Cloud Atlas is an exciting and unusual novel. It uses a structure I have never seen before in a book... a nested palindrome. The book opens with a story set about 200 years ago, which is half told, then interrupted. A new story starts, set in the early 20th C. This is then interrupted, and a contemporary story starts, which in turn gives way to a story set in the foreseeable future, then another story starts in the far, post-apocalyptic future. This is the “keystone” of the arch, and after it is told the other stories are completed in order. Each story in the layer is connected in some way to the story that follows, typically by having the main character in the subsequent story read, view or observe the previous story. This could have been handled badly but Mitchell does this well. As soon as the structure’s full design became clear I was actually pumping the air with my fist and saying “YES”.
The author simply disdains the conventional divisions such as “historical fiction”, “adventure story” and “science fiction”. I was delighted to find out that the book was both on the Booker Prize short list (as literature) and the Nebula Award short list (as Sci Fi) in the same year. The connections between the stories are not forced. In some ways this consists of six well written short stories or novellas that have been torn in two and inserted in each other. Doing this, however, and doing it with the nesting also happening in terms of an ascending then descending time line, opens all sorts of wonderful possibilities for subtle interactions between the “layers” of stories. For instance, once you read about how the character in the fifth story is remembered in the sixth story, you have a new layer of understanding of her fate and purpose as you read the conclusion of the fifth story. There is also the hint of a more mystical connection as each main character seems to carry a similar birth mark.
The stories are of many kinds, each told in the first person, each using a language representing the age and context. There is a decided moral tone throughout the book, though one of the characters is decidedly immoral, and other characters describe distressing sights and events. While the book
reeks with imagination and is redolent with rich story-telling, it is not merely artifice and rumination. Most of the stories have elements of adventure, risk and challenge: I was torn between reading for the sometimes poetic language and intriguing cross references, and flicking pages in my normal style to catch the drift of the action.
I was reminded of another recent favourite, A Visit from the Goon Squad which also combines interlinked tales with stories from past, present and future. I was also reminded of the extraordinary Gödel, Bach and Escher by Douglas Hofstadter which explores the concept of layers of meaning and
reference.
This is a thoroughly engaging book for an adult reader who is prepared to explore unusual structures. There are definitely adult themes and references to sexual encounters, some quite grim, though overall there are positive messages about resilience, fortitude, courage and virtue. A delightful
discovery for me!
Andrew Lack
Head of the Odell Learning Resources Centre
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