Comments (48)

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Feb 18, 2023zhong_seattle rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I was a little disappointed at this book. I lovedhis Cloud Atlas. This one fell short of my expectation. The plot is contrived. The description of the historical background is interesting.
Nov 19, 2020
Great read
Aug 09, 2020andreabilyeu rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Excellent book. Lots of names and nationalities and titles and statuses to keep track of. I had to look up some of the japanese titles. There are multiple storylines, of course intertwining. I enjoyed the interpreters' roles in the…
Jul 25, 2020
An amazing and very detailed work set in turn-of-the-nineteenth-century Japan. Great for historical fiction fans and with a satisfying ending. A real page-turner! Makes me want to read more of David Mitchell's work!
May 31, 2020sat7 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Outstanding work. This author impresses -
Mar 31, 2020
1788 and the Dutch explorers are about to come into close contact with the closed world of Edo-era Japan. This story weaves and twists as it follows our central characters, as lush in it's descriptiveness of the Japanese landscape as it is…
Sep 04, 2019
no ebook
Aug 27, 2019JanahC rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
While getting off to a very slow start, all was made worthwhile once accustomed with the presentation of the dialogue and perspectives shifted to other central characters. A beautifully written novel, creating wonderful imagery for the…
Feb 05, 2019pokano rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Having visited Nagasaki, I was really up for reading this book. Alas, I didn't particularly care for it. Initially, the book is written in the present tense although it takes place in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. I got used to…
Jun 21, 2018tjdickey rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Mitchell's exceptionally sensuous text drips with the sounds, smells, dialects, and subtle gestures of feudal Tokugawa Japan. His classicizing tale plumbs the depths of human emotion, with a doomed love story at its heart, with healthy…
Jul 24, 2017SCL_Justin rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
David Mitchell’s novel The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is about the Dutch in Nagasaki at the end of the 18th century. Jacob is a clerk who’s there to make his fortune so he can go back home to marry. Things don’t work out as he’d…
Apr 19, 2017AlteredStaite rated this title 1.5 out of 5 stars
I tried to read this but couldn't finish it. Not even character driven. Just boring.
Nov 02, 2015haileyj rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
When I started reading the book I thought "this is going to be a good read" but as I slogged through page after page I realized the story was just turning into a yarn, although some of the descriptive language was beautiful. The bit about…
Oct 13, 2015lukasevansherman rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
"History is not, after all, what really happened, but only what we believe happened."-David Mitchell There is no disputing English author David Mitchell's technical ability. His best-know novel, "Cloud Atlas," was a virtuoso performance,…
Aug 30, 2015DevilStateDan rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
This is a great read & written with beautiful language & pace. The plot is very interesting & deals with how humans cope (or not) with periods of transition & change. The clash of cultures is treated intelligently & the characters are…
mvkramer
Aug 19, 2015mvkramer rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Mitchell creates characters so real and compelling that I loved my time with them, even if it was just one chapter, and had to find out what happened to them in the end. A strange, genre-bending book, but great for fans of historical…
Apr 07, 2015finn75 rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
A slow start but it turns into an excellent insight into a time when Empire was everything and all other cultures frowned upon. It also shows what happens to people on the other side of the world without any real guidance but themselves.…
Nov 24, 2014Persnickety77 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
wow. this book is pretty marvelous. i picked it up because i loved Mitchell's Cloud Atlas so much, but i was skeptical because i have no interest in the Dutch East Indies Trading Company or samurai-era Japan or the beginning of the 19th…
twa001
Oct 13, 2014twa001 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
A wonderful book...one of the best works of fiction that I have ever read.
theorbys
Jun 13, 2014theorbys rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Entertaining enough and well written and well crafted, but hardly great writing. Interesting mainly for its period setting.
Jan 03, 2014stewstealth rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
A very good book from a very good author. Good characterizations, settings, prose and plots. Definitely worth reading.
rooibos
Dec 18, 2013rooibos rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
Could not get into this book. Disappointing.
martinja
May 30, 2013martinja rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This was the first book of David Mitchell I read and thoroughly enjoyed it. His flexibility with different prose styles and multillevels of story serve to engross the reader for the whole book. He is a masterful writer and has jumped to my…
Apr 06, 2013mo21 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This is a beautiful book full of details of everyday life in late 18th and early 19th Japan.The author has a gift for creating tension by his use of dialogue interspersed with the characters thoughts. There are themes of deceit, betrayal,…
Jan 12, 2013Heidikmac rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Especially for anyone who has read and enjoyed Mitchell's other work, THE THOUSAND AUTUMNS will be a joy. Intricately researched and beautifully painted, this novel will rope you into a part of our world that most people don't even realize…