Great fun. If I have a quibble, it's with Mitchell's divagations into the supernatural. It's a bit Marvel Universe, as is his recycling of characters between books as ancestors, descendants or immortals.
You can see the nature of the ending coming a mile away; he forces it on himself by having his characters mingle with the illustrious dead (or Dead).
Still, he's a lively, stylish writer who seems never to do the same thing twice.
I might be a David Mitchell fan. This was superb. It's a sweeping novel about four very different young people who form a band in the late 1960s. It's also about the times, their families, and how hard they work. Without spoiling any of the plot, characters from Cloud Atlas and Bone Clocks might appear, also. I found myself caring very much for these four people, their manager, and their families, as well. It's a fascinating read, and I do recommend it.
Utopia Avenue is disappointing. Not just because it's another lackluster outcome from an incredibly talented author, but because I want to agree with Mitchell's central thesis: that styles and genres (naturalism! fantasy! character sketch! superheroes!) can coexist harmoniously, or even benefit from jostling up against one another.
As I write this, something occurs to me: it's not that Mitchell has a hard time welding the natural and real onto the pulp fantasy, but that his fantastical world-building isn't up to the task. He's writes remarkable and sensitive inner lives, but his dueling groups of magical immortals in whose hands lie the fate of the world are a snooze.
Intricate dance step narratives weaving our band of characters to songwriting and life's traumas and performances. Hesitations for how Almost-Famous-Forrest-Gump name-dropping the whole thing goes, and tbd for a re-read of some earlier Mitchell.
If you like David Mitchell's pretentious fractal interwoven brand of magical realist literary fiction (to be clear: I DO), this book is great.
It does function perfectly well as a standalone story, so you needn't have read [b:The Bone Clocks|20819685|The Bone Clocks|David Mitchell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1398205538l/20819685.SX50.jpg|26959610], [b:The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet|7141642|The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet|David Mitchell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320540908l/7141642.SX50.jpg|7405757], and/or [b:Cloud Atlas|49628|Cloud Atlas|David Mitchell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563042852l/49628.SX50.jpg|1871423]; but if you have, the interconnections with the other works are deeply satisfying.
The writing is great, interweaving perspectives and time periods in a sort of free-associating, constant-flashback style that seems like it shouldn't work, but it does. It's a slow burn of a story that immerses you in the London rock scene of the late 60s, featuring cameos by many big names but not allowing them to steal the spotlight from the main characters -- in and of itself an interesting …
If you like David Mitchell's pretentious fractal interwoven brand of magical realist literary fiction (to be clear: I DO), this book is great.
It does function perfectly well as a standalone story, so you needn't have read [b:The Bone Clocks|20819685|The Bone Clocks|David Mitchell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1398205538l/20819685.SX50.jpg|26959610], [b:The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet|7141642|The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet|David Mitchell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320540908l/7141642.SX50.jpg|7405757], and/or [b:Cloud Atlas|49628|Cloud Atlas|David Mitchell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563042852l/49628.SX50.jpg|1871423]; but if you have, the interconnections with the other works are deeply satisfying.
The writing is great, interweaving perspectives and time periods in a sort of free-associating, constant-flashback style that seems like it shouldn't work, but it does. It's a slow burn of a story that immerses you in the London rock scene of the late 60s, featuring cameos by many big names but not allowing them to steal the spotlight from the main characters -- in and of itself an interesting feat of perspective. By the end, each member of Utopia Avenue felt like a dear friend. Also, the way the individual chapters were each the backstory behind particular songs, with the major sections of the book being the band's LPs, was really clever. As someone who loves music (but knows nothing about playing it), I appreciated the overarching theme of music as storytelling and autobiography. In true Mitchell fashion, there's a sense that everything influences everything else.
I may have to revisit The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet after this, as I suspect I didn't give it enough credit.. or at least, that it will appear richer through the Utopia Avenue lens.
As a side note, it seems like I've read a lot of novels lately that follow the members of a band! Shelve this one alongside [b:The Lola Quartet|12856198|The Lola Quartet|Emily St. John Mandel|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1337278850l/12856198.SX50.jpg|18007817] and [b:Space Opera|24100285|Space Opera|Catherynne M. Valente|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1518017807l/24100285.SY75.jpg|59979691].
