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This review contains notes on the Audiobook Version of Cloud Atlas

I've been wanting to read Cloud Atlas for some time and the upcoming movie (and a nudge from Sword and Laser) gave me the push to read it. I'm going to go story by story and then wrap it up at the end.

The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing is set in the 1850s and written in the form of Adam Ewing's diary. This story was the most difficult for me due to the archaic language used. I appreciated the themes and moral ideas in this section of the book, but I found the overall story a bit... meh. Scott Brick (one of my favorite narrators) narrated this section. I think the audio version made the language a bit easier to understand, but I often missed the dates of diary entries and had a tough time working out a timeline for this section.

Letters from Zedelghem is set in 1931 and written in the form of letters. Frobisher is a composer and this section has a lot of musical imagery that I found really enjoyable. The letters often included shorthand and abbreviations which made for an awkward audio experience, though I did enjoy the overall narration by Richard Matthews.

Half-Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery was a pretty average section in both the story and audiobook narration by Cassandra Campbell.

The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish was one of my favorite stories in the novel. It had a great sick sense of humor and John Lee was an excellent narrator - I'll be adding him to my favorite narrator list.

An Orison of Sonmi~451 was another of my favorites. It is set in a convincing and well thought out dystopian Korea and focuses on a genetically-engineered clone who rebels against society. It has many of the same themes that are popular in books that delve into the morality of robots and AIs, but Mitchell made it his own story. I was nervous about the audiobook version as the story is told in the form of an interview, but Kim Mai Guest was amazing and I was blown away by her ability to provide characters with distinct voices - another narrator for my list!

Sloosha's Crossin' an' Ev'rything' After is a fun post-apocalyptic story set in a tribal future. Told orally (possibly around a campfire), this story is written in a thick and broken dialect of English. I was glad to have the audiobook for this story as I imagine it would make for a difficult read.

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Although I did enjoy several of the stories on their own merit, Cloud Atlas really excels as a whole. Not only does each character experience the story of the character before them, there are common threads in locations and experiences of these characters that are masterfully weaved to create the novel. Each story has a distinct style and dialect and I was constantly impressed with Mitchell's versatility. This is definitely a book that merits a re-read as I'm sure there are subtleties that you will only pick up on the second time - though I don't plan to listen to the audiobook a second time.