Joey Crows Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Just finished "The Bone Clocks" about a month ago. I bought it on a whim because I knew him from the movie "Cloud Atlas" even though I hadn't read the book. The premise seemed fascinating so I picked it up and devoured it in about a week. I found the prose to be intelligent, and facilitating, although at times the various characters voices were a tad to similar, indicating the author's thoughts more than the players. That being said, the ideas were fantastic. I enjoyed the way he described the daily interactions of his characters throughout the jumps in time. The crazy, fantastical world that was taking place behind the scenes was just enough to keep me intrigued beyond the already interesting world of the normal humans in the story. My only real disappointment was the way he kept the subtextual story of the immortals as an occasional spike in the story, only to have the final resolution disregard that storyline entirely. Anyone else here read "The Bone Clocks"? Or "Cloud Atlas"? Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spring Bass Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Cloud Atlas is my favorite novel, and I've been thinking about moving on to some of his other works. Just a brilliant, multi-layered work - I've noticed something different on each re-read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Crows Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 Cloud Atlas is my favorite novel, and I've been thinking about moving on to some of his other works. Just a brilliant, multi-layered work - I've noticed something different on each re-read. "The Bone Clocks" seems to continue his trend of writing multi-layered, and fantasy, mixed with human stories. Like I said, even though I wished the book was resolved in a more satisfying way, it was an excellent read and well worth checking out. Especially if you enjoyed his previous work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 I've read both.We had a thread on Cloud Atlas and I posted my impressions of Bone Clocks and some other of his novels there.I enjoyed both but thought Cloud Atlas was stronger. Bone Clocks had a couple of weak POVs and a long, unrelated epilogue (although it ties in with his other novels). It spurred me to read three other of his novels, which I enjoyed too. Very smart author with clever prose and intimate characterization. Slightly repetitive themes and characters though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 I find I get on better with his mainstream works like Black Swan Green and Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet than with his mainstream/sf/fantasy mixed works. Really hard to get immersed in those combi-settings for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I have not read Bone Clocks. I've read Cloud Atlas and Jacob de Zoet, but I'm currently 5/9 (readers will understand where I get this fraction from) through Ghostwritten (which I believe is his debut). I am enjoying this shit out of it...so maybe David Mitchell's weird stuff is just up my alley. I loved Cloud Atlas too. I respected the hell out of Jacob de Zoet but thought it wasn't as memorable as Cloud Atlas, and it's just a different and more traditional novel. So given how I liked Cloud Atlas and how much I'm enjoying Ghostwritten, I am thinking I'll enjoy The Bone Clocks and plan on trying it soon. I'm glad you're enjoying Ghostwritten, Trisk. I liked it a lot. It felt like a precursor to Cloud Atlas. I still need to pick up Black Swan Green. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Out of Mitchell's works, I've read Bone Clocks, Cloud Atlas and Black Swan Green. I think Black Swan is probably my favorite out of the lot, but it seems strange to compare those three books given how different they all are. I think his ideas in The Bone Clocks are excellent, but there's a chapter towards the end of the novel that is very exposition heavy. We need that exposition, but it might have been slightly better to sprinkle that throughout the rest of the chapters, as opposed to just one chapter. That being said, I enjoyed the book quite a bit, especially the last chapter, the epilogue of sorts. I should probably pick up Ghostwritten, but it's a difficult book to find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mlle. Zabzie Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I'm completely bogged down in Bone Clocks. It clicks along nicely there for awhile, and then something goes sideways and I get bored and put it down. This happens every time he goes to the supernatural part of his plotlines. I haven't decided whether to pick it back up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krakenface Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I really enjoyed Cloud Atlas, both the book and the film, and Number9Dream and Ghostwritten are filling space on my bedside table waiting to be read. Anyone here read Number9Dream? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boar Island Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 I really enjoyed Cloud Atlas, both the book and the film, and Number9Dream and Ghostwritten are filling space on my bedside table waiting to be read. Anyone here read Number9Dream? I read number9dream and I thought it was alright, but not as good as Cloud Atlas or Ghostwritten - Throughout its eight chapters it regularly "breaks out" of its main storyline (which at times feels like something Murakami could've written) into various genres of literature including a zany spy novel, a cyberpunk story, a really dark/surreal fable and so on. Very well-written, and many people really like it, but it didn't do as much for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 I just finished this and loved it. I need to let it sit a bit more, but I'm tempted to say that it was my favorite Mitchell novel. I would agree that Mitchell uses somewhat repetitive characters and themes, but I think that's a feature rather than a bug. For example, the Crispin POV in this reminded me quite a bit of Cavendish from Cloud Atlas (condescending sometimes stars of the literary world), but they're both great. A few questions I still have: [spoiler] Do we ever really have the Deep Stream and the Script explained? I gathered that the Deep Stream was like the source of power for all of the psychosoterics? Or was it only for the Horologists? And was the Script anything more than just destiny or something? ETA: I also didn't quite follow what happened with Xo Li. They said that they didn't see him die during the first mission, and Xo Li as Jacko Syckes was able to pass on