Reviews
In 2007, Time magazine named him one of the most influential novelists in the world. He has twice been short-listed for the Man Booker Prize. The New York Times Book Review called him simply "a genius." Now David Mitchell lends fresh credence to The Guardian's claim that "each of his books seems entirely different from that which preceded it." The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is a stunning departure for this brilliant, restless, and wildly ambitious author, a giant leap forward by even his own high standards. A bold and epic novel of a rarely visited point in history, it is a work as exquisitely rendered as it is irresistibly readable. The year is 1799, the place Dejima in Nagasaki Harbor, the "high-walled, fan-shaped artificial island" that is the Japanese Empire's single port and sole window onto the world, designed to keep the West at bay; the farthest outpost of the war-ravaged Dutch East Indies Company; and a de facto prison for the dozen foreigners permitted to live and work there. To this place of devious merchants, deceitful interpreters, costly courtesans, earthquakes, and typhoons comes Jacob de Zoet, a devout and resourceful young clerk who has five years in the East to earn a fortune of sufficient size to win the hand of his wealthy fiancée back in Holland. But Jacob's original intentions are eclipsed after a chance encounter with Orito Aibagawa, the disfigured daughter of a samurai doctor and midwife to the city's powerful magistrate. The borders between propriety, profit, and pleasure blur until Jacob finds his vision clouded, one rash promise made and then fatefully broken. The consequences will extend beyond Jacob's worst imaginings. As one cynical colleague asks, "Who ain't a gambler in the glorious Orient, with his very life?" A magnificent mix of luminous writing, prodigious research, and heedless imagination, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is the most impressive achievement of its eminent author., "A page-turner . . . [David] Mitchell's masterpiece; and also, I am convinced, a masterpiece of our time." --Richard Eder, The Boston Globe "An achingly romantic story of forbidden love . . . Mitchell's incredible prose is on stunning display. . . . A novel of ideas, of longing, of good and evil and those who fall somewhere in between [that] confirms Mitchell as one of the more fascinating and fearless writers alive." --Dave Eggers, The New York Times Book Review "The novelist who's been showing us the future of fiction has published a classic, old-fashioned tale . . . an epic of sacrificial love, clashing civilizations and enemies who won't rest until whole family lines have been snuffed out." --Ron Charles, The Washington Post "By any standards, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is a formidable marvel." --James Wood, The New Yorker "A beautiful novel, full of life and authenticity, atmosphere and characters that breathe." --Maureen Corrigan, NPR, "If any readers have doubted that David Mitchell is phenomenally talented and capable of vaulting wonders on the page, they have been heretofore silent. Mitchell is almost universally acknowledged as the real deal. His best-known book "Cloud Atlas" is one of those how-the-holy-hell-did-he-do-it? Modern classics that no doubt is -- and should be -- read by any student of contemporary fiction& [ The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet ] confirms Mitchell as one of the more fascinating and fearless writers alive." --DAVE EGGERS, COVER OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW "By any standards, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is a formidable marvel." -- THE NEW YORKER "...underscores Mr. Mitchell's mastery here not only of virtuosic literary fireworks, but also of the quieter arts of empathy and traditional storytelling." -The New York Times "Now [Mitchell] startles us again with a rich historical romance set in feudal Japan, an epic of sacrificial love, clashing civilizations and enemies who won't rest until whole family lines have been snuffed out. Yes, the novelist who's been showing us the future of fiction has published a classic, old-fashioned tale. It's not too early to suggest that Mitchell can triumph in any genre he chooses. -Washington Post "It's as difficult to put this novel down as it is to overestimate Mitchell's virtually unparalleled mastery of dramatic construction, illuminating characterizations and insight into historical conflict and change. Comparisons to Tolstoy are inevitable, and right on the money." - Kirkus Reviews , starred review "Mitchell's rightly been hailed as a virtuoso genius for his genre-bending, fiercely intelligent novels... The Thousand Autumns of Jacob is a dense and satisfying historical with literary brawn and stylistic panache. "- Publisher's Weekly, starred review & Pick of the Week "Despite the audacious scope, the focus remains intimate; each fascinating character has the opportunity to share his or her story. Everything is patched together seamlessly and interwoven with clever wordplay and enlightening historical details on feudal Japan. First-rate literary fiction and a rousing good yarn, too ."