aspiring composer who meets his celebrity crush. He starts helping old Ayrs compose an Aria, but in the meantime the muses inspire him and he creates the Cloud Atlas (yup… just like the title) which Ayrs then tries to claim as his own work. It’s a tale of discovery, and a kind of cautionary tale to all those who may idolize a certain celebrity, telling us that no one’s perfect. (Things get steamy with Ayrs’ wife and all hell breaks loose)

 

HALF-LIVES – THE FIRST LUISA REY MYSTERY

Luisa Rey is a reporter who tries to uncover the truth about a company. We get to see how she narrowly escapes death and this really sneaky organization that has set its murderous sight on her. She basically lives with a target on her back. I really enjoyed reading this section, Luisa is a complex character that is also likeable and sometimes even witty. She’s very smart, which is something that I found lacking in other novels’ female characters. The first part ends with a cliffhanger… a really HUGE cliffhanger…

 

THE GHASTLY ORDEAL OF TIMOTHY CAVENDISH

This is about a man who gets tricked into a retirement home by his bitter brother. Now, Timothy is not just any grumpy old man, he is escaping from some thugs that want a cut from a recently murdered author’s work. He’s my favourite character by far because he’s very clever and not afraid to send as many people to hell as he can. I found myself laughing out loud on the subway while I read (something that doesn’t happen that often). This is also my favourite section, it was very fun and enjoyable to read.

 

AN ORISON OF SONMI-451

This is a kind interrogation by a futuristic government to a ‘servant’. Sonmi-451 belongs to a society where social classes are carefully divided into fabricants and purebloods. Sonmi is a fabricant, and she is destined to serve purebloods until the day she is freed (or so she thought). She is being interrogated because she was actually freed and joined a revolutionary group. Sonmi is a rarity, because she can actually think for herself, which is something fabricants can’t and are not allowed to do. It’s a very exciting tale to read, with some action here and there and the story of a girl who dared to dream of something beyond her already written destiny.

 

SLOOSHA’S CROSSIN’ AN’ EV’RYTHIN’ AFTER

This is the only story that is not ‘interrupted’ and glues all the other tales together. All I will say about this one is that it’s in the distant future and has to do with fear of the unknown (I don’t want to spoil it for you… it’s great!). It brings all the facts we’ve been collecting throughout the story together nicely and wraps them up in a great way.

 

I had my doubts about this book, I’d been told it was really good but it was not what I’m used to reading. Overall a great experience, great character development and amazing settings and descriptions. It’s a must-read in my opinion.

 

Disclaimer: the only things that belong to me are my own opinions, the books and images are owned by their respective authors.

It’s kind of a funny story by Ned Vizzini

 

 

Review:

“Like many ambitious New York City teenagers, Craig Gilner sees entry into Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High School as the ticket to his future. Determined to succeed at life-which means getting into the right high school to get into the right college to get the right job-Craig studies night and day to ace the entrance exam, and does. That's when things start to get crazy.
At his new school, Craig realizes that he isn't brilliant compared to the other kids; he's just average, and maybe not even that. He soon sees his once-perfect future crumbling away. The stress becomes unbearable and Craig stops eating and sleeping-until, one night, he nearly kills himself.
Craig's suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a transsexual sex addict, a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There, isolated from the crushing pressures of school and friends, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety.
Ned Vizzini, who himself spent time in a psychiatric hospital, has created a remarkably moving tale about the sometimes unexpected road to happiness. For a novel about depression, it's definitely a funny story”

I have no idea why I bought this novel… seriously I don’t know, but I’m so glad I did. It starts off as most novels told from a teenager’s point of view, guiding us through the anxieties and insecurities that adapting to a new school can bring. But Craig is special, or so he thought, until he actually gets what he wants, which is enter this ‘elite’ school. We all kind of know that feeling that comes with getting what you’ve been working for for a really long time. First, it’s all bliss, then you don’t know what to do to fill that void. You got what you wanted, now what? In Craig’s case, the WHAT was a school that demanded all his free time and effort. He had just succeeded in getting what he wanted and thought he was the brightest kid ever… but he wasn’t, he was just average and the workload was getting to him.

Everything starts going downhill until one night he calls the suicide hotline. They ask him to go to the nearest hospital to get admitted. Craig thought they’d just keep him for a bit and then he’d go home, but that’s not the case. They admitted him and this is where we get to meet characters that are so different and interesting they’ll keep you glued to this book.

These people teach Craig valuable lessons in life, and make him feel at home with their comments and personalities. His parents come visit and support him throughout the story, which is nice to see.

Overall, this is a very funny story, with characters that will guide you through it and engage you until you couldn’t put the book down even if you wanted to.

Disclaimer: the only things that belong to me are my own opinions, the books and images are owned by their respective authors.

 

Angela

Trylle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking

Rating:
“When Wendy Everly was six years old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. Eleven years later, Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. She’s not the person she’s always believed herself to be, and her whole life begins to unravel—all because of Finn Holmes.
Finn is a mysterious guy who always seems to be watching her. Every encounter leaves her deeply shaken…though it has more to do with her fierce attraction to him than she’d ever admit. But it isn’t long before he reveals the truth: Wendy is a changeling who was switched at birth—and he’s come to take her home.
Now Wendy’s about to journey to a magical world she never knew existed, one that’s both beautiful and frightening. And where she must leave her old life behind to discover who she’s meant to become…”
I basically got this book because someone posted a picture of the trilogy and found the plot original (i.e. no vampires). I’d never come across a fantasy novel about trolls. One always tends to imagine them as big hairy greenish beings that cannot string a four-word sentence that made sense for the life of them.
We meet Wendy, a teenager who has a family past which is kind of horrible. She lives with her brother, who loves her to bits. At school she meets mysterious Finn, who turns her world upside down. He introduces her to the truth, she is actually a member of the Trylle.
The relationship with her real mother is nothing but troublesome. This woman, Elora, is very strict and quite a bit nasty from time to time, but we soon learn that she has her reasons, and beyond all that facade there is actually a woman who has been through hell and back.
We get to meet other equally interesting characters, remember these are kids who were placed in other kids’ places. So there are both sides of the story, the replacement and the replaced. The replaced children are banned from leaving the trylle community until the real Trylle come back to it. Then they have a choice, so some stay and some leave.
I was a bit bored at first, to be honest. I didn’t understand where the story was going and I didn’t find the action super interesting. UNTIL I GOT TO THE SECOND BOOK where we meet Loki. That name means sexy trouble… He has all the right amounts of sexy, witty, sensitive and crazy. From then on the action picks up and it’s almost impossible to put the books down.
The struggle this girl goes through trying to come to grips with everything that has happened and is going to happen to her in her life is at times heart-breaking. It’s like she’s constantly discovering new things and seeing the events in her past in a new light.
There  is also the fact that she is some sort of princess, which means that one day she will rule over the Trylle, much to the Vittra king’s dismay and rage. War breaks out and the lines dividing right and wrong get blurred. The social and power struggles are very present throughout the novels, which makes all the romance in the novels not seem overdone, because there is the same amout of action and suspence in them.
This is one of those stories for which I took a leap of faith, and it was totally worth it!

Disclaimer: the only things that belong to me are my own opinions, the books and images are owned by their respective authors.

Angela.