The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

By: David Mitchell

Narrated by: Jonathan Aris, Paula Wilcox

Length: 18 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

A Booker finalist and Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize winner, David Mitchell was called “prodigiously daring and imaginative” by Time and “a genius” by the New York Times Book Review.

The year is 1799, the place Dejima in Nagasaki Harbor, the “high-walled, fan-shaped artificial island” that is the Japanese Empire’s single port and sole window onto the world, designed to keep the West at bay; the farthest outpost of the war-ravaged Dutch East Indies Company; and a de facto prison for the dozen foreigners permitted to live and work there. To this place of devious merchants, deceitful interpreters, costly courtesans, earthquakes, and typhoons comes Jacob de Zoet, a devout and resourceful young clerk who has five years in the East to earn a fortune of sufficient size to win the hand of his wealthy fiancée back in Holland.

But Jacob’s original intentions are eclipsed after a chance encounter with Orito Aibagawa, the disfigured daughter of a samurai doctor and midwife to the city’s powerful magistrate. The borders between propriety, profit, and pleasure blur, until Jacob finds his vision clouded, one rash promise made and then fatefully broken. The consequences will extend beyond Jacob’s worst imaginings. As one cynical colleague asks, “Who ain’t a gambler in the glorious Orient, with his very life?”

©2010 David Mitchell (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"It’s as difficult to put this novel down as it is to overestimate Mitchell’s virtually unparalleled mastery of dramatic construction, illuminating characterizations and insight into historical conflict and change. Comparisons to Tolstoy are inevitable, and right on the money." ( Kirkus Reviews)

"Despite the audacious scope, the focus remains intimate; each fascinating character has the opportunity to share his or her story. Everything is patched together seamlessly and interwoven with clever wordplay and enlightening historical details on feudal Japan. First-rate literary fiction and a rousing good yarn, too." ( Booklist)

“An achingly romantic story of forbidden love . . . [David] Mitchell’s incredible prose is on stunning display. . . . A novel of ideas, of longing, of good and evil and those who fall somewhere in between [that] confirms Mitchell as one of the more fascinating and fearless writers alive.” (Dave Eggers, The New York Times Book Review)

Not quite a masterpiece, but strong accomplishment

I loved Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, for its invention, its haunting imagery, and its wonderfully varied collection of characters and voices. However, it was more a series of thematically-linked vignettes than a true novel. In The Thousand Autumns of Jacob DeSoet, Mitchell puts his undeniable imagination and talent to work in a more traditional work of long fiction. All in all, much of what I enjoyed most about Cloud Atlas -- the colorful characters and their unique vocabularies and mannerisms, the historically-based but somewhat fanciful quality of the writing, the posing of deeper questions about human morality and relationships -- is here in this book. Anyone who's a fan of David Mitchell won't be disappointed.

That said, I think what worked well so well in Cloud Atlas's loose pastiche doesn't expand perfectly into a longer story. For all Mitchell's skill as a writer, the larger plot arc is somewhat pedestrian, and the three parts of the tale join a bit awkwardly. Interesting characters and examinations of issues fill the reader's attention for a while, then disappear for whole chapters, if not the rest of the book. I wondered if the work had started out as a collection of short vignettes and episodes, a la Cloud Atlas, but had been turned into a novel. Also, Mitchell wears his political leanings a bit on his sleeve at times -- there's a strong cynicism to his portrayal of capitalism and its authority figures.

But, these issues are minor next to the sheer mastery of the writing. There are brilliant, beautiful passages and scenes. The dialogues and interactions between characters are filled with depth, humor, and subtlety. Even if Mitchell uses some obvious 21st century artistic license, his turn-of-the-19th-century sea captains, petty officers, salt-of-the-earth sailors, samurai, doctors, magistrates, and translators are wonderfully rendered. Obviously, much research went into the novel. If the whole felt segmented to me, each segment is engrossing. One is never sure what will happen next, or to whom, and by the time the story nears its climax, only the most jaded reader, I think, will be able to put the book down. The melancholic ending almost had me tearing up.