- Booklist, starred review "Extraordinarily entertaining and well-realised& His writing just gives intense pleasure." The Guardian "How on earth does [Mitchell] do it? He can write as thrillingly about large-scale events as he can about the tiny details of the private world. Such fluent and masterful command of both domains seems the stuff of a true artist's gifts, not the laborious work of craft and toil. Not the least astonishing facet of Mitchell's art is the supple effortlessness he brings to creating worlds entire: worlds so credible and fully formed that one is compelled to allow to pass through one's mind the absurd thought he was, perhaps, an inhabitant of Japan in 1799. What Adam Thirlwell has provocatively said about Tolstoy as a miniaturist applies equally to Mitchell...This novel is a thriller with a glittering seam of a love story running through it (or is it the other way round?). . . it is a sumptuous historical novel on the collision of cultures . . . The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is vertiginously ambitious and brilliant." - The Times, London "This is probably Mitchell's most accessible book. It runs to almost 500 pages, yet almost every sentence shimmers with precise, opaque and brilliantly realised writing. . . An historical saga on a deliberately grand scale, it never loses its quiet intimacy and is a brilliantly realised account of two worlds."- The Irish Times "Mitchell has built a reputation as just about, "A page-turner . . . [David] Mitchell's masterpiece; and also, I am convinced, a masterpiece of our time." --Richard Eder, The Boston Globe "An achingly romantic story of forbidden love . . . Mitchell's incredible prose is on stunning display. . . . A novel of ideas, of longing, of good and evil and those who fall somewhere in between [that] confirms Mitchell as one of the more fascinating and fearless writers alive." --Dave Eggers, The New York Times Book Review "The novelist who's been showing us the future of fiction has published a classic, old-fashioned tale . . . an epic of sacrificial love, clashing civilizations and enemies who won't rest until whole family lines have been snuffed out." --Ron Charles, The Washington Post "By any standards, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is a formidable marvel." --James Wood, The New Yorker "A beautiful novel, full of life and authenticity, atmosphere and characters that breathe." --Maureen Corrigan, NPR, "If any readers have doubted that David Mitchell is phenomenally talented and capable of vaulting wonders on the page, they have been heretofore silent. Mitchell is almost universally acknowledged as the real deal. His best-known book "Cloud Atlas" is one of those how-the-holy-hell-did-he-do-it? Modern classics that no doubt is -- and should be -- read by any student of contemporary fiction… [The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet] confirms Mitchell as one of the more fascinating and fearless writers alive." --DAVE EGGERS, COVER OFTHE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW "By any standards,The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoetis a formidable marvel." --THE NEW YORKER "...underscores Mr. Mitchell's mastery here not only of virtuosic literary fireworks, but also of the quieter arts of empathy and traditional storytelling." -The New York Times "Now [Mitchell] startles us again with a rich historical romance set in feudal Japan, an epic of sacrificial love, clashing civilizations and enemies who won't rest until whole family lines have been snuffed out. Yes, the novelist who's been showing us the future of fiction has published a classic, old-fashioned tale.It's not too early to suggest that Mitchell can triumph in any genre he chooses. -Washington Post "It's as difficult to put this novel down as it is to overestimate Mitchell's virtually unparalleled mastery of dramatic construction, illuminating characterizations and insight into historical conflict and change. Comparisons to Tolstoy are inevitable, and right on the money." -Kirkus Reviews, starred review "Mitchell's rightly been hailed as a virtuoso genius for his genre-bending, fiercely intelligent novels...The Thousand Autumns of Jacobis a dense and satisfying historical with literary brawn and stylistic panache. "-Publisher's Weekly,starred review & Pick of the Week "Despite the audacious scope, the focus remains intimate; each fascinating character has the opportunity to share his or her story. Everything is patched together seamlessly and interwoven with clever wordplay and enlightening historical details on feudal Japan. First-rate literary fiction and a rousing good yarn, too."