David Mitchell
Hardcover | Pages: 479 pages Rating: 4.04 | 49786 Users | 5780 Reviews
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| Original Title: | The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet |
| ISBN: | 1400065453 (ISBN13: 9781400065455) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Jacob de Zoet |
| Setting: | Dejima,1799(Japan) |
| Literary Awards: | Booker Prize Nominee for Longlist (2010), Locus Award Nominee for Best Fantasy Novel (2011), James Tait Black Memorial Prize Nominee for Fiction (2010), Macavity Award Nominee for Sue Feder Historical Mystery (2011), Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book in South Asia and Europe (2011) Walter Scott Prize Nominee (2011), Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Fiction and for Favorite Book (2010), Europese Literatuurprijs Nominee (2011) |
Explanation In Pursuance Of Books The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
In 2007, Time magazine named him one of the most influential novelists in the world. He has twice been short-listed for the Man Booker Prize. The New York Times Book Review called him simply “a genius.” Now David Mitchell lends fresh credence to The Guardian’s claim that “each of his books seems entirely different from that which preceded it.” The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is a stunning departure for this brilliant, restless, and wildly ambitious author, a giant leap forward by even his own high standards. A bold and epic novel of a rarely visited point in history, it is a work as exquisitely rendered as it is irresistibly readable. The year is 1799, the place Dejima in Nagasaki Harbor, the “high-walled, fan-shaped artificial island” that is the Japanese Empire’s single port and sole window onto the world, designed to keep the West at bay; the farthest outpost of the war-ravaged Dutch East Indies Company; and a de facto prison for the dozen foreigners permitted to live and work there. To this place of devious merchants, deceitful interpreters, costly courtesans, earthquakes, and typhoons comes Jacob de Zoet, a devout and resourceful young clerk who has five years in the East to earn a fortune of sufficient size to win the hand of his wealthy fiancée back in Holland. But Jacob’s original intentions are eclipsed after a chance encounter with Orito Aibagawa, the disfigured daughter of a samurai doctor and midwife to the city’s powerful magistrate. The borders between propriety, profit, and pleasure blur until Jacob finds his vision clouded, one rash promise made and then fatefully broken. The consequences will extend beyond Jacob’s worst imaginings. As one cynical colleague asks, “Who ain’t a gambler in the glorious Orient, with his very life?” A magnificent mix of luminous writing, prodigious research, and heedless imagination, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is the most impressive achievement of its eminent author. (jacket flaps)Mention About Books The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
| Title | : | The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet |
| Author | : | David Mitchell |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | U.S. Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 479 pages |
| Published | : | June 29th 2010 by Random House (first published May 13th 2010) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Historical. Historical Fiction. Cultural. Japan. Literary Fiction |
Rating About Books The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
Ratings: 4.04 From 49786 Users | 5780 ReviewsRate About Books The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
I almost gave up on this one. If I hadn't read and loved all of David Mitchell's other novels, I think I'd have abandoned ship after the first hundred pages. But I'm glad I stuck with it, even if I do have some reservations about its sprawling story.The year is 1799. Jacob de Zoet, an eager and resourceful young clerk, arrives in Dejima, a tiny trading outpost in the bay of Nagasaki. Back in the Netherlands he became engaged to the beautiful Anna, and intends to earn his fortune with the DutchLast month I was visiting the MFA in Boston. After an hour or two of wandering through rooms sporting giant, bombastic 19th century American paintings, I came upon a dim hall with small, colorful prints hanging from the wall, like this one: This was my first taste of Utagawa Hiroshige's One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, and I was immediately transfixed. Although the Edo referred to in the Hiroshige prints is a place (a city later to be renamed Tokyo), Edo also refers to the period of Japanese
David Mitchell's forte is the creation of fully formed worlds with numerous living, breathing characters, all written in beautiful, engaging prose. I didn't think the subject matter of this novel would interest me at all (a trading post? a naval battle? not for me) but I was happy to live in this world with these characters while I was reading it. The plot is intricate but not cumbersome; details have meaning.As in Cloud Atlas, there are recurring phrases and images that echo poetically
Is there anything David Mitchell can't do? Dazzling is the word for this. Fizzing with life, it appears at first to be a conventional historical novel, but then swoops into speculative fiction that is reminiscent of Margaret Atwood or Kazuo Ishiguro, with human babies being 'farmed' for nefarious reasons, then back to the historical world and a wonderfully exciting naval stand-off, where Our Hero is saved by his red hair. (You'll have to read it to find out). James Wood, a critic who I admire
So far my experiences with this author:* Cloud Atlas 3 stars. I found it well written, interesting but ultimately confusing.* The Bone Clocks 4 stars. I enjoyed this one very much.* Slade House 5 stars. I loved this one totally!Now what do I say about The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet?Firstly can any one tell me what the title is supposed to mean?Quick summary of my feelings about the book - beautifully written, perfect descriptions of the settings, interesting characters, a good story
THE APPRENTICEWEEK 6 - THE SEMI-FINALVoiceover : Lord Sugar is looking for a historical novelist to invest in. He scoured the country for the very best. Twelve were selected to begin the process. After six weeks of hard battling, only three are left.* It's the Apprentice Week Six!(We see a montage of the three remaining contestants, David Mitchell, Hilary Mantel and Sarah Waters frantically typing away on laptops).This week's task : to write a complete historical novel in only seven days. All
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