This is not only my first Cannonball Read book review, it is also my first-ever book review of any kind. I’m kinda nervous. I don’t even know what to do or say, so I’ll say this: I liked it. I didn’t love it, though I wanted to love it. It took me several tries to get past the first twenty-or-so pages of this book, and only just now, on the advice of a friend whose book opinions I value, I finished.
I think this is a little obvious, but I was nonetheless impressed by David Mitchell’s ability to write quite convincingly in so many voices, aaaannndd…that may have added to my impatience? ADD issues? I’m not sure, but I found 30 minutes was about the limit per reading session. Since I usually shy away from so-called “genre” fiction (which is sadly too-often attempted through lame dialect attempts), maybe this Different Voices approach was off-putting. I don’t know; it didn’t feel that way at the time.
While I liked the Luisa Rey sections most, all of the main characters were actually quite compelling. I would have liked to see that birthmark thing developed a little more. Maybe I’m too dense to get it.