Play Book Tag discussion

I am on the fence on how to write this review. I am a fan of historical fiction and I had been wanting to read a David Mitchell book for a while. It's been sitting in my audible TBR for a while and since it met the criteria for a couple of challenges and I had solid audio book time due driving to an offsite meeting location, I teed it up.

This is the story of men working for the Dutch company, East India at their trading post on Dejima in the late 1700s. This is a small island in the Nagasaki harbor and essentially like a prison due to the isolationist policies of the Japanese. A young clerk, Jacob de Zoot has just arrived to make his fortune and expose corruption. Jacob is a sincere, yet naive fellow who falls in love with Abiagawa Orito, a midwife with a facial burn. When her father dies, Miss Abigawa is sent to a cult which breaks Jacob's heart. As rescue mission to get her back results in its own tragic consequence. Finally, the East India company goes bankrupt and the Netherlands get invaded by Napolean, so a British frigate decided that it will attack Dejima to gain the lucrative trade contract with the Japanese. (Whew!!)

First, while the audio book narration was splendid --- I don't think it was the best format for me to consume this story. I have a harder time following audio books when the names/places are unfamilar to me (like in a fantasy book). With all the Japanese names and European names, I had a hard time figuring out who was who sometimes, especially with the secondary characters. This made it difficult for me to really connect with many of the characters.

I also found the pacing a bit uneven --- some parts of the book were really interesting while others seemed to drag. On the plus side, the time period/location was really interesting and the book seemed to be well researched. Some of the medical elements were pretty gross (and perhaps too descriptive). Mitchell definitely has a way with words and I do understand his acclaim. This didn't put me off trying him again, but maybe not in audio (also I understand that this book is a bit different than his typical novels).

We had very similar thoughts on this book. I thought the book was very uneven and had a hard time getting through some sections. I just ultimately was never drawn into the characters lives.

It was not a bad reading experience, but I certainly have not rushed out to read more David Mitchell. I kind of feel about David Mitchell like others feel about Jonathan Franzen...

Yes --- I read your review Nicole --- one of the nice features is that you see your friends reviews when you look at the book's main page.

I agree --- I didn't really love any of the characters. I also thought that most characters were either good or bad.

One thing that was interesting was I was listening to this while listening to Unbroken, because I got a snippet of history regarding Japan's isolationist policies and then fast forward to WWII and the war in the pacific.