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David Mitchell’s third book, Cloud Atlas
features on my list of best books I’ve ever read. Six
separate but gradually and expertly interlinked narratives
range across an incredible expanse of time: from the
colonial era of the 19th century far into a future of
programmed existence and then a post-apocalyptic world
of warring tribes. It was an amazing undertaking and
is supremely well-structured in that the six successive
stories of the first half of the book leave loose ends
that are expertly and satisfyingly tied up in the second
half of the book. Cloud Atlas has been described as
being breathtaking in it’s audacity.
His latest novel is Black Swan Green.
This is a novel about thirteen-year old Jason Taylor
and tracks a single year of his life on the cusp of
adulthood. Set in the sleepiest village in muddiest
Worcestershire in 1982, the thirteen chapters, each
a short story in its own right, create a wonderfully
observed world that is anything but sleepy. Boy’s games
on a frozen lake, “nightcreeping” through summer backyards
of strangers, cruel luscious Dawn Madden and her power-hungry
boyfriend, an elderly bohemian émigré who is both more
and less than she appears, first cigarettes, first kisses,
first music, Gypsies camping in the woods, all contribute
to a funny, profound, off-the-wall novel that is a joy
to read.
David Mitchell is a courageous and
accomplished writer with an imagination that can grasp
huge ideas and weave them together into a gripping story
that feels disturbingly visionary at times. He lives
on the edge of a town called Clonakilty, in County Cork,
Ireland. He is married with two young children.
Interesting snippets: As child and through his youth
David Mitchell suffered from a stammer. He writes an
informative and insightful article called Let Me Speak
about his experience of this condition and how to overcome
it at stammering.org
Bibliography:
Ghostwritten, 1999, published by Sceptre
number9dream, 2001, published by Sceptre
Cloud Atlas, 2004, published by Sceptre
Black Swan Green, 2006, published by Sceptre
Deshima available in hardcover in May 2010
Prizes and Awards:
1999 Guardian First Book Award (shortlist) for Ghostwritten
1999 Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for Ghostwritten
2001 James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for fiction) (shortlist)
for number9dream
2002 Man Booker Prize for Fiction (shortlist) for number9dream
2004 Man Booker Prize for Fiction (shortlist) for Cloud
Atlas
2005 British Book Awards Literary Fiction Award for
Cloud Atlas
2005 British Book Awards Richard & Judy Best Read
of the Year for Cloud Atlas
2005 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Eurasia Region, Best
Book) (shortlist) for Cloud Atlas
2006 Costa Novel Award (shortlist) for Black Swan Green
2006 Quill Book Award (USA) (general fiction - shortlist)
for Black Swan Green
2007 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Eurasia Region Best
Book) (shortlist) for Black Swan Green
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