David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

William Stephenson (University of Chester)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of Glasgow), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 2004

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Metafiction
Novel

Resources

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Cloud Atlas

was David Mitchell’s third published novel. It successfully combines ludic experimentalism with an affectionate play on popular plots, and is a masterpiece of contemporary metafiction.

Cloud Atlas

has enjoyed critical esteem and popular approval in equal measure: not only was it accessible enough to win the Richard and Judy Best Read of the Year Award in 2005, it reached the shortlist for the Man Booker Prize in 2004. It was selected as one of the 25 books to be distributed free by volunteers across the UK on World Book Night in 2011. It has been adapted into a film by the Wachowski brothers (writers and directors of

The Matrix

), scheduled for release in 2012.

Cloud Atlas has a structure of eleven sections: we hear six different stories in succession from six different

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1556 words

Citation: Stephenson, William. "Cloud Atlas". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 February 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=24863, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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