I don't know what to write about this book except that I loved it. Each of the six stories were wonderful reads, each engaging, suspenseful, deep in their own way. How could one writer execute so many distinct voices and styles so well? Mitchell is a master of language--he even succeeds in creating a distinctly unique yet familiar language in the last stories that take place years in the future.
The book gets a lot of criticism because the connection between the stories is not apparent except that some of the names and features of the characters are the same. However, the title of the book offers a clue as to how the stories flow from one to the other and then back again. Furthermore, a distinct theme that runs through all is control and dominion. Though the setting of the different stories differs greatly, there is this little bit of human nature that remains. It was brilliant! I think it is a better book than most Booker winners I've read.
5 stars out of 5.
Trevor, I absolutely loved Cloud Atlas as well. Figuring out the links between each story was one of the more fascinating aspects for me.
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