Book · 2010 · East and West
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
Why people recommend it
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is a historical novel by David Mitchell set within the closed trading post of Dejima in Nagasaki during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. On The Book Review podcast episode David Mitchell's Vast and Tangled Universe, aired on July 18, 2024, John Williams initially highlighted the book as part of a reviewer's choice selections. During the same episode, host Gilbert Cruz and guest Daniel Mendelssohn discussed the structural trajectory of Mitchell's career, with Cruz noting that, in his view, the turning point in the author's bibliography arrived with this fifth novel. Mendelssohn offered a specific critique and observation regarding the book's connectivity within Mitchell's broader fictional universe, pointing out that a character from The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet actually pops up in the author's later novel Utopia Avenue. This exchange underscored the intricate, interconnected nature of Mitchell's sprawling literary universe, where historical fiction and speculative elements collide across centuries, delighting attentive readers who track these recurring narrative threads.
Who recommended it
- Gilbert Cruz Discussed
- Daniel Mendelssohn Discussed
- John Williams Recommended
Gilbert Cruz — 1 mention
“to me the Turning Point happened with his fifth novel The thousand autumns of Jacob dooit am I pronouncing that correctly”
Daniel Mendelssohn — 1 mention
“it's actually a character from the Thousand autumns of yakob deser pops up in this book”
John Williams — 1 mention
“named the Thousand autumns of Jacob dooit by David Mitchell”