the labyrinth that ultimately helped Marinus and Holly get out? But I didn't follow exactly how that happened or if we learned how Xo Li ended. [/spoiler] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Writhen Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 I've never read any of his stuff, but that's a great title, Ghostwritten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 I've never read any of his stuff, but that's a great title, Ghostwritten. Oh, Valahd...and here I dared dream someone had come along and answered some of my questions. :crying: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murgle Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 I don't read a lot of high brow books but Cloud Atlas was awesome. Bunch of great random stories in different times and places. Boneclocks seems similar from what you guys say but thr title turns me off lol. Dunno why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 I don't read a lot of high brow books but Cloud Atlas was awesome. Bunch of great random stories in different times and places. Boneclocks seems similar from what you guys say but thr title turns me off lol. Dunno why. I did not love the title either before reading it. I'll just say that what it actually refers to is not something anyone would predict. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Started listening to the audiobook yesterday. I really enjoyed the first chapter (although it felt like the author had been bingeing on "fools and horses" and "eastenders" for an 80s reference) and when the weird stuff happens, I have to say it was really unnerving so it shows how Mitchell seems to be able to do any style of writing with relative ease. I've just started the second part and I always find these "jumps" trick as i have to get used to the new style and character. I think it helps with the audiobook that there's a different narrator for each of the books POVs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Writhen Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Sorry. Just commenting lawl. *backs out of thread carefully, leaving it abraded and defiled* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasûrimbor Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 Started listening to the audiobook yesterday. I really enjoyed the first chapter (although it felt like the author had been bingeing on "fools and horses" and "eastenders" for an 80s reference) and when the weird stuff happens, I have to say it was really unnerving so it shows how Mitchell seems to be able to do any style of writing with relative ease. I've just started the second part and I always find these "jumps" trick as i have to get used to the new style and character. I think it helps with the audiobook that there's a different narrator for each of the books POVs. Agree with the above. Mitchel is a truly gifted, and extremely versatile writer. This and Cloud Atlas are two of my favorite books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Agree with the above. Mitchel is a truly gifted, and extremely versatile writer. This and Cloud Atlas are two of my favorite books. I'm four chapters in and have to admit that I'm finding this a lot easier than "cloud Atlas". I think it really helps that it's not a mirror reflection format where each chapter ends with a cliffhanger. I think he even references this in "bone clocks" with his author character - there's certainly a lot of digs at Mitchell's own style of writing including the ballsy "how pretentious to insert an author into your own book". Some spoilery bits on the books [spoiler] Hugo Lamb reminded me a lot of Frobisher but it was a fascinating chapter. The Ed story was shorter but I liked how they dealt with "journalism addiction". The Crispin chapter has been very entertaining in that he is a fairly repugnant character but his encounters with Holly show he's capable of compassion. I'm still finding the moments with "weird stuff" chilling but the actual everyday stuff is the meat. [/spoiler] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Good Guy Garlan Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 I just finished this and loved it. I need to let it sit a bit more, but I'm tempted to say that it was my favorite Mitchell novel. I would agree that Mitchell uses somewhat repetitive characters and themes, but I think that's a feature rather than a bug. For example, the Crispin POV in this reminded me quite a bit of Cavendish from Cloud Atlas (condescending sometimes stars of the literary world), but they're both great. A few questions I still have: Hidden Content To try to answer your questions I think you're right about the Deep Stream, I think it's the sort of undercurrent of energy that powers all the psychosoterics. I think the CounterScript of the Anchorites was given to them by the Blind Cathar idol thingy, but I have no idea where the Horologists' Script came from (maybe from individual glimpses of the future by powerful Horologists like Esther Little or Xi Lo?) As for Xi Lo/Jacko, his soul was hidden in the Chapel all those years, building the labyrinth. I imagine it perished like the rest when the Dusk came inNow my questions What on earth was the purpose of Soleil Moore? I gathered she was sort of like a freelance Horologist, but her plan was so stupid, and Hershey's role in the Script wasn't all that clear either. Was his role just to die so Holly would be visiting his gravestone when Marinus found her? I don't know, I like Hershey's story but it didn't really "fit" in the grand scheme of things. Same with Brubeck's chapter. Sure, he meets Constantin when she's seeing whether or not Aoife's got the eye or whatever like Holly and Jacko, but not much happens in that front, at least compared with the Holly and Hugo chapters.Second question, speaking of Hugo. He and Marinus escaped from the labyrinth, and I have a feeling Hugo was somewhere in that epilogue, but I don't know where. As one of the Icelandic soldiers, I don't know? Anyway, I liked the novel a lot but it wasn't without its problems. I still like Cloud Atlas a lot more and think it's funny how the storylines in that novel seem to mesh together better or more seamlessly than in The Bone Clocks even if they're much less connected, which says a lot about the thematic unity of CA, really. Oh, something else about BC, was anyone else sort of disappointed at how one-dimensional and black and white the Horologists and Anchorites turned out to be? I did get a chuckle at the randomness of them being all white, though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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