Review: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Cloud Atlas // David Mitchell
2004 // Hodder
Paperback
5/5 stars!

A reluctant voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a disinherited composer blagging a precarious livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; a high-minded journalist in Governor Reagan’s California; a vanity publisher fleeing his gangland creditors; a genetically modified “dinery server” on death-row; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander witnessing the nightfall of science and civilisation—the narrators of Cloud Atlas hear each other’s echoes down the corridor of history, and their destinies are changed in ways great and small.

In English Class, we got the assingment to read a book. You were allowed to choose what book you wanted to read yourself, as long as it was literature.
It was a difficult choice for me, because there are so many books I want to read, but in the end I chose Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, because I knew deep inside that I'd not simply pick it up. You all should know that this is a very thick book, with 529 pages.
The thing that attracted me most about Cloud Atlas was that there were 6 stories, and all of them were intertwined and told in the book. First time you meet them, and the second time, further in the book, you are reunited with the stories, that were simply ended earlier, sometimes mid-sentence.
Also, I heard that it was made into a movie. The movie trailer looked amazing, and I always want to read the book prior to watching the movie, so that's exactly what I did. And I loved it!
In the beginning, I was scared by it, to be honest. The first part was written 1850s style, and to me that was incredibly hard. I am not a native, and English is not my mother tongue, so I have some minor problems with some parts of the English language, one of them being that it takes me long to understand some terms that I am not familiar with.
So the first thirty-something pages scared me off, yet I kept on reading, fascinating by the story. Then quickly I was thrown into the next part, letters this time, and 100 years later, so much easier for me to understand. and it just went on and on and I fell in love with the novel more and more!
Historic, Contemporary and Futuristic stories, all included in one thick and magnificently written novel. All genres mixed and matched. Never thought I'd like a mystery novel, combined with political drama, as much as I did. David Mitchell; you are one of the finest writers around!

A half-read book is a half-finished love affair

Lots of books,
Mar

extremely loud and incredibly close by Jonathan Safran Foer

title: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
written by: Jonathan Safran Foer
series? Nope
genre: Adult, mystery
pages: 326
publication date: April 4th, 2005
publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Meet Oskar Schell, an inventor, Francophile, tambourine player, Shakespearean actor, jeweler, pacifist, correspondent with Stephen Hawking and Ringo Starr. He is nine years old. And he is on an urgent, secret search through the five boroughs of New York. His mission is to find the lock that fits a mysterious key belonging to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11.


An inspired innocent, Oskar is alternately endearing, exasperating, and hilarious as he careens from Central Park to Coney Island to Harlem on his search. Along the way he is always dreaming up inventions to keep those he loves safe from harm. What about a birdseed shirt to let you fly away? What if you could actually hear everyone's heartbeat? His goal is hopeful, but the past speaks a loud warning in stories of those who've lost loved ones before. As Oskar roams New York, he encounters a motley assortment of humanity who are all survivors in their own way. He befriends a 103-year-old war reporter, a tour guide who never leaves the Empire State Building, and lovers enraptured or scorned. Ultimately, Oskar ends his journey where it began, at his father's grave. But now he is accompanied by the silent stranger who has been renting the spare room of his grandmother's apartment. They are there to dig up his father's empty coffin.

Extremely loud and Incredibly close is one of those books that I will never forget I have read. Immediately after you open the book you are thrown right into the story about a depressed, crazy and genious child, Oskar. I immediately fell in love with him. He was just the cutest child I had ever read about, and I wished he were my younger brother. He shows interest in everything around him, which makes him different from most of the children his age.


The heart-touching story is written about something horrible that truly happened, about 9-11. This event has always interested me, but still, I have never thought a lot about how it affected the people that remained without one or more of their family members. How some of them are traumatized by the terrorists, and never will be able to go on high buildings. How they are scared of every men that looks like a terrorist. Oskar had those traumas. He was really and forever damaged by the terrorist attack on the twin towers, which makes a lot of sense to me!


Foer created a very realistic character. Sometimes I even thought it was too realistic. Oskar thought like a 40-something year old men, and behaved like one, too. Not that this is bad, just that it really impressed me, and made me think. Still, Oskar is one of the best developed and most complicated characters I have ever encountered while reading a book! 


The plot of this book is very well thought out, and I loved that about this book. Oskar's quest, looking for the keyhole that belongs to a key, is one I *and most others* would give up after a while. He continues, for almost a year, if not longer. He decides to visit everyone with the surname Black, because that was standing on a paper he found together with the key. While looking for the key he meets no 'normal' people at all. All of the Blacks have something strange and special about them. The difference between every Black kept on surprising me, but it also kind of annoyed me, because they were too different to be a little realistic. But, since it's fiction, I can't blame anyone for that. I would have found the story pretty boring if all the Black's were just 'normal' people. 


Foer's writing style is amazing. You read the story from multiple points of view, Oskar's, Thomas's and Oskar's grandma. Oskar's point of view was my favorite. The way he interprets the world astonished me. Then there were the other 2 points of view. They were written as letters. I love books that are written like letters or emails. Then there were amazing photographs that first of all didn't make any sense, but later did. When I understood them, they really added something to the book! 


A lovely, heart-touching novel for every teenager and adult, something that belongs on the list of books you should have read before you die!


rating: 
I give this book 5 stars!


xo Mar

Before I go to sleep by S.J. Watson

book: Before I go to sleep

written by: S.J. Watson

genre: psychological, amnesia, adult

pages: 364

own / library / borrowed

release date: 14th of June, 2011

series? nope

publisher: Harper

note: This cover is gorgeous! I love covers with eyes on them, and this one is one of the best I have ever seen!!

the book: 

after a mysterious accident, Christine gets amnesia. Every day she wakes up, without knowing who she is, what happened to her and who is lying next to her. Everything she has done in her past is erased by her memory. She thinks she's young, but finds out she's older. She is married with someone she does not remember, has forgotten all of her friends and does not even know her own name. And what if the only person in her life that she could trust is not telling her the truth? 

my review:

This was epic awesomeness! I would call this 50 first dates meets suspense. You are guessing all the time what´s going to happen next, it keeps on surprising you. Altough the ending of the book was not unexpected, the beginning of this book was great.

Sometimes I think this book used too many pages, because you could easily skip a few pages without missing anything, but it was beautifully written so I did not really care. 

Also, the main character, Christine, was a strong character. Most of the people would not fight agains their amnesia as long as she does. Sometimes she acted unrealistic, but most of the times it was all right!

This book is classified as Adult, but it is not more complicated than a Young Adult novel. Actually, this was a pretty easy read, so I could read it when it was late, too :)

Some parts of the plot were predictable, and some were not, as I stated above. You will start to believe everything in the beginning, and then you see that all the others and Christine's mind are fooling you, so you never know what is true and what isn't.

This is a great debut novel and I will sure read more of S.J. Watson's books! A must-read for people who love to read a non-fantasy/paranormal/sci-fi book sometimes, and like suspense. 

my rating:

4/5 stars

xo Mar