An Excerpt from David Mitchell’s The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
13 February, 2010
I think we are all waiting with abated breath for David Mitchell’s new novel A Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet which will be published in May 2010 in the UK. Cloud Atlas is one of my favourite books, and I’m determined to read Black Swan Green before May (I’ve had it since it was published but somehow ‘forgot’ to read it, aaagh!)
For those of you who can’t wait, you can now read an excerpt (warning: it’s a little grotesque) on the book’s website (courtesy of Gnoe’s wonderful book and obento blog Graasland.) Enjoy!
chasing bawa 
13 February, 2010 at 11:44 pm
‘ve just ordered “Cloud Alas”(- together with “Mosquito” which was waiting in my amazon shopping cart). looking forward to it, cos its going to be a new style of writing to me.
and, A Thousand Autumns – intriguing. the beginning reminded me of Baricco’s “Silk”, but i guess its going to develop in a very different way.
i’ve never read anything by Mitchell, and what is his connection with Japan?
14 February, 2010 at 10:31 am
David Mitchell taught English in Japan for eight years and is married to a Japanese lady. His first book Ghostwritten, which is a series of interlinked stories had a couple set in Japan and his second book Number9Dream is set in a futuristic Tokyo. His writing style is different in each book which I find very refreshing and stimulating. He’s not afraid of trying something new which is very admirable. As you can probably tell, I’m a big fan!
Let me know your thoughts on the books once you’ve read them! I haven’t read ‘Silk’ although I know there’s been a movie made of the book.
20 July, 2010 at 10:10 pm
Next on The Excerpt Reader’s blog, a review of David Mitchel’s excerpt from The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet the-excerpt-reader.blogspot.com/