David Mitchell Appreciation discussion

Throughout all of his books, he constantly borrows and references a dizzying array of other authors and thinkers. What are some examples of specific books and authors he takes from and uses in his books? Do you think that this undercuts some of his supposed talent? Where is the room for original thought and writing if he never really has a voice of his own?

When are you derivative of another author and when are you simply inspired by them?

How original can any author be after hundreds of years of the novel and thousands of years of writing?

I think the authority of Mitchell's own voice(s) has grown enormously over the course of his career.

I don't mind that he is influenced by other authors' styles or even their subject matter.

Can we blame two authors for being interested in memory? Or mammaries? Or love? Or lust? Or sex? Or Good? Or Evil? Or war? Or peace? Or crime? Or punishment?

Ultimately, it comes down to the way you do that thing you do to me. At the level of words and sentences.

Ian wrote: "Ultimately, it comes down to the way you do that thing you do to me. At the level of words and sentences. "

That is pretty much how I feel. I was just trying to invite some D. Mitch criticism ;) So it's not just a bunch of fanatics loving him.

I agree that he has grown enormously. He even seems to be maturing quite a bit and turning from unconventional form.

I will treat this discussion group as a preparation to read "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet" sooner and to re-read "Cloud Atlas" later.

I was quite impatient with "Cloud Atlas" and want to reassess it.

A group discussion and some of the GR reviews will really help me.

I think I just didn't try hard enough and therefore just didn't get it.

I need to read the rest of his stuff before I can really say much. For CA, i rated it 4.5/5 although I could have easily gave it 5. Heading into the second half, I was at a 3.5/5 mindset. It was good, but it was all the metafictional techniques in the second half that sold me on it. The only thing keeping me from that little .5 that would make it a 5 was that I liked it so much because it put me in the mindset of other books I love. Frobisher was my favorite character because he reminded me of a Dostoevsky or Hamsun character. Sonmi was great because she brought back the feelings of reading good sci-fi. This isn't meant to sell Mitchell short, but I'm excited to read later books where he does develop more of his own voice. But every author is a product of their influences, Hamsun essentially just said that a few pages ago in Mysteries, and Mitchell deserves to be able to feel out his literaty legs the way he has. He does it so well and with such wit that it does not detract and actually enhances the experience for me.