Reading David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas

I am in the middle of reading David Mitchell's novel Cloud Atlas. And by that I mean I'm right smack in the middle of it, exactly halfway through.  You may have read this book, but most likely you've heard of it through last year's movie version.  When I saw the preview ads on television, I was instantly interested and wanted to see it upon its release.  However, I then read a couple of reviews that were a bit critical of the film.  The impression they gave me was that it would behoove me to first read the book in order to be able to properly follow and understand the movie.  So I skipped the cinematic run of Cloud Atlas and opted instead to obtain the book.  Good decision.

Already in the first 250 pages of this novel is enough material that I think would necessitate more than one movie...preferably three...to adequately give expression to the story's flow and character development.  I still, at this point, have no clue as to how the author will conclude what amounts to several nested, unfinished short tales that jump from the past through the present and then on to a speculative science fiction future.  There are subtle connections that tie the seemingly unrelated stories together, not to mention at least one character in each of them.  Each of them is written in a completely different writing style as well, which at first was cumbersome to plod through but which now I find to be delightful.

Except for the movie trailer and those two reviews, I went into reading Cloud Atlas cold, with no background knowledge of its author.  I'm sure David Mitchell is known in contemporary literary circles for this and other works, but when I tried to check out a copy of Cloud Atlas from my local public library (which serves the University of Florida community here in Alachua County), I discovered that they had no copies, but were in the process of ordering some in response to the high demand generated by the movie.  Well, finally I got to check out a copy...then began reading.  After reading a little of it, I then returned the book to the library and went down to a local bookstore and purchased a copy for my very own.

Cloud Atlas is a slow read, quite unlike books like the Harry Potter or Chronicles of Narnia series that I raced through.  I intend to write a more adequate review for it after I'm finished, but I will at this point say that I've already easily gotten my money's worth from this intriguing work. 

And yes, I plan to eventually watch that movie!