Weekly Reader: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell; A Beautiful Transformative Novel About Life, Death, Reincarnation, and The Legacy We Leave Behind
By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: I admit that when I first approached Cloud Atlas, I did with great trepidation. I had heard about the book's structure and I was concerned whether I would be able to follow it. After having read difficult books like Ulysses and Infinite Jest, I thought this would be another book that tries to show off to its Readers only to confuse them.
I shouldn't have worried. Instead what I found was one of my favorite books that I read this year. David Mitchell didn't tell just one memorable story. He told six of them. I joke that he probably couldn't decide whether he wanted to write an adventure, a romance, a political thriller, a comic satire, a science fiction, or a post-Apocalyptic fantasy then just said, “Screw it, I'll write all of them.” That he could take these extremely different genres and provide extremely different narratives from various people that are diverse in gender, age, ethnicity, and social status shows not only a tremendous writing talent but an ability to use that talent to provide the Readers with these multiple stories and characters.
It is a brilliant and beautiful book that focuses on six people over the course of many centuries.
The six characters are:
Adam Ewing-An American notary in 1840’s New Zealand and Hawaii who protects and befriends an escaped slave and becomes involved in the Abolitionist cause.
Robert Frobisher- A disinherited bisexual composer in 1930’s Europe who writes letters to his male lover, Rufus Sixsmith, about his relationships with an abusive older composer and his seductive wife.
Luisa Rey-An investigative reporter in 1970’s California who becomes involved in a conspiracy concerning the mysterious death of a nuclear scientist and his research on the company he works for.
Timothy Cavendish- An elderly vanity publisher in 21st century London who is stalked by members of a criminal family and ends up incarcerated in a nursing home by his scheming brother.
Sonmi 451-A clone in futuristic Seoul, South Korea who is rescued from her monotonous life at a fast food restaurant and gets caught up in the Resistance against the Neo Capitalist Police State she works under.
Zachary- A young man in the distant post-apocalyptic future Hawaii who aids a newcomer to his village who tells him a great deal about the past of his people.
On the surface, these characters and stories don't appear to be related but the more the Reader digs, the more they learn how these stories are linked as one gigantic chain that transcends centuries.
While living with the disagreeable composer, Vyvyan Ayres, Robert discovers the first half of Adam Ewing’s journal and is upset that he couldn't find the other half considering “a half-finished book is a half-finished love affair.”
Luisa finds an album of Robert’s “Cloud Atlas Sextet” and is moved by the music. Not to mention that the nuclear scientist/informant who aids Luisa is none other than Rufus Sixsmith, Robert's former lover who gives her Robert's letters.
Timothy receives a novel of Luisa’s exploits and at first dismisses it as trite as though it were written by a child. (The book implies the novel about Luisa was written by a young neighbor that she took a maternal interest in.) While he is incarcerated, Timothy seems to enjoy reading about Luisa's exploits and gutsiness.
Sonmi 451 watches films which she calls “disneys” (In this future proper nouns replace common terms for objects) with a fellow rebel. One of them is based on Timothy's life, incarceration in the nursing home, then escape from it.
Zachary’s people worship Sonmi 451 as a goddess. (In her story, while escaping she stayed temporarily in a community whose members are implied to be the ancestors of Zachary's people.) Later Zachary's friend, Meronym shows Sonmi's interrogation on a device called an orison. She then says that Sonmi was a human woman not a goddess.
These traces of the characters and how each one learns of the last are like those Russian matryoshka or nesting dolls where one leads to another to make a full picture. They show that our works such as primary sources like letters and journals, music, books, movies, and stories are what will last and how people will remember us long after we are gone. Bodies may die but history, art, and literature will continue to tell our stories in one form or another.
Another common theme that these stories carry are those of struggles between the powerful and powerless, those who are corrupt and imprison and those who fight and escape.
In Adam’s journal entries, we learn that he befriended a slave, Autua who stowed away on the same ship he traveled. At first Adam is ambivalent about slavery, following the presumed “White Man's Burden.” When he sees the goodness and loyalty in Autua and also the cruelty and deception of many white people, including a doctor who is poisoning him just to rob him later, Adam and his wife become committed abolitionists and help free other slaves.
