Introduction
David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas is a novel of tremendous scope and imagination. It
comprises of six interconnected narratives that weave together to create a story
covering vastly discrepant times, geographies, ethnicities, genders and philosophical
beliefs thus offering a ‘common’ picture of humanity across distance and history.
Underpinning the novel are two key theories articulated by Friedrich Nietzsche:
eternal recurrence and the will to power. In an article in The Guardian Mitchell
claims to have been “besotted by the philosopher’s theory of the will to power”
(Mitchell "Genesis" 1). Utilising often overt Nietzschean discourse,
and alluding to theories developed by Michel Foucault, Mitchell examines the predatory
nature ofhumans and the desire of both individuals and factions to consolidate and
accumulate power regardless of the cost. As an exposé of the will to power across
time, the novel examines some of the most atrocious crimes that sections of
humankind have committed in order to maintain and increase their hold on power.
It encompasses issues as diverse as colonisation and the enslavement of indigenous
people; a predatory and mutually destructive personal relationship; assassinations
that are sanctioned by the C.E.O. of a major multi-national corporation; the abuses
of scientific and technological advances devoid of any perceivable ethical or moral
standpoint; and portrays a ‘potential’ futuristic dystopia. In each narrative Mitchell
interrogates the predatory nature of the will to power; a will that Nietzsche claimed
underpinned human existence. It is my contention that Mitchell refuses to accept
this nihilistic viewpoint and its seemingly inevitable end, the mass destruction of the
human race. Instead, as this thesis argues, Mitchell posits the possibility for
individuals to imagine and create alternate ‘meanings’ and ‘truths’ which offer the
potential to create not only a different ‘present’ but also an alternative ‘future’ by
showing the reader not only the possibility but also the necessity of reinterpreting
the ‘meaning’ of the past and the present — and so the future.
http://mro.massey.ac.nz/bitstream/handl ... e.pdf?...1
August 21, 2012, 4:13 PM HKT
‘Cloud Atlas’ Author Mitchell Mobbed in Shanghai
It’s not often that any fiction writer, much less a foreign one, ends up being chased down a Shanghai street by a gaggle of fans. Yet that’s just what happened British author David Mitchell on a recent afternoon in the city as local admirers battled to have him autograph copies of his novel “Cloud Atlas.”
One particularly determined man even blocked Mr. Mitchell’s path and, slapping a life-size portrait of the writer on the hood of a parked car, shouted in English: “Sign! Sign!”
A startled Mr. Mitchell sheepishly obliged, leaning over the car to scrawl his name in black marker across his own forehead.
“This has never happened before,” Mr. Mitchell said, picking up the pace again in attempt to keep ahead of the crowd. “I have no idea why the book is so popular. If you find out can you let me know?” he added before disappearing down Nanjing Road.
“Cloud Atlas,” first published in English eight years ago and recently translated into Chinese, is an intricate weaving of several separate stories that take place across time and place. The novel has just been made into a Hollywood movie starring Tom Hanks, Hugh Grant, Susan Sarandon and Halle Berry that’s due for release in the United States in late October.
When the movie’s close to six-minute trailer appeared on Apple Inc.’s website in July, reaction was overwhelming, spurring widespread chatter on Twitter and catapulting sales for the book to No. 7 on Amazon.com Inc.’s list of best sellers, up from No. 2,509 a week earlier.
Now, in China, too, social media is fanning the flames of the “Cloud Atlas” craze, helping Mr. Mitchell’s feed on Sina Corp.’s Weibo microblogging website rack up 35,000 followers in its first week.
Why is the book so popular in China?
According to one fan, 32-year old designer Li Wei Gang, the appeal of “Cloud Atlas” lies in its melding of contemporary British literature with themes that resonate in China.
“The younger generation in China wants to understand better what young British people are seeking, what they care about, what they read,” says Li. “Then there is a kind of spirit of transmigration in the book, which is an Asian thing that is also in accordance with what Chinese believe.”
Hong Kong writer Xu Xi suggests the popularity of the book could simply come down to the economics of publishing.
“These days, what gets chosen for translation is so heavily dictated by the marketplace as opposed to by literary translators or scholars,” she said.
This is especially true for fiction because a lot of the romance and crime fiction gets translated, whereas a winner of a good literary prize might not if the book is not commercially successful in its original language.”
A lot of contemporary books are “popular” in China simply because the market doesn’t have access to the real range of what constitutes contemporary literature in English, Ms. Xu says.
But the structure of China’s publishing industry likely isn’t the only explanation, she adds.
“It’s a very ‘constructed’ book which spans a ponderously long period of time, through a series of happy—or not so happy—coincidences or reversals of fortunes, ending on an apocalyptic note. This is how life might feel for a Chinese living in China today who reflects on her country’s recent and older history,” she says, noting the seemingly constant stream of stories about polluted rivers, tainted food, corruption and other problems flowing out of the country.
“Apocalypse is a satisfying revenge for life in ‘these here times’ of the muddled Middle Kingdom,” she says.
The ability of Chinese people to see their own concerns and frustrations reflected in Western culture has proven lucrative in the past. James Cameron’s “Avatar,” for example, became the highest grossing movie in Chinese history with more than $200 million in box office receipts in 2010, fed in part by moviegoers who saw in its story of aliens holding out against a greedy human corporation an allegory for the struggle of regular Chinese people to defend their homes against rapacious real estate developers.
Of course, part of the Chinese enthusiasm for Mr. Mitchell’s book might also be explained by the appearance of sultry-voiced movie star Zhou Xun in the film version – her first role in a major movie outside Asia.
– Colum Murphy, with contributions from Yoli Zhang.
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012 ... -shanghai/