-Booklist,starred review "Extraordinarily entertaining and well-realised… His writing just gives intense pleasure."The Guardian "How on earth does [Mitchell] do it? He can write as thrillingly about large-scale events as he can about the tiny details of the private world. Such fluent and masterful command of both domains seems the stuff of a true artist's gifts, not the laborious work of craft and toil. Not the least astonishing facet of Mitchell's art is the supple effortlessness he brings to creating worlds entire: worlds so credible and fully formed that one is compelled to allow to pass through one's mind the absurd thought he was, perhaps, an inhabitant of Japan in 1799. What Adam Thirlwell has provocatively said about Tolstoy as a miniaturist applies equally to Mitchell...This novel is a thriller with a glittering seam of a love story running through it (or is it the other way round?). . . it is a sumptuous historical novel on the collision of cultures . . .The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoetis vertiginously ambitious and brilliant." -The Times,London "This is probably Mitchell's most accessible book. It runs to almost 500 pages, yet almost every sentence shimmers with precise, opaque and brilliantly realised writing. . . An historical saga on a deliberately grand scale, it never loses its quiet intimacy and is a brilliantly realised account of two worlds."-The Irish Times "Mitchell has built a reputat, "If any readers have doubted that David Mitchell is phenomenally talented and capable of vaulting wonders on the page, they have been heretofore silent. Mitchell is almost universally acknowledged as the real deal. His best-known book "Cloud Atlas" is one of those how-the-holy-hell-did-he-do-it? Modern classics that no doubt is -- and should be -- read by any student of contemporary fiction... [ The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet ] confirms Mitchell as one of the more fascinating and fearless writers alive." --DAVE EGGERS, COVER OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW "By any standards, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is a formidable marvel." -- THE NEW YORKER "...underscores Mr. Mitchell''s mastery here not only of virtuosic literary fireworks, but also of the quieter arts of empathy and traditional storytelling." --The New York Times "Now [Mitchell] startles us again with a rich historical romance set in feudal Japan, an epic of sacrificial love, clashing civilizations and enemies who won''t rest until whole family lines have been snuffed out. Yes, the novelist who''s been showing us the future of fiction has published a classic, old-fashioned tale. It''s not too early to suggest that Mitchell can triumph in any genre he chooses. -Washington Post "It''s as difficult to put this novel down as it is to overestimate Mitchell''s virtually unparalleled mastery of dramatic construction, illuminating characterizations and insight into historical conflict and change. Comparisons to Tolstoy are inevitable, and right on the money." -- Kirkus Reviews , starred review "Mitchell''s rightly been hailed as a virtuoso genius for his genre-bending, fiercely intelligent novels... The Thousand Autumns of Jacob is a dense and satisfying historical with literary brawn and stylistic panache. "-- Publisher''s Weekly, starred review & Pick of the Week "Despite the audacious scope, the focus remains intimate; each fascinating character has the opportunity to share his or her story. Everything is patched together seamlessly and interwoven with clever wordplay and enlightening historical details on feudal Japan. First-rate literary fiction and a rousing good yarn, too ."-- Booklist, starred review "Extraordinarily entertaining and well-realised... His writing just gives intense pleasure."- The Guardian "How on earth does [Mitchell] do it? He can write as thrillingly about large-scale events as he can about the tiny details of the private world. Such fluent and masterful command of both domains seems the stuff of a true artist''s gifts, not the laborious work of craft and toil. Not the least astonishing facet of Mitchell''s art is the supple effortlessness he brings to creating worlds entire: worlds so credible and fully formed that one is compelled to allow to pass through one''s mind the absurd thought he was, perhaps, an inhabitant of Japan in 1799. What Adam Thirlwell has provocatively said about Tolstoy as a miniaturist applies equally to Mitchell...This novel is a thriller with a glittering seam of a love story running through it (or is it the other way round?). . . it is a sumptuous historical novel on the collision of cultures . . . The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is vertiginously ambitious - and brilliant." -- The Times, London "This is probably Mitchell''s most accessible book. It runs to almost 500 pages, yet almost every sentence shimmers with precise, opaque and brilliantly realised writing. . . An historical saga on a deliberately grand scale, it never loses its quiet intimacy and is a brilliantly realised account of two worlds."-- The Irish Times "Mitchell has built a reputation as just about the most audacious, thrilling and, above all, entertaining young British novelist there is. He''s that genuine rarity, a writer of startling ambition whose work is challenging and unconventional, yet whose storytelling gifts keep you turning the page....
