About the Book
By the "New York Times "bestselling author of "The Bone Clocks" and "Cloud Atlas "- Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize
In 2007, " Time" magazine named him one of the most influential novelists in the world