Mostly Cloudy

‘Cloud Atlas’ so impressed me that I’ve pledged to read everything that David Mitchell has published.  ‘The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet’ is his most recent novel.  Some of the literary virtuosity that produced ‘Cloud Atlas’ is on display here, but this is at heart a much more traditional novel.  It’s well researched and skillfully written historical fiction.  The underlying message is similar to that of ‘Cloud Atlas’.  Greed and self-interest are at the center of most human interaction.  Simple selfishness motivates most of our actions.  Evil is common as the ultimate expression of that selfishness.  Compassion and empathy are rare, perhaps temporarily self-promoting, but ultimately self-effacing.  Beauty matters to those that perceive it, but it rarely plays more than an incidental role in the larger historical procession.  And that’s OK.  It’s just the way that it is.

The chronology is straightforward.  There is only one story here, though there are subplots and threads that keep the reader engaged.  Dialect is not nearly so prominent an issue as in ‘Cloud Atlas’.  This is a more unified, less risky, less ambitious, and perhaps more wholesome book.  It’s a good read, even if it lacks the high-wire literary thrills that characterize ‘Cloud Atlas’.

The movie ‘Cloud Atlas’ was IMHO extraordinarily beautiful, and the writers and directors did a masterful job of translating literary wizardry into cinematic magic.  I’ve never seen a more creative and far-reaching film adaptation of a novel.  ‘Jacob de Zoet’ would be a much easier transition to film.  The characters are striking, the plot has dramatic turns, the language is straightforward enough to work on the screen.  I’d see it in a heartbeat.  Just please don’t sentimentalize the ending.

I’m not completely ignorant of history, but I knew only the simplest facts about Japan circa 1800.  The colonial rivalries and complex interactions with traditional Japanese society are fascinating and are portrayed with no axes-a-grinding.  History is indeed messy, and human nature is at the root of much of the disarray.  But there are individuals of real merit, and Mitchell portrays them as everyday heroes.  He seems to have a profoundly pessimistic view of our innermost tendencies and our ultimate fate, and his specialty may turn out to be spinning out that destiny in engaging narratives which include a few truly admirable characters, a few fascinating evil ones, and even more simple folk that live without much of a plan or purpose.  It’s a worldview that on most days I can subscribe to, though I do have days imbued with more optimism and hope.  I’d like to believe that our own nature does not doom us to unhappiness and the obligation to inflict suffering on others.  Maybe the bright spots outshine the gloom?

But maybe not.