@Miller -

Knowing Structure Ahead Before Reading
I envy those who didn't know the structure of the book before reading. I first heard of "Cloud Atlas" after reading a review which explained the structure pretty clearly, so I knew it was structured like a palindrome. However, I had forgotten the style and content of each of…

Going back to birthmark and reincarnation:

Ewing is the only one of the main characters who does not have the comet birthmark on his shoulder. I took the last pages as proof that he had reached enlightenment and thus was not reincarnated. The other 5 main characters are incarnations of a different soul, and none of them reach this stage of enlightenment. …

Brand names taking the place of nouns threw me for a loop when Somni had a vision / memory of drowning inside a ford, a reference to Luise Rey. "Ford? That's not right. Luisa was driving a VW." I even re-read that passage before realizing what Mitchell was doing. Duh.

I believe it's currently in development to be directed by Tom Twyker, who directed "Run Lola Run."

Ghostwritten
@ FiveString (and anyone else):
You might like Mitchell's first novel "Ghostwritten." It's similar to "Cloud Atlas" in that it is concerned with intimate connections between characters separated by time and space and each section is written in a different style. Like "Cloud Atlas" it's not entirely…

MikeStange -
I thought of that and half expected that sort of revelation, but it never came (unless it was so subtle I missed it).

Riddley Walker
Have never read "Riddley Walker." Something about the invented language of the future always stuck me as a gimmick. It's probably why I've never read "Clockwork Orange" either.

Yes, the Luisa Rey was the only section that felt like a parody. Whereas the other sections felt like pastiches, I never got the feeling that Mitchell was mocking their conventions. But the graceless exposition, obvious character traits, and sudden plot reversals in the Luisa Rey felt like Mitchell was taking the…

Gives you hope, doesn't it? It's never too late.

Copyediting Suggestion
In D'Angelo's opening sentence, "Brazil may be the greatest movie ever made about bureaucratic inefficiency" the period should go after the word "made" and the last three words deleted.

"This is a…professional relationship."

I don't know, Fah Fah Fah. That is a great scene, but I also love the scene of Mr. Helpmann, dressed as Santa Claus while in his wheelchair, telling Sam that Jill is definitely dead and indicating that he's going to be tortured.

"Panicked and anxious" but also cagey, as seen when he asks Sam to sign a form because "I've hurt my hand." He knows how to survive in a bureaucracy.

In addition
- Finnegans Wake

I agree - the paragraph on "Devil's Advocate" was unduly harsh. The movie is the kind of crazed (occult, in this case) melodrama Hollywood doesn't make anymore. It's like an adaptation of a Jack Chick comic.

Fincher didn't create the title sequence for "Seven." Kyle Cooper did, the same way Saul Bass created the credit sequences for Hitchcock's films. I'm sure Fincher approved of it, though.

I don't think he and Frisell made any videos. Their live collaboration consisted of showing slides of Woodring's work while Frisell played - a very interesting evening.

Oops. You're right of course. I knew I should have fact-checked before posting.