Mitchell also finds side-narratives, like an extended one into Iraq where he can share his opinions about that war, George Bush, Tony Blair, etc., irresistible. From here, in typical Mitchell fashion, we meet different lead characters in different sections marching forward in time - sections where Holly surfaces to various degrees of importance - and the new characters are not always as intriguing as Holly. The book's first section, "A Hot Spell," leaps out of the starting blocks with an irresistibly beguiling lead, one Holly Sykes, and after the first 100 pages you feel like Holly's adventures with "the Radio People" and her brushes with paranormal beings will be the fastest read you've picked up in many a year. And do we forgive him his excesses like we would a favorite yet incorrigible son's? To an even greater extent, yes again. Meaning: Sometimes, when you are so effortlessly fluent and creative and imaginative, you can get lulled by your own writerly voice and go off on these long Huck Finn-like raft trips down tributaries of the Narrative Mississippi.ĭoes this happen with The Bone Clocks, Mitchell's latest foray into fantasy? To an extent, yes. With David Mitchell, it's never a case of will he be good enough to deliver, it's a case of will his talent get in his delivery's way.
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