David Mitchell: Critical Essays

by Sarah Dillon

The outcome of the first international conference on David Mitchell's writing, this collection of critical essays, focuses on his first three novels - Ghostwritten (1999), number9dream (2001) and Cloud Atlas (2004) - to provide a sustained analysis of Mitchell's complex narrative techniques and the literary, political and cultural implications of his early work. The essays cover topics ranging from narrative structure, genre and the Bildungsroman to representations of Japan, postmodernism, the construction of identity, utopia, science fiction and postcolonialism. Contents Foreword David Mitchell 1. Introducing David Mitchell’s A Twenty-First Century House of Fiction Sarah Dillon 2. The Novels in Nine Parts Peter Childs and James Green 3. ‘Or something like that’: Coming of Age in number9dream Kathryn Simpson 4. Remediations of ‘Japan’ in number9dream Baryon Tensor Posadas 5. The Stories We Discursive Identity Through Narrative Form in Cloud Atlas Courtney Hopf 6. Cloud From Postmodernity to the Posthuman Hélène Machinal 7. Cloud Atlas and If on a winter’s night a Fragmentation and Integrity in the Postmodern Novel Will McMorran 8. ‘Strange Transactions’: Utopia, Transmigration and Time in Ghostwritten and Cloud Atlas Caroline Edwards 9. Speculative Fiction as Critique in Ghostwritten and Cloud Atlas Nicholas Dunlop 10. ‘Moonlight bright as a UFO abduction’: Science Fiction, Present-Future Alienation and Cognitive Mapping William Stephenson Notes on Contributors Index About the Editor Sarah Dillon is Lecturer in Contemporary Fiction in the School of English at the University of St Andrews. She is author of The Literature, Criticism, Theory (2007) and has published essays on Jacques Derrida, Elizabeth Bowen, H.D., Michel Faber, Maggie Gee and David Mitchell.

Genres: Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, Essays

277 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 4, 2011

Reviews

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book of essays on David Mitchell's novels, specifically focused on his first three (Ghostwritten, number9dream, and Cloud Atlas), confirmed what I had been suspecting. Mitchell is my new favorite author. If there's one thing I really enjoy is when an author builds a vast universe in which there are subtle but powerful connections amongst the novels. This book helped illustrate those connections among Mitchell's novels and I was able to re-experience pieces of the novels from a new perspective. Though some of the language was a bit dense (see Chapter 9 for example) the majority of the contributors provided me with great insight into Mitchell's universe. Also, gaining insight into the novels that inspired Mitchell has increased my To Read list dramatically. If you have finished all 5 of Mitchell's novel and you are looking for a fix as you anxiously await novel #6, this book of critical essays will provide.

[amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

this collection of essays really helps to illuminate Mitchell’s exploitation and manipulation of narratology and helps to highlight his use of experimental form. With fascinating arguments and insights as well as the application of theories such as postmodernism and posthumanism, this amalgamation of critical essays enables the reader to understand Mitchell’s writing at a greater depth. I personally focused more on the ‘Cloud Atlas’ essays however a wide range of Mitchell’s works are explored on varying topics. This book is particularly useful for those studying Mitchell but is also illuminative for the casual reader.