Cloud Atlas (20th Anniversary Edition)

A Novel

By: David Mitchell, Gabrielle Zevin - introduction

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

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A timeless, structure-bending classic that explores how actions of individual lives impact the past, present and future—from a postmodern visionary and one of the leading voices in fiction

Featuring a new afterword by David Mitchell and a new introduction by Gabrielle Zevin, author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

One of the New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century • Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize

Cloud Atlas begins in 1850 with Adam Ewing, an American notary voyaging from the Chatham Isles to his home in California. Ewing is befriended by a physician, Dr. Goose, who begins to treat him for a rare species of brain parasite. The novel careens, with dazzling virtuosity, to Belgium in 1931, to the West Coast in the 1970s, to an inglorious present-day England, to a Korean superstate of the near future where neocapitalism has run amok, and, finally, to a postapocalyptic Iron Age Hawaii in the last days of history.

But the story doesn’t end even there. The novel boomerangs back through centuries and space, returning by the same route, in reverse, to its starting point. Along the way, David 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 video game, 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©2004 David Mitchell; (P)2004 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER
FINALIST FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL IMPAC DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD
A Times (UK) Best Book of the Decade
A New York Times Notable Book
A Globe and Mail 100 Best Book
Longlisted for the IMPAC Award

“[David] Mitchell is, clearly, a genius. He writes as though at the helm of some perpetual dream machine, can evidently do anything, and his ambition is written in magma across this novel’s every page.”—The New York Times Book Review

“One of those how-the-holy-hell-did-he-do-it? modern classics that no doubt is—and should be—read by any student of contemporary literature.”—Dave Eggers

“Wildly entertaining . . . a head rush, both action-packed and chillingly ruminative.”—People

“The novel as series of nested dolls or Chinese boxes, a puzzle-book, and yet—not just dazzling, amusing, or clever but heartbreaking and passionate, too. I’ve never read anything quite like it, and I’m grateful to have lived, for a while, in all its many worlds.”—Michael Chabon

“Cloud Atlas ought to make [Mitchell] famous on both sides of the Atlantic as a writer whose fearlessness is matched by his talent.”—The Washington Post Book World

“Thrilling . . . One of the biggest joys in Cloud Atlas is watching Mitchell sashay from genre to genre without a hitch in his dance step.”—Boston Sunday Globe

“Grand and elaborate . . . [Mitchell] creates a world and language at once foreign and strange, yet strikingly familiar and intimate.”—Los Angeles Times

Love This Story!

Would you listen to Cloud Atlas again? Why?

Yes I would listen to Cloud Atlas again. It was complex enough that I'm certain that there is more I would get from a second read that maybe I missed on the first listen. This book is worth having a hard copy also. It's that good.

What other book might you compare Cloud Atlas to and why?

This is a unique story and a unique format which I don't recall ever seeing before. I'm very happy also to have seen the movie for the visuals and music. It really rounded out the experience, and for me, it's like a cult classic. I can't believe this story didn't topple everything in its path.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narrators brought the story to life. When I'm reading a hard copy, obviously there's no variation of voice, inflection or modulation, language or tone. The narrators enhanced this story with pitch perfect timing and that allowed me to close my eyes and 'see' the story through them.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Well, the question is, if I were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be, but, it's already a movie. That said, I believe that a good tag line might have been, "When you think it's over, it's really just the beginning...."

Any additional comments?

In my top 5 books and movies. Give it as a gift in all its forms and revisit it once a year. That really keeps things in perspective!

A well orchestrated story

I saw the movie first. It interested me enough to listen to the book. The material difficult to convene in the cinema formate, shines in the book. The material which was in the movie, was so well explained it was like I was watching it again in my mind. The Performance was top notch is made for a very fun listen.

Mindbending and Magical

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

The story was amazingly compelling with fantastic voice-acting.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I'd have to go with Sonmi~451, it was truly a fascinating story but they were all so great.

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

I loved them all.

Unique and unforgettable book

Where does Cloud Atlas rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top ten

What other book might you compare Cloud Atlas to and why?

Does not compare with other books I usually enjoy

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Our lives effect others, in the past, present and future

Listened To It Twice!!

Would you consider the audio edition of Cloud Atlas to be better than the print version?

I loved the voices. They brought the book to live. The narrators were excellent.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The story of Adam Ewing made me want to sail the seas in the 1850s. The boat comes alive, with his description of his voyage across the Pacific.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Zachary in the narration of the Hawaii of the future. I could just about hear the thundering of the hooves as the Kona warriors' horses rode by.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I felt like I was in the story.

Any additional comments?

This is the only audible book I have ever listened to twice. It was that good!