Is The Thousand Autumns of Jacob DeSoet as imaginative and daring a work as Cloud Atlas? No. Is it as exquisitely written? Yes.

Audio note: the reader does a generally fine job with the personalities and accents of the various European characters. However, I found his choice to give British accents to different Japanese characters (whenever the narrative is from a Japanese viewpoint) a little disconcerting.

A book of substance.

Any additional comments?

This was quite a solid story. Not a book with just 'fluff'. It has complexity that is not found in young adult reads.

It is somewhat like the book "A Game of Thrones" or "Pillars of the Earth". It has villains, subplots, complexity, bad things that happen to good people...

Some other books of depth and quality readers who liked this book might also enjoy are:

"The Power of One"
"The Sea Wolf"
"A Prayer for Owen Meany"
"The Virginian"
"Q & A" a.k.a "Slumdog Millionaire" by Vikas Swarup
"Shantaram"
"To Kill A Mockingbird"
"I Captured the Castle"
"Mr American"
"The Winds of War"

Fascinating title and tale.

What made the experience of listening to The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet the most enjoyable?

Not knowing what would happen. Great narrative and plot.

What did you like best about this story?

The travails main character suffers for a moment of weakness.

Which character – as performed by Jonathan Aris and Paula Wilcox – was your favorite?

Jacob. Orito.

If you could rename The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, what would you call it?

The Thousand Year Autumn of Jacob De Zoet.

Any additional comments?

A somewhat difficult but great book. Different from anything I have read.

Yacob desert is how it is pronounced

The writing of this book is awe inspiring. How he wove the story with all the different languages and idea's and people was a feat. I loved the story of the woman when she was sent to the "nunnery" . One of my favorite moments in the book was when the slave had his life narrated. I was glued to my headphones. The only negative thing about this book is there is nothing uplifting to cling onto and when I went to listen to it again I stopped because I felt a bit depressed.

Outstanding in every way

This was an outstanding and wonderful audible experience- my favorite audible book to date. The work is brilliant and interesting and engrossing and beautiful, each narrator is perfect, and I did not want this book to ever end. Absolutely amazing.

Worth it, overall . . .

A good narrative with many fascinating moments--and very well read! But, as often seems to happen with authors who have acquired sufficient reputation and recognition, the novel needed some serious editing. There are many long, long passages that add little to the narrative and seem to speak only to Mitchell's fascination with various topics. While I appreciate his erudition and research, it often became a struggle to keep going through some of the more turgid digressions. . . Do try to hang in there, though, it is a worthwhile story overall.

Beautiful and surprising

What made the experience of listening to The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet the most enjoyable?

Once you get into the threads of the story, you just can't tear yourself away. I couldn't believe how emotionally attached I got to all the characters, even though at first I thought I wouldn't like the topic--Medicine in the 1700-1800s is disgusting, and trade doesn't interest me much, but Mitchell is an absolutely masterful writer. I cried by the end.

What did you like best about this story?

Mitchell is possibly my favourite writer. His turns of phrase really do run the gamut from the sublime to the gag-inducing (literally). There's this one scene where a character in love meets his beloved in a garden and tries a Japanese fruit for the first time--it sounds like a cliche, but the image of that scene in burned into my memory forever. Who can write about how a fruit tastes for the first time? David Mitchell can.

Which scene was your favorite?

The aforementioned garden scene.

Who was the most memorable character of The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet and why?

Aurito was a fascinating female character. She had some of the heroine and some of the damsel in distress, but she just never landed in any of the cliches you could have expected of her.

Any additional comments?

I loved this book.

Brilliantly Done!

If you are a fan of Japanese culture and its sensibilities and if you liked reading Shogun, then this book is for you. Narration is excellent as well.

Amazing !

I enjoyed every minute of this novel. Fantastic characters, excellent story and a great peek into the
history of that time. I highly recommend.

Well done

The story is not for everyone, but is worth a read. It is not as complex as many of David Mitchell’s other books, but a story of the number of people in Japan. Worth your time.