I don't recall if I read his first book, but if not, I'll probably look it up and put it on my list. [I guess I could check that too... David Mitchell's first book is Ghostwritten, 1999, and I've haven't read it, ,so I guess that is now on my list.] So, according to this list, I've read all of his stand alone novels except for the first, and the last. His most recent book, Utopia Avenue, I haven't read. Not sure how I missed it, but yes, that is now on my list as well.
David Mitchell is one of my favorite writers. Why? Because of the ideas he's exploring in this early work: depth of story, reliance on the reader to carry their weight, surrealism, stream of consciousness story telling, a blending of the mystical, the magical, the spiritual, and one's own reality; which importantly, may not be the reality of others.
Maybe that's a heavy lift for some; for me, I say, "Bring it. Let's do this!" I am all in, and you want to switch from dreams to waking state without a cue card? Go ahead. Do I need to be waved at to follow what you're writing about? Nope. Does that cause me to sometimes loose track? Yep, but we all loose track sometimes, and writing that reflects that reality in my life is a bonus.
If you feel that the writer has a responsibility to hold your hand, tell you it will be okay, and plot a straight (or curvy) course from the beginning to the end, David Mitchell may not be for you. If writing that makes you feel like you can predict what will happen next, or even how the story will end is important to you, David Mitchell may not be for you. If you don't want to wonder if what you're reading in this moment is actually part of this story, part of another story, part of the protagonist's story, or is related to some completely other story that you're unaware of, David Mitchell may not be for you. If you didn't love the fact that Bill Murray whispered in Scarlett Johansson's ear in "Lost in Translation," and you won't ever know never, ever know what they said, then David Mitchell may not be for you.
If you are looking for something that challenges you to keep up, and expects you to bring your thinking game AND your sense of humor, then Number 9 Dream may be for you. The title comes from a John Lennon's song title of the same name, and I have to admit, I don't know it. A popular search about that song, according to google, is "What is #9Dream about?" I took a quick listen, and its got that mid-70s, ex-Beatles vibe with a little Yoko Ono thrown in there. What is it about? Don't know, maybe google does. yeah, here's me, not looking that up for you
Lennon does make an appearance in the story tho, in Eiji Miyake's dream, as I assume you've Imagined he would. see what I did there?
Eiji Mikake is lost. Lost in Tokyo, lost in loss, lost for words, lost without love, lost and alone. Mitchell has spun a fairy tale of modern life, with glimpses at loss, grief, panic, love, determination, violence, support, and growth. Is it flawless? No. Is it worth reading? Yes.
Read this book, and then find the other things David Mitchell has written and read those too.
Note: This should have been published when I originally wrote it, in mid-August. I've finished a few since then, so its catch up time.
