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Every book Daniel Mendelssohn recommended on podcasts
Daniel Mendelssohn appears on The Book Review to discuss the vast and tangled literary universe of David Mitchell. Through the podcast conversation, Mendelssohn demonstrates a deep familiarity with Mitchell's bibliography, tracing recurring motifs and character crossovers across multiple novels. Mendelssohn shares his personal reading experiences, recalling how he devoured Cloud Atlas on a transatlantic flight and felt like a crack addict. He identifies Ghostwritten as his absolute favorite among Mitchell's works, praising its beautiful, haunted, and haunting atmosphere, while also speaking warmly of Number9Dream and the coming-of-age, seemingly autobiographical story in Black Swan Green. Although he appreciates Mitchell's imaginative scope, Mendelssohn also offers critical commentary, specifically addressing The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet when discussing how a character from that earlier novel pops up in Utopia Avenue, thereby engaging in a detailed literary analysis of Mitchell's interconnected fictional universe.
Books recommended by Daniel Mendelssohn
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Black Swan Green
Black Swan Green by David Mitchell is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel following a stuttering adolescent boy growing up in rural England during the Falklands War.
Discussed“you know I actually liked Black Swan green the sort of coming of age story which seems to be autobiographical”
Where to get it
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Cloud Atlas
Cloud Atlas is a sprawling, structurally ambitious novel by David Stephen Mitchell that weaves together multiple interconnected narratives across vastly different historical eras and locations.
Discussed“I loved Cloud Atlas which I remember reading on a transatlantic flight and I was like a crack addict”
Where to get it
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Ghostwritten
Ghostwritten is a structurally inventive debut novel by David Mitchell that weaves together multiple seemingly unrelated narratives spanning across the globe from Tokyo to New York.
Discussed“but I think first of all I think ghost written is one of the most beautiful books and there was something haunted and haunting about it”
Where to get it
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Number9Dream
Discussed“and I was as I was by Cloud Atlas one of his subsequent books number nine dream”
Where to get it
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The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
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.
Critiqued“it's actually a character from the Thousand autumns of yakob deser pops up in this book”
Where to get it
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Mitchell's Vast and Tangled Universe | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 6 |
Other mentions (3: passing, ad reads, own books)
“you've got Don dilo's great Jon Street Rody Doyle's the commitments Jonathan leams you don't love me yet”
“you've got Don dilo's great Jon Street Rody Doyle's the commitments Jonathan leams you don't love me yet”
“you've got Don dilo's great Jon Street Rody Doyle's the commitments Jonathan leams you don't love me yet”