So I got a copy of his new novel (yes I know, more charity books are due soon...) and left it for awhile, not knowing when to break it out. I mean the sheer size of the novel put me off for awhile, it is massive! I have read longer books but still, it was huge and when eventually I did decide to put it in my bag ready for the morning commute, And boy did it weigh a ton. So if you are looking for a light read, don't bother reading any further.
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| A gorgeous cover for Mitchell's latest offering |
The Bone Clocks follows the character of Holly across her life, from her naive teenage runaway self right until the dystopian future that Mitchell writes her into. In a style, which to me was extremely similar to Cloud Atlas, where we hop across time, meeting the same characters along the way, Mitchell sure does have some imagination. At first for me as well, The Bone Clocks was a lot easier to read than any other of Mitchell's novels, he wrote the mind of a teenage Holly perfectly, all of the naivety, all of the insecurities and all of those rebellious feelings. It is in a state of anger that in the first part of the novel that will go onto effect the rest of Holly's life. In a talk with a wry stranger in rural Kent when Holly has decided to leave her home, something is implanted into Holly's mind from this beginning. And this is where the novel faltered for me.
I am not a huge fan of fantasy novels, and it is in the middle of the novel, where we encounter many different characters of those who either live off of other peoples' souls or cross into those of people who are dying and need saving. They then go onto to live on as this person until the inevitable happens, and they enter another body. This middle part of the novel, taking up much of the middle of the 6 parts that Mitchell has written. were particularly weak but that is probably because I don't enjoy this genre. I'm not about to start explaining the battle that ensues in the novel between two different groups, not because I didn't understand it, but mostly because to me, it really doesn't matter. It all seemed a bit superfluous. I was lulled into a false sense of security with the first chapter, one narrated by Holly, but he manages to save it at the end.
After a somewhat colourful life, which has seen Holly working in a bar in a ski resort, married to a war journalist and then becoming a best selling writer for the tackier end of literacy (the angels, the mind, all of the crap), she has now settled in rural Ireland. In a world that is running out of oil, things are going backwards. The ways of which society has been trying to stop have all returned. People are having to grow all of their own food again, are having to rely on selling things at markets and exchanging their possessions in order to survive. Mitchell has bought to the forefront an issue that he really should have focused on more. What does happen if we run of natural resources? What if it happens sooner than we think it will?
Of course, in the final chapter there is a sign of Holly's past where one of the souls comes back to save her grandchildren, but everything that I read before, apart from in the first part of the novel, seemed pointless. Mitchell should have focused on one or the other. It didn't work for me. That is not to take away from Mitchell's talents as a writer. His imagination is beyond belief, I can't think of anyone who comes close. The way he writes draws you in, there is just enough detail that is doesn't get confusing, it all makes sense. In a way it does work, but it was my enjoyment that let it down. I have to enjoy every part of a novel to consider it a success, but I cannot say this. I would be lying. And that wouldn't be fair now would it?!
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell is published by Sceptre, an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton, in the UK.
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