Written by David Mitchell
My summer book binging has begun…starting with a historical epic to end all historical epic.
David Mitchell is best known for his intricate, award-winning novel Cloud Atlas…but I know him better for his wonderful, poignant, semi-autobiographical novel Black Swan Green — a story of growing up as an 80s child in Britain. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet owes more to the meticulousness of Cloud Atlas, but in terms of emotion, character development & history, it spoke to me very effectively, on any number of magnificent levels.
The story begins in 1799, in the only European outpost of a feudal Japan that is determined to keep out the barbarians of the outside world. Having been to Japan, the description of Nagaski resonantes with me more than usual, but the gorgeous detail will appeal even to those without any knowledge of Japanese society. Mitchell has a magnificent ability to sketch out a society…at times, his descriptions verge on poetry. The delicate, exotic civilization of Japan, contrasted to the dirty, proasic, brutal life of the Dutch outpost. The societies are so well conveyed, it’s as if you step from a warm bath into an excruciating ice bath, every time you switch between the two.
Part of this effect comes from the multiple points of view used throughout the novel. We start with the green rookie Jacob for the first third of the novel, then switch to the unattainable love of his life — a midwife in Nagasaki named Orito — then to a variety of supporting characters who manage to expertly convey the effects (usually the damage) that has impacted all the main players of the novel. This is not a book to simply skim or scan…it requires a fair degree of thought and committment…but it rewards such mental effort time and time again.
It’s easily the most sweeping novel I’ve read in some time. Moments of extreme anger, pity, sadness and joy…moments where the breath is caught in your throat…moments when you feel as betrayed and humiliated as Jacob de Zoet…as imprisoned as Orito…as oily and duplicitious as the English sea captain, plotting to take over the Dutch outpost. A breathtaking journey from start to finish, capped with an amazing navel engagement, a stunning defeat for the main villain of the novel, and finishing up with a happy — if extremely melancholy — ending that will leave tears in your eyes. David Mitchell deserves all the acclaim he can lay his hands on for this lotus flower masquerading as fiction.
