I love a David Mitchell novel! I’m a pretty serious fan over here. I had to read his latest book, and sure enough it’s filled with some amazing storytelling. He just has a real way of communicating things! And making tiny elements of the novel really stand out.
Here are a couple of little bits I dog-eared on my copy to remember:
Outside, between a Chinese herbalist’s and a dry-cleaner, a man takes a battered guitar from a cardboard case into which he puts a few coins from his own pocket. He launches into a gravel-throated bash at the Rolling Stones’ ‘Satisfaction’. Before he reaches the second verse, three Chinese grandmothers appear. They wield brooms and tell him, ‘Go Way, Go Way!’ The busker protests – ‘It’s a free bloomin’ country!’ – but the grandmothers sweep at his ankles. A few people stop and stare at the fun, and a skinny girl darts off with the coins in the busker’s guitar case. The busker hares after the thief, trips over, lands in the gutter and snaps his guitar’s neck. He stares at his broken guitar in disbelief and looks around for somebody to complain to, or blame, or roar at. He finds himself alone. Gusts of March wind roll a can along a gutter, past his feet. The ex-busker hobbles back to his guitar case, loads up the broken instrument, and limps of towards Leicester Square.
‘He can’t get no satisfaction,’ says Mecca.
HA! I love that. It’s just a nothing part of the book that no one would remember, but I think it’s amusing and cleverly written. It’s a good way to distract the reader for a second, just like the characters are being distracted by the scene unfolding.
Here’s another part I liked. Jasper had just waved off a girl he cared very deeply about, not knowing if he’d ever see her again.
He feels what you feel when you’ve lost something, but before you’ve worked out what it is. Not my wallet, not my keys…
What a great way of explaining that feeling when you’ve just let something important go by, and opportunity with it.
So I like David Mitchell’s writing! The story itself was cool. It’s set in 60s London, with a group of artists coming together to form a band, which does very well! We watch as they slowly climb the ranks to success, including all the personal stuff that goes down in their lives too: love, grief, financial struggles, identity struggles, mental health stuff, drug stuff etc. I think it’s written very true to the era (not that I’d know). But it feels authentic.
One peeve I has is that he wrote famous people like David Bowie into it! So strange. Like, they’re actual characters with dialogue. What a bold move.
However, what annoys me the most about this book (and I’ve heard this qualm is common) is the way he weaves in an unnecessary supernatural element about 3/4 of the way through. Don’t get me wrong – I love David Mitchell’s use of clever fantasy themes. I love the world he’s created, and the recurring characters and themes that appear across all his novels. I think it’s really cool. But I think it could have been incorporated better in this book.
The way it comes in is through the character Jasper, who has a creepy Knock-Knock voice in his head. It all comes to a head and a character wants to kill him, and the fantasy guys come in to save him. But then… that’s all! It’s back to the main storyline and we hear nothing more about this fantasy world.
I really liked the setting, the characters and their struggles. I liked the writing itself… but this was my main bother.
Still worth a read – I think the ole DM always is.
Reviews and Excerpts 