Cloud Atlas at 20: What makes a novel tattoo-worthy?

Every author wants to write a book like David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas. Two decades after it first hit the shelves, the author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow celebrates its daring, dazzling appealPity the writer who believes they have written the next Cloud Atlas! A literary agent once told me that when a fledgling writer compares their novel to David Mitchell’s, he invariably knows it will be awful. Once you have written a book like Cloud Atlas, you have not written Cloud Atlas because Cloud Atlas is not like anything.When the novel was published in 2004, critics compared it to everything. AS Byatt in the Guardian invokes Herman Melville, Raymond Chandler, Martin Amis, George Orwell and Ursula K Le Guin among others. Tom Bissell in the New York Times adds to the mix Cervantes, Defoe, Isherwood, William S Burroughs, and, in a last paragraph twist, James Joyce’s Ulysses. Theo Tait of the Telegraph writes in a rare negative review that “Cloud Atlas spends half its time wanting to be The Simpsons and the other half the Bible.” This line is funny more than apt, but had I read it at the time, it would have sold the book to me. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2024-04-06 10:00:31 UTC ]
News tagged with: #david mitchell #dazzling appealpity #critics compared #raymond chandler #martin amis #george orwell #le guin #tom bissell #mix cervantes #paragraph twist #james joyce #theo tait #telegraph writes #literary agent

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Cloud Atlas at 20: What makes a novel tattoo-worthy?'


Bidders given two weeks to make Waterstone's move

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Mon, 16/05/2011 - 09:10 Bidders for Waterstone's have a reported two weeks to express a formal interest in the chain, as parent HMV Group said it was in "advanced discussions" over a sale. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Only 20% of US indies sign up to Google Editions

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 16/05/2011 - 15:20 Only 20% of American Booksellers Association (ABA) members have signed up to the Google E-books programme, the head of the ABA has said. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Only 20% of US indies signed up to Google Editions

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 16/05/2011 - 15:20 Only 20% of American Booksellers Association (ABA) members have signed up to the Google E-books programme, the head of the ABA has said. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ten make Authors' Club travel longlist

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lonely Planet in move to London, makes 70 redundant

Publication Date: Thu, 12/05/2011 - 09:30 Lonely Planet is to move some operations to London at the same time as making 70 staff redundant in Australia. Staff at the Lonely Planet office in Melbourne have been told a large part of the company's web operations are moving to the UK following... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sainsbury's grows book sales 20%

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rowling and Oliver make ST Rich List

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers Make a Plan: A ‘One Stop’ Book Site

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[ The New York Times | 2011-05-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Trustee of Willy the Wizard makes appeal over costs

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Choc Lit makes two acquisitions

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Advocate Chooses DTI's Cloud Publishing Platform to Future-Proof Operations

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[ Editor & Publisher | 2011-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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De Waal, Kaletsky and Vulliamy make Samuel Johnson longlist

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Two Atlantic titles make Independent shortlist

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quercus makes £1m from digital in three months

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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20 Game-Changing Events That Shaped the Internet, Part 2

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[ PC World | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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STL distribution makes 30 redundant

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HMV Group makes Waterstone's pledge

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sphere makes Wicked acquisition

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: Hearst Makes Offer For Elle, Other Lagardère Titles

After a month of negotiations, Hearst has made an offer to buy 102 magazine titles from the French publisher. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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