A.J.’s Comments (group member since Jun 13, 2012)

A.J.’s comments from the The Dapper Gentlemen of Letters group.

I'm definitely still interested.

Hey! Anyone still up for picking a book?

Joel wrote: "I could go for a good sci-fi. Blindsight by Peter Watts is something I'd definitely read again and love to talk about (esp. with Brian). Or maybe we finally get around to reading The Windup Girl ..."

Blindsight works for me, especially if you think it would be good for discussion.

I liked it pretty well, but I agree that it was mostly superficial. Guy with connections to conspiracy groups inadvertently calls out a hit on himself due to the complexities of maintaining clandestine relationships with all those groups. What's to discuss?

It was a pretty original concept for a book though, and I like that he didn't stick to the usual conspiracies. Character development, other than the protagonist's love interest, was pretty lacking. Entertaining though.

Have we got enough books suggested that we can make a poll & vote on it?

That's a good point about the possible fictitious nature of some of the stories. Although, there is the linking theme of the comet-shaped birthmarks that seems to indicate that each character is a real, reincarnated version of the previous one.

Also, as far as the Frobisher letters being real, I do seem to remember that Luisa Rey was able to order a copy of the Cloud Atlas Sextet that he had composed as his masterwork - indicating that the man Frobisher did exist and had left behind a tangible composition.

I did enjoy the comparison of the musical themes of the Sextet and how they pertained to the characters in the book. You could make an analogy between the different instruments of an orchestra and the different people that comprise humanity (and how musical themes and personalities can be similar to each other.) However, that was a pretty small aspect of the overall story and it was probably only of note to me because of my musical background.

I agree that it was a likable book but that not much of it will stick with me either.

Brian wrote: "I am kind of interested in what you guys think the over arching themes were."

I'm not the best when it comes to examining literary themes, but here goes.

The two themes that I saw consistently between the stories were 1.) a basic examination of the ways in which human beings can be shitty to each other, and 2.) the emotions involved in human trust.

Ewing trusts that Dr. Goose is his friend, when in reality he very much isn't. (Meanwhile he and the slave Autua save each others' lives in the ultimate show of trust on both parts.)

Frobisher trusts that Ayrs will accept his help with his compositions in good faith, when in reality Ayrs seeks to use Frobisher's work as his own. Meanwhile, Frobisher completely breaks Ayrs' trust by fucking his wife. Oh, and Ayrs' wife isn't completely trustworthy in all this, either.

Luisa Rey's main objective is to expose the duplicitous nature of the businessmen behind the nuclear power plant.

Timothy Cavendish is committed, against his will, to a nursing home by a person he should be able to trust - his own brother.

In Sonmi~451's story, the fabricants are being duped by the government, and she in turn makes up a story designed to increase fabricant sympathy against pureblood oppression.

And then in Zachry's story, he spends the majority of it wondering whether or not he can trust the outsider Meronym.

Mitchell basically explores two facets of human nature that he believes will never change - the ability of people to be unkind to each other, and the massive importance we as civilized people place on trusting (and distrusting) each other.

It doesn't make for the most feel-good of all books, but he does conclude it with the Adam Ewing story, which has Ewing and Autua forging a bond and helping each other out.

Overall, I liked it, despite the bleak nature of the themes I recognized. What were your thoughts on it?

Joshua wrote: "Just started this yesterday. Its my new treadmill book. Not a huge fan of the writing style so far. Nothing has grabbed me yet, however I'm only about 15 - 20 pages in, so that means very little."

I had the same impression when I first started it. The good thing is, the writing style changes with each one of the separate stories going on. I really started to enjoy the book when the second story kicked in.

Deadline's over, who finished reading it?

There are parts of Cloud Atlas that are science fiction, but big sections of it on their own really aren't. I'm finding it a pretty good read and I'm fascinated by the way he's managing to hook all the storylines together.

I'd love to constantly walk around & talk like Zachry. "Snailysome goin' was them rockfields, little babbit!"

I finished this a few days ago. Like some of you, I really enjoyed a lot of the concepts, especially as they pertained to T'Rain. I haven't played an MMO in a long time and have no desire to start again, but Stephenson's description of the world is really detailed and interesting.

It's also neat to read a contemporary book set in the here and now, with pop culture references like the recent death of Michael Jackson really underscoring how up to date the book is.

All of the technical descriptions about computers and technology are 100% accurate, as you'd expect from an author like Stephenson. No "24"-esque imaginary gadgets here to drive the plot along. I can definitely appreciate that.

I agree that he makes you want more T'Rain later on in the last third of the book, but by then it's devolved into a collision course between the jihadists and the rescuers. There's no room for the WOR by this point. He's taken these characters, thrown them over into China and back to Vancouver, given them all guns, and now it's time to wrap things up.

The only problem I had is that he took 200 pages too long to wrap it up. Otherwise, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Yeah, I have noticed how he goes into very vivid description in a few sections - especially when it comes to anything involving building or constructing something. I understand that you can't just have something 'magicked' into place without testing the plausibility of the story, but I think there's a way to balance it and not get bogged down.

Joel wrote: "It's definitely a fun read and certainly a page turner. I finally started it a couple days ago and am burning through it. I'm not sure I feel like he's sufficiently explained why T'Rain has beomc..."

The book doesn't really make me want to play T'Rain, but it's fascinating to me how he's incorporated it into the overall storyline. He basically took something I have no interest in (MMORPGs) and made it not only accessible but super interesting to me. I'm about halfway through so far - it's a long book but a quick read.

Joel wrote: "Does Ron have to ruin everything?"

Just merge all his comments and be done with it.

Ron wrote: "Welsh erotic poetry, IMO"

Inappropriate. Also, hilarious.

I added "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer. It's been on my to-read list for awhile; I went through a little bit of an obsession reading about Everest and in particular some of the failed efforts to reach the summit. The book, morbid as the subject matter is, seems like it would appeal to the group, not just me.