Ghostwritten, by David Mitchell

Ghostwritten
David Mitchell

I so enjoyed Mitchell's Cloud Atlas that I had to read more of his work. Fortunately, I was not disappointed by his first novel, Ghostwritten.

Ghostwritten employs the same structure as Cloud Atlas; that is, each "chapter" involves a specific character that somehow relates to the remaining, seemingly disparate, characters. The characters in Ghostwritten span the globe, and each of the nine "chapters" takes place in a different country. Unlike Cloud Atlas, the novel does not span hundreds of years, but rather all the stories occur at about the same time.

The first story, set in Japan, centers on "Quasar," a doomsday cultist who has just carried out a gas attack in a subway. The second story moves to record-store employee Satoru Sonada, also a resident of Japan. The other stories involve a haunted Hong Kong lawyer; an old Chinese woman who runs a tea shop on the Holy Mountain; a nomadic, disembodied intelligence that can "transmigrate"; a Russian art thief; a British musician and ghostwriter; an Irish physicist running from the CIA; and a late-night radio-show host in New York City. While some may find this setup to be somewhat gimmicky, I found it innovative and interesting, especially because each chapter's voice is truly unique and different from the rest. I didn't feel as if the same voice were being used for a "new" character.

I'm sure there were a lot of connections that I missed, since from what I can tell there are numerous, subtle threads that connect the various characters. It's definitely a book that's worth rereading to catch all those "ah ha! I missed that the first time!" moments.

My only beef with the book is its ending; I'm just not sure what Mitchell is trying to say. I *think* he's saying that we are all controlled by something greater than us that we are unaware of and ultimately cannot comprehend, that we are all animals in a zoo, unaware that the zookeeper is even there. I'd like to think he is implying God is the zookeeper; that would at least be somewhat of a comfort, but I don't think that's what he's saying. Rather, it seems the world's "zookeeper" is a mish-mash of technology, world powers, and capitalism. Which really sucks. But, as I said, this is a book that bears rereading, and, as such, my understanding of it will likely change over time.

In a nutshell: A fun, entertaining read that is definitely literature. Stylish and innovative, yet not schlocky or trite.

Bibliolatry Scale 5 out of 6 stars