Talk:Cloud Atlas (novel)

message: Is it made clear how much time has passed? It would have surely had to be a good few generations for Korea to be in a state where people (the union members) grow up not knowing who Buddhah is; that I know of no totalatarian state has ever wiped out knowledge of what went before that well. I imagined it about 100 years from now; which is fairly near as history goes, but I think "near future" might be misledaing A Geek Tragedy 16:52, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Sonmi "near future"?

message: "Cloud Atlas is also the name of a very talented, but as of yet, unsigned band." Maybe if the "very talented" band known as Cloud Atlas had a page, there could be a disambiguation link to the page, but the fact that there is a band by the same name and the opinion that they are talented are off topic. Finesttiger 10:42, 31 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Removed reference to the band by the same name. 

message: "Except for the second half of "Letters from Zedelghem," each story ends with its protagonist finding the second half of this story, which is then printed after it." Actually, this is true also for "Letters from Zedelghem," -- Luisa Rey receives the packet of letters from Sixsmith's neice. And in "Letters," Frobisher finds the last part of Ewing's diary propping up a leg of his bed. Am I missing something? adamrice 20:27, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Second halves 

message: The two above comments questioning the comment regarding "Zedelghem" and it's continuation into "Pacific" are quite right. Quoting from the final letter in "Letters From Zedelghem", halfway down page 489:
"Along with this letter and the rest of the Ewing book, I've made arrangements..."
Frobisher has attached the rest of the Pacific Journal (as well as the Cloud Atlas Sextet score) to his final letter. It's very clear that the Zedelghem story is meant to be perceived from Sixsmith's point of view, i.e. the intended reader of the letters, so it follows that Sixsmith would read the rest of the journal after the letter. --AstarothCY 08:47, 15 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Second halves (cleared up) 

message: For some reason, the orison makes me think of the ansible. There's something similar about the words that I can't quite put my finger on. Kelvingreen 00:13, 14 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Orison 

message: I don't believe they are synonymous, so I'm reverting that edit.  Motifs are frequent occurence of small and similar things, such as the tatoos or the word "Hydra," as well as incidental scenes, concepts, or ideas.  Themes are, rather, a dominant subject area the work explores through its use of plot, character development, and structure.  Thus they should be separated.  If you have better reasons for combining them, by all means--I'd be interested to know.  Perhaps the section should be better split up that way. Macman202 (talk) 16:19, 13 February 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I've deleted both sections for lack of sources. It looks like original research anyway.Jim Dunning | talk 03:27, 23 March 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Motifs v. Themes

message: I tagged the Connections with other works section for clean-up and citations. It's like one run-on sentence, but I hesitate to fix it till sources are provided for all the "connections" listed there (otherwise it's probably an editor's analysis. I'll start hunting around for some sources.Jim Dunning | talk 17:08, 13 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Connections section looks like [[WP:OR|original research]] 

message: Continuing the conversation from above; Mitchell's 2004 novel has won several awards and is described in the article as being "among the most-honored works of fiction in recent history". From what you've said in User:Una Smith/sandbox, the pictorial cloud atlases seem a mainly historical tool, mostly printed and used in the 19th century. I'd suggest that in the 21st century, for the average Wikipedia reader, the title of the popular novel will be more well-known; Google searches aren't overwhelming, but back that up to some extent (167,000 results for "cloud atlas", 73,000 for "cloud atlas -david mitchell"). --McGeddon (talk) 08:57, 15 July 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: One cloud atlas, the International Cloud Atlas, has been in print for over 100 years, in multiple languages.  There are dozens of cloud atlases on the web.  Re the novel's notability, keep in mind Wikipedia:Recentism and Wikipedia:Reliable sources.  The majority of hits on Google Scholar and Google Books do not refer to the novel.  Google Books "cloud atlas" 758 "cloud atlas" vs 754 "cloud atlas" -"mitchell" so only 4 hits on this novel. --Una Smith (talk) 16:32, 15 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: WP:PRIMARYTOPIC

message: Casting vote: A previous move request was closed "no move" 2 days ago. Anthony Appleyard (talk) 05:06, 18 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Notice of requested move 

