I almost think this could make a better movie than a book. It's got larger-than-life characters, interesting settings, lots of potential visuals, and a filmmaker could be a bit more obvious about some of Mitchell's subtleties.

Miller, your dislike of the book's final pages is interesting to me, because I really liked the last two pages and felt that they tied things together in a positive way. Maybe it's just that I like themes of anti-selfishness and peace and the power of the individual to remake society in his or her own image, and so I…

I loved the Frobisher sections for his musical worldview and libertine ways, and of course for his humor, and will totally be getting Saki's Reginald stories to read in the very near future. Thanks for the heads-up, Ficta.

@stackenblocken—re: "the high points in the book and the ending [being] so appealing that I'm probably just trying to will away flaws," I feel pretty much the same way. I loved huge swathes of the Cavendish, Frobisher, and Somni portions, and many parts of all of them…but the overall execution still seems flawed,…

"Cavendish was a bitter whiny crank with power and narcissism issues, same with Frobisher. I could relate to that." It's lines like this that keep me always looking forward to Miller's comments.

I don't think it was fiction. I think it was a novelization of actual events. Why else would Sixsmith, a real character from another section be in it? I do think, however, that the second section of Luisa Rey's could have just been how Cavendish imagined it would end, because he said he wrote a new ending for it, a…

Some thoughts on this…
My problem with the Sloosha's Crossing section wasn't that it wasn't as well written as RIDDLEY WALKER, it was that it was TOTALLY derivative of it. I think it crossed the line from "inspired by" and "an homage to" to out-and-out mimicry. Because it really can't be argued that it's trying to…

And DANDELION WINE is amazing too. Never read its sequel, but I read the first many times.

It is a great book. Can't wait for the 3-D movie! Wait…actually…

I liked CLOUD ATLAS—just finished it last night—and I liked it even more upon reading its last two pages, which I think are outstanding and make the whole thing more worthwhile. I'll save my more detailed comments for the discussion.

Someday I will see this
in a hotel room.

IN a sea, jesus

I had that same thought about that scene. A refreshing island of bright weirdness is a sea of torpid tedium.

I just read this
and I for one think this could be really cool. I'm looking forward to it.

Well, I would like to be there!
I hear tell he's a handsome fellow, with broad shoulders and a winsome smile!

This delay has completely re-energized me for the book. I'm reading like 75 pages a day now, and I think it's a more enjoyable book at this pace.

I think what has pull around here is that the book is a pretty long one and we're all busy. Can you imagine if we'd picked something twice as long, like 2666? We'd need two months for it, probably.

THANK YOU
You are nice, AVC. Now I will hurry to finish it so I can take part.

Didn't like the book either. Found it to be an awful, un-fun chore and was surprised so many people loved it so much.

A celebrity whose death I'm actually sad about.
AMERICAN SPLENDOR is amazing. One of the most human projects ever. You will be missed, Harvey.