Just Finished Reading David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas

Last year I was treated to some of the most intriguing previews to a movie that I have ever seen.  Cloud Atlas was depicted as a flurry of spectacular scenes and special effects, with a star-studded cast to boot.  It was a must-see, as far as I was concerned.  And then I read a couple of reviews and changed my mind.  It seemed that the movie was based on the same-titled novel by David Mitchell, and if you didn't read the book first...you'd probably find yourself completely lost watching the film.  Oh well, I thought, I guess I'd better first read the book!  And I did, just completing it.  I must say that I was impressed, now looking forward to seeing the movie version (the trailers now make sense to me).

Cloud Atlas is actually a series of six nested novellas, with all but the middle one interrupted and completed in reverse order.  They are set in chronological order and span the early nineteenth century to a time hundreds of years in the future.  Each tale is complete unto itself, but at the same time has connections with the others.  There is a very strong theme of reincarnation here, so you may or may not need to set aside some of your own beliefs in order to flow with the reading.  But the most interesting aspect of Cloud Atlas is the author's deft use of language in each story, usually told in the first person and in line with the literary usage and style of the time in question.  For example, in the first story The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing, Mitchell writes out the story in that era's predominantly literary language, something that made me frequently scurry to my dictionary.  As the stories advance in time, up to the present area, the narrative language becomes more colloquial and familiar until Cloud Atlas turns toward the future, at which point it's language once again becomes more obtuse.  The "final" tale, which actually takes up the middle section of the book, is written in a futuristic, greatly altered English ingeniously projected by Mitchell upon that speculative time.  A master work in language, I must say.   So, about the movie, then...

If part of the great appeal to me in Cloud Atlas was the narrative language, then how can the cinematic rendition keep that magic?  This is where the screenwriters, directors, actors,and  special effects people need to step in and try to match David Mitchell's vision with their own arts and skills.  I look forward to seeing how well they did!

Please read David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas.  It beats anything else I've read recently.