message: A chance to ask questions to improve this article! David Mitchell will be talking about Cloud Atlas on the BBC radio programme World Book Club. You can submit a question by emailing worldbookclub@bbc.co.uk or using the form on the World Book Club homepage. If you wish to be part of the audience for the programme, recording takes place at 15.15 on Tuesday May 4th, 2010 at Bush House, London. EdQuine (talk) 21:08, 24 March 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Recording of David Mitchell talking about his book  ‘Cloud Atlas’ will now take place tomorrow, Wednesday, 5th May, 2010 at 10:15am at BBC Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London, WIA 1AA.  BBC Broadcasting House is about five minutes walk from Oxford Circus tube.  If anyone is in London tomorrow morning and would like to come, could you email us to let us know as soon as possible please on worldbookclub@bbc.co.uk.  Many thanks. EdQuine (talk) 17:11, 4 May 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: David Mitchell on the BBC's World Book Club

message: I don't believe that any research bears up the notion that all of the characters "except one" are reincarnations of one another. Listening to the interview cited, Mitchell (who speaks with a degree of indecision at all times, thanks to a largely well-handled stammer) is frequently led and interrupted by the experienced presenter, Harriet Gilbert. He is talking about the comet birthmark when he is interrupted by Gilbert, who comments that she very much likes the character who he has just mentioned (Cavendish). Cavendish undoubtedly has the birthmark which is supposed to be the sign that the characters share a soul; I believe that the comment was leading up to the idea that all six characters have the birthmark and share a soul, but that Cavendish does not consider his birthmark to be "comet-shaped." His ex-lover had compared it to a turd.
I would like to change the main text, but I wait on any suggestion that all six are not the same soul (which Mitchell seems to be suggesting everywhere else, including in the same interview).
Bear in mind that I am researching this, but have not found any evidence that Ewing has the birthmark. If anybody is not a part of the reincarnation cycle, it is him, but Mitchell was definitely about to mention Cavendish in the quote given as support.
Pippin4242 (talk) 18:28, 5 September 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Except one" 

message: Kyle82374 (talk) 03:47, 22 September 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Linking Themes" 

message: Right, we're missing the biggest point of all about this book and it's overall message. Why is this article so fixated on literary style? The constantly recurring them of "the will to power"is completely ignored even though it's the most critical aspect of understanding the book. Each story is a microcosm of power and its effects on each life contained in the story... the self-manifested, existential threats posed to a civilization that establishes an essentially predatory nature for itself and its institutions is necessarily a danger to itself and will, in the end, destroy itself. This is the writer's overarching message and it's the final flourish at the end when Ewing is recovering from near death in Hawaii that drives home the entire novel:　there is hope because of the power of belief that shapes our actions and our behavior. If you believe the world is screwed up and going to hell, then that's probably what's going to happen. If enough people believe that it can and will get better and that people shouldn't submit to a power hierarchy of greed and lust for more and more control over people and resources, then it will get better. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 218.104.70.10 (talk • contribs) 07:56, 24 December 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: You are entirely correct.  I don't think this was deliberate so much as a need to expand the article beyond its current state. However, it must also be said, that the literary style is a vehicle for the theme. Viriditas (talk) 05:24, 1 April 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Moved old comment from [[Cloud atlas]] 

message: "Sixsmith expresses to Luisa, by telephone, his concern that the Seaboard HYDRA nuclear power plant isn't as safe as they advertise it to be"
This isn't true. There is no indication that Sixsmith ever makes the phone call. In fact, it's implied that he didn't make the call. Luisa expresses suspicions that Sixsmith is concerned about safety, if he had told her it would be fact, not suspicion. Also, she only learns of the report when Isaac Sachs mentions that he helped work on it. Again, if Sixsmith had made the call he would have mentioned the report. Anyway, either confirming or denying the phone call is speculation as it's never described in the novel, so I've removed "by telephone" from that sentence.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.100.215.174 (talk) 16:16, 20 March 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Half-Lives plot summary 

message: Some of the characters appear to be very loosely based on real people.  Luisa Rey, for example, has a lot in common with Karen Silkwood.  These kinds of similarities are covered by reliable sources and should be added. Viriditas (talk) 11:07, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Luisa Rey 

message: Below section was tagged for original research in 2010. Feel free to reinsert the below material with appropriate references. DonIago (talk) 20:05, 24 March 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Original research