Robert is made a pariah because of his sexuality and is used by Ayres who steals his work and seduced by his conniving wife and daughter. Robert is then left with a shattered reputation, tremendous debt, and a broken heart. He pours out his love in his sextet and final letter to Sixsmith (whom he realizes too late is the real love of his life) before he escapes the only way he can: through suicide.
Luisa fights against the corrupt corporation that murdered Sixsmith to keep quiet about his research concerning a flaw in the nuclear power plant he worked for. (Tellingly enough this would be the same corporation that Sonmi works for in the future.) She plans to go public with Sixsmith’s research despite multiple attempts on her life. (Including in one passage where her car is pushed into the ocean. Thankfully, she survives.) The idealistic reporter manages to smuggle the information to Sixsmith's niece and forces the dismissal of the greedy CEO who had Sixsmith and his allies murdered.
Timothy is incapacitated by his brother, his weakened body after he suffers a stroke, and above all a tyrannical staff particularly a nasty head nurse who prefers to medicate her patients rather than help them. In a humorous section (contrasting with the other more serious stories), Timothy engineers an escape from the nursing home with three other patients who manage to steal one of the patient's family member's car. (He always leaves the keys in the ignition during his visits.)
In her report to an interrogator called the Archivist, Sonmi explains how the death of a more obstreperous friend caused her to question her life of sameness, forced cheerfulness, and routine work of serving people drug enhanced food. When she is “kidnapped” i.e. liberated by a Resistance member, she tells the Archivist about her journey into forbidden areas, real friendships and emotions for the other rebels as compared to the phony ones in the cloning facility. She also learns some harsh discoveries about the world around her and the clones’ real purpose. She also is aware that much of her journey was fabricated by spies and traitors but she wants her story to be told anyway so future generations will know who she fought and why.
Zachary’s world is reduced to an almost primitive state. He is aware of warfare between various tribes and also suffers from a traumatic experience in which his father was killed and brother, Adam was enslaved. He appeals to Meronym, who though an outsider, is a Prescient, someone who still has memories of history. During their night journey, Zachary and Meronym protect each other from slavers and Meronym empowers Zachary with knowledge of the past. He is able to use that knowledge to counter his fears which manifest as a demonic figure called Old Georgie that once cripplied him with guilt and terror.
The strongest link within these characters is revealed as we learn that they are the same character reincarnated over time. This is proven as each one learns that they share the same birthmark shaped like a comet somewhere on their bodies. While this may seem odd to some people, many Readers who are aware of other stories of reincarnation know that souls can be reborn as different genders or races. The characters share memories, dreams, and connections to one another. Zachary's brother is named Adam who is sold into slavery; the same name as the first character, Adam Ewing, a man who fought against slavery.
Both Ayres and Robert share a dream about a brightly colored restaurant in which the servers are all identically dressed women with the same faces foreshadowing Sonmi's life.
When he first encounters Luisa in a broken elevator, Rufus Sixsmith reveals that he feels an intense connection to her that he can't explain. This implies that he recognizes his late lover, Robert in her.
While Timothy's connections to the others are through popular culture, he uses these references to link himself to the others. He compares one character to “Mrs. Robinson” in The Graduate (referring to Robert's ill-advised affair with the older and married, Mrs. Ayres and the unfortunate love triangle with her daughter, Eva.) Timothy also makes a reference to the movie, “Soylent Green” (referring to Sonmi's discovery that clones are made and processed for food, the same food she used to serve at the fast food place.)
These connections are made even deeper in the 2012 movie, Cloud Atlas directed by the Wachowksi Siblings where the characters in all six stories are played by the same actors playing multiple roles. Some that follow reincarnation believe that not only are we reborn in different lives but the people around us are as well. In multiple lives the people we know now may have been or will be lovers, family members, heroes, or people we just met or will meet on the street.
Cloud Atlas is a strange book, no doubt about it. It is also a beautiful book about how connected
humanity is through delicate strands or ripples in time and shows that after we die, our souls and legacies live on and carry over into future generations.
