Cloud Atlas

A Novel

By: David Mitchell

Narrated by: Scott Brick, Cassandra Campbell, Kim Mai Guest, Kirby Heyborne, John Lee, Richard Matthews

Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

By the New York Times best-selling author of The Bone Clocks

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize

A postmodern visionary and one of the leading voices in 21st-century fiction, David Mitchell combines flat-out adventure, a Nabokovian love of puzzles, a keen eye for character, and a taste for mind-bending, philosophical, and scientific speculation in the tradition of Umberto Eco, Haruki Murakami, and Philip K. Dick. The result is brilliantly original fiction as profound as it is playful. In this groundbreaking novel, an influential favorite among a new generation of writers, Mitchell explores with daring artistry fundamental questions of reality and identity.

Cloud Atlas begins in 1850 with Adam Ewing, an American notary voyaging from the Chatham Isles to his home in California. Along the way, Ewing is befriended by a physician, Dr. Goose, who begins to treat him for a rare species of brain parasite.... Abruptly, the action jumps to Belgium in 1931, where Robert Frobisher, a disinherited bisexual composer, contrives his way into the household of an infirm maestro who has a beguiling wife and a nubile daughter.... From there we jump to the West Coast in the 1970s and a troubled reporter named Luisa Rey, who stumbles upon a web of corporate greed and murder that threatens to claim her life.... And onward, with dazzling virtuosity, to an inglorious present-day England; to a Korean superstate of the near future where neo-capitalism has run amok; and, finally, to a post-apocalyptic Iron Age Hawaii in the last days of history.

But the story doesn’t end even there. The narrative then boomerangs back through centuries and space, returning by the same route, in reverse, to its starting point. Along the way, Mitchell reveals how his disparate characters connect, how their fates intertwine, and how their souls drift across time like clouds across the sky.

As wild as a videogame, as mysterious as a Zen koan, Cloud Atlas is an unforgettable tour de force that, like its incomparable author, has transcended its cult-classic status to become a worldwide phenomenon.

List of readers:

• The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing, read by Scott Brick
• Letters from Zedelghem, read by Richard Matthews
• Half-Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery, read by Cassandra Campbell
• The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish, read by John Lee
• An Orison of Sonmi-451, read by Kim Mai Guest
• Sloosha’s Crossin’ an’ Ev’rythin’ After, read by Kirby Heyborne

This audiobook is available exclusively as an audio download!

Note to customers: The complicated format of this novel makes it seem that the audio may be cutting off before the end of a story, accompanied by a change in narrator. However, this is the author's intention, so please continue to listen, and the stories will conclude themselves as intended.

©2004 David Mitchell (P)2004 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

• 2005 Audie Award Nominee, Literary Fiction

"[Mitchell's] exuberant, Nabokovian delight in word play; his provocative grapplings with the great unknowables; and most of all his masterful storytelling: all coalesce to make Cloud Atlas an exciting, almost overwhelming masterpiece." ( Washington Times)

"[ Cloud Atlas] glows with a fizzy, dizzy energy, pregnant with possibility and whispering in your ear: listen closely to a story, any story, and you'll hear another story inside it, eager to meet the world." ( The Village Voice)

"A remarkable book....It knits together science fiction, political thriller, and historical pastiche with musical virtuosity and linguistic exuberance: there won't be a bigger, bolder novel next year." ( The Guardian)

Great story, loved every bit of it

It was strange at the start, middle and finish but it was enchanting at the same time. A great read!

interesting story and excellent performances

but this was a great story from beginning to end. The narrative structure was a bit of a surprise since I had not known what to expect. However as the different stories developed I found myself drawn into each one of them. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in a interesting story across the centuries that describes how our actions are based on our beliefs.

Complex & thought provoking

Cloud Atlas lays bear the dreams of men in the context of progress through the eyes of characters in different ages. Mitchell doesn’t hesitate to use the inner thoughts of his characters to evoke our own wonderings about life, the oppression of the weak, the dominance by the strong. On another note I enjoy thinking about how this book was written into an extraordinary film, what was used, left out and added for the big screen. Bravo.

Amazing & worth it

Thanks to the earlier reviewers who warned about the mid-chapter cut-offs as each of the six stories transition from one to the other -- especially the first one. I would have spent a hour trying to figure out how I screwed up the download or accidentally hit something on my MP3 when the first character stops speaking mid-sentence. And, it's true that the first character takes some patience, but stick with him.

One reviewer said the story goes like this 6 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5 6, and that was so helpful for me. (Sorry, I can't remember who you are to give you attribution.) It was so helpful that I'm repeating it for potential readers.

Have faith, dear reader, it all comes together as each story progresses.

This is one that's stuck with me long after I finished it, and in fact, I'm considering grabbing the book (the one with paper pages) to see what it's like with words on the page.

I have no idea how on earth they've made this into a movie because the book is remarkable.

Very interesting read

Didn't quite know what to expect from this book. Got it on the recommendation of a friend and just started listening with very little knowledge of what the book was about. It is an intricate telling of individual stories all connected to one another in some way. Was a little slow to start. Caught fire in the middle. And then it slowly ended. It is a hard listen if you do not pay close attention. You will not see the connections in the stories. I have to say overall I really enjoyed this book. I would compare his style to something like Kurt Vonnegut in the sense that a good many characters in the stories appear again or are an integral part in other stories in the book.

Sweeping and lovely work of fiction

What did you love best about Cloud Atlas?

Cloud Atlas was a great escape. A beautiful and mind-stirring work of fiction that raises questions about power structures, religion, and environmentalism. Not to be missed.

Everyone should read this book.

What made the experience of listening to Cloud Atlas the most enjoyable?

The structure of the story and it's insightful conclusions about personal freedom and choice.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Cloud Atlas?

The concluding paragraphs.

Any additional comments?

One of my all time favorite books.

Hmmmmm....

Kind of disjointed. I really enjoyed one story and the person who narrates it. ... and that story is hilarious. Truly funny. The dialogue written for the Hawaii story is utterly irritating. The main character's narration sounds like a cross between Bob Marley and Jar Jar Binks. Anyway, overall mildly entertaining.

Hard to follow

What did you like best about Cloud Atlas? What did you like least?

I thought the narration was fantastic. I couldn't follow the plot line, even at the end

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

It already is, that's why I chose it.

Most interesting book I've listened to in years. Along with spot on narration.

I might just have to listen to this again! Great listen. Indelible characters that will stay with me.