That post was supposed to be a reply to a existing thread but I fucked up. Long story short: I had the exact same reaction to Cloud Atlas, and I would recommend Ghostwritten (which is a similar structure to Cloud Atlas but done much better) or Black Swan Green (which has no fancy structure thing, but is just very well…

Somehow accidentally put this reply as the start of its own thread, so here it is again:

Somehow accidentally put this reply as the start of its own thread, so here it is again:

I'm upset that it's his most popular because I wish people would experience him at his best. It sucks that there are people (I've met them) who read Cloud Atlas, think "eh, ok but not very good", and then think that's what David Mitchell's writing is always like, when he's capable of so much more.

I'm upset that it's his most popular because I wish people would experience him at his best. It sucks that there are people (I've met them) who read Cloud Atlas, think "eh, ok but not very good", and then think that's what David Mitchell's writing is always like, when he's capable of so much more.

Exactly. Cloud Atlas always just reads to me like he was disappointed with the sales of Ghostwritten, and decided to rewrite the book but with more action and with every connection between the stories explained at length so no one could miss them. Ghostwritten is a single coherent story, but it takes work from the…

Exactly. Cloud Atlas always just reads to me like he was disappointed with the sales of Ghostwritten, and decided to rewrite the book but with more action and with every connection between the stories explained at length so no one could miss them. Ghostwritten is a single coherent story, but it takes work from the…

That is, while not a terrible book, also fairly weak by his standards. I would say his fantastic books are Ghostwritten, Black Swan Green, and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. And then below those are Number9Dream and Cloud Atlas, which are both ok but with major problems.

That is, while not a terrible book, also fairly weak by his standards. I would say his fantastic books are Ghostwritten, Black Swan Green, and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. And then below those are Number9Dream and Cloud Atlas, which are both ok but with major problems.

It really frustrates me to no end that the one book everyone has read from David Mitchell, who is easily one of my favorite writers, is his absolute weakest book. I get that it's the one with big sci-fi action elements, so it's the one they're going to turn into a movie, but if you enjoyed reading Cloud Atlas, please…

It really frustrates me to no end that the one book everyone has read from David Mitchell, who is easily one of my favorite writers, is his absolute weakest book. I get that it's the one with big sci-fi action elements, so it's the one they're going to turn into a movie, but if you enjoyed reading Cloud Atlas, please…

I don't even remember the plots. I just remember shots like the furniture disappearing…and then reappearing.

I don't even remember the plots. I just remember shots like the furniture disappearing…and then reappearing.

Not that any of them were great cinema, but I actually thought the third one was the best. It had the most imaginative uses of the gimmick. On the other hand, I feel like it probably used up all the new ideas that were left with that set-up.

Not that any of them were great cinema, but I actually thought the third one was the best. It had the most imaginative uses of the gimmick. On the other hand, I feel like it probably used up all the new ideas that were left with that set-up.

by dumbed down I mean that it's the same concept, but Cloud Atlas replaced Ghostwritten's memorable multiple main characters with shallow genre exercises, and where in Ghostwritten it took real work and thought from the reader to figure out what the unified story was and how it all connected, Cloud Atlas just goes…

by dumbed down I mean that it's the same concept, but Cloud Atlas replaced Ghostwritten's memorable multiple main characters with shallow genre exercises, and where in Ghostwritten it took real work and thought from the reader to figure out what the unified story was and how it all connected, Cloud Atlas just goes…

If you liked Cloud Atlas more, then more power to you, but to my eyes Cloud Atlas was just a dumbed down rewrite of Ghostwritten.

If you liked Cloud Atlas more, then more power to you, but to my eyes Cloud Atlas was just a dumbed down rewrite of Ghostwritten.

I never understood why, out of all of David Mitchell's fantastic novels, everyone got obsessed with by far his weakest one.