Title: The Bone Clocks
Author: David Mitchell
First published September 2, 2014
624 pages, Hardcover
ISBN: 9781400065677 (ISBN10: 1400065674)
Rating: 3.84
Overview
In The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell, Holly Sykes is not your average teenager. Haunted by voices she calls the “radio people,” Holly’s journey takes her on a wild ride through the English countryside where she encounters dangerous mystics and their enemies.
Disappearances and unsolved mysteries follow Holly through the decades, affecting everyone she loves, even those not yet born. From a Cambridge scholarship boy to a conflicted father reporting from Iraq, and a middle-aged writer mourning his exile from the bestseller list, their stories interconnect across time and space, weaving together moments of both ordinary grace and extraordinary wonder.
Follow Holly on her surreal journey through medieval Swiss Alps, nineteenth-century Australian bush, a hotel in Shanghai, and a Manhattan townhouse in the near future in this unforgettable tale of love, loss, and the power of the unknown.
About the Author
David Mitchell was born in Southport, Merseyside, England and grew up in Malvern, Worcestershire. He earned a degree in English and American Literature from the University of Kent and then pursued a Master of Arts in Comparative Literature.
After spending a year in Sicily, he moved to Hiroshima, Japan where he taught English to technical students for eight years before returning to England. He later moved back to Japan for a period before finally settling in Ireland with his wife Keiko and their two children.
Mitchell had always dreamt of becoming a writer and finally took the plunge when he moved to Japan in 1994. He believes that his experiences living in different places have influenced his writing style.
His first novel, “Ghostwritten” (1999), won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award. His subsequent novels, “number9dream” (2001) and “Cloud Atlas” (2004), were both shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.
Mitchell was selected as one of Best of Young British Novelists in 2003 and in 2007, he was listed among Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in The World. He is currently represented by novelist David Ebershoff at Random House in the United States.
Editoral Review
David Mitchell’s “The Bone Clocks” is a complex, multi-layered work of genre-bending genius. Mitchell is a master storyteller, whose previous works include “Cloud Atlas” and “Number 9 Dream”.
He seamlessly blends elements of fiction, fantasy, and dystopian horror to create a unique, intricate narrative that will take readers on an epic journey through time and space. The novel is divided into six sections, each one taking place in a different era and featuring a different protagonist.
The characters are linked together through a mysterious, otherworldly force known as the “Horologists” and their mortal enemies, the “Anchorites”. The first section introduces us to Holly Sykes, a rebellious teenager who must confront the dark forces that threaten her very existence.
The subsequent sections follow the lives of various other characters whose paths cross with Holly’s, weaving together a grand tapestry of interconnected stories. The world-building in “The Bone Clocks” is breathtaking.
Mitchell creates a vivid, imaginative universe that is full of detail and nuance. From the dark, foreboding landscapes of the Anchorites’ stronghold to the lush, idyllic countryside of Holly’s childhood, every location is lovingly crafted and wonderfully realized.
One of the strengths of the novel is its characters. Each one is fully realized and complex, with their own unique voice and motives.
Mitchell does a remarkable job of balancing the demands of plot and character development, seamlessly weaving together introspection and action. The novel deals with themes of power, betrayal, and mortality, and has been compared to the work of J.R.R. Tolkien and Philip Pullman.
Mitchell’s prose is elegant and evocative, with a poetic quality that is both beautiful and haunting. His dialogue is sharp and witty, with a keen ear for the rhythms and cadences of everyday speech.
“The Bone Clocks” is not without its flaws, however. The middle section of the novel drags a bit, and some readers may find the narrative structure confusing or hard to follow.
Additionally, some of the plot twists may seem contrived or implausible. Overall, “The Bone Clocks” is a tour-de-force of literary fiction.
Mitchell’s skillful writing, combined with his boundless imagination, make this a novel that is not to be missed. It is a thrilling, thought-provoking work that will appeal to fans of science fiction, fantasy, and literary fiction.
Highly recommended.
