Comments on: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet, by David Mitchell

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:54:24 +0000

Bek: Thanks for your thoughts and for bringing discussion of this novel back into circulation. While we had different reactions to the book, I can certainly understand how it did strike a different chord with you and very much appreciate that your shared that here.

By: Bek

Bek — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:34:04 +0000

A bit late to join the convo but hey ho, here’s my two penneth!

I really had a very different experience with this book, I am a self-confessed addict of Mitchells and I love the fact that you can never anticipate what is coming next with him, so always approach his work with a completely open mind.

I found the fact that it took more than two thirds of the book to build to something actually quite exhilarating, I was desperately chomping through the pages. The layering and contextualizing was exquisite. In fact I found the prose very nourishing.

I find Mitchell to be a very generous author, I guess that is not for everyone, but when I read I am generally left feeling unsatisfied, I always want to know more, each charachters back story, the justifications for thier actions, I want to know more about the characters and the encounters, this is not the case with David he keeps on giving. This book did not disappoint on that front.

Agreed it was not his best, but it was still an incredible feat of wordsmithery.

Oh and by the way I absolutely refute your statement “If you don’t like historical fiction you won’t like this” I am a thoroughly bored by historical fiction but was thoroughly stimulated by this.

By: whisperinggums

whisperinggums — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 05:33:49 +0000

Thanks Kevin. Timing of reading can be an issue sometimes can’t it? I really need to read David Malouf’s An imaginary life again because almost everyone I know liked it and I found it a slog but I’ve loved almost everything else of his I read. I do know that I was tired and over-extended at the time … so I will read it again. (It is quite short, which is in its favour for a second go round!!) (PS Excuse the typo in my previous comment – “big” is of course supposed to be “bit”.

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 15:06:26 +0000

wg: In retrospect, I think I would have liked this book better if I had waited for the right time (i.e. winter, with less distractions) to read it. Because I was looking forward to it so much, I think I rushed into it. It is wordy and detailed — but I suspect a more relaxed read would have made that less of a flaw.

By: whisperinggums

whisperinggums — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 05:19:22 +0000

I have finally read this and did rather enjoy it despite its flaws – it gets a big bogged down in a lot of detail but I had this strange sense of being irritated and engaged at the same time, and its themes just keep piling up which makes it a bit of a grab bag. But I enjoyed the prose for the most part – and particularly liked the humour.

I do love your “blizzard of punctuation” description. It was one of the first things that hit me and I tried to explain it to some online bookgroup members but couldn’t get my message across clearly enough. Wish I’d read this review (but then I never read reviews until I’ve read a book – if I think I’m going to read it – so I can come at it freshly).

By: IKE | The Thousand Reviews of The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

IKE | The Thousand Reviews of The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 22:07:43 +0000

[...] On the other side of the continent, Eric Banks checks in for the Los Angeles Times and Damion Serls opines for the San Francisco Chronicle. Bloggers include Flavorwire, John Self at The Asylum and KevinfromCanada. [...]

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 14:08:43 +0000

Ruth: Maybe you should try A.L. Kennedy's short stories (reviewed here)? They come at you quite a bit quicker than a 566-page novel. As for Mitchell, I'd start with Ghostwritten and plan to move on to Cloud Atlas -- the latter is definitely the better book, but Ghostwritten sets you up for it. I am in my Booker homestretch now with only a few more to go, so Canadian fiction is starting to move up the agenda. In fact, three arrived just yesterday -- Alison Pick's Far to Go, John Lavery's Sandra Beck and Fauna. And Camilla Gibb's book is supposed to be on its way. I am thinking already that the Giller will be quite a bit more interesting than the Booker this year.

By: Ruth Seeley

Ruth Seeley — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 23:28:31 +0000

I haven’t attempted any David Mitchell yet (although I’ve got library fines to pay on Cloud Atlas – oh joy) because I got bogged down in A.L. Kennedy’s Everything You Need. I’m here to say I survived all 566 pages of it, but then I’m an unusually persistent person. I so wanted to like her work, because I love her web site and the columns she writes for The Guardian. I was beginning to wonder if I just couldn’t empathize with the search for the lost father theme, but then remembered I’m a big fan of Mona Simpson – and read the new Camilla Gibb, The Beauty of Humanity Movement immediately after the Kennedy, so it’s not thematic revulsion. I’ll give Kennedy another try in a year or so and I’ll attempt some Mitchell sooner, although I don’t think I’ll start with this one – the excerpts you quoted are the kind that make me want to hurl books at walls. Of course I seem to recall being 45 pages into a conversation in one of Henry James’ novels with no idea whatsoever by the end of the section who was even talking….

By: Guy Savage

Guy Savage — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 15:15:56 +0000

Money is one of my all-time favourite books, and then I sprang for Yellow Dog and lived to regret it. I have high hopes for The Pregnant Widow…Italian echoes? Well I’ll let you know.

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 14:21:12 +0000

Now that will be interesting. From my perspective, The Pregnant Widow does contain some echoes of translated Italian works that I have read, faint though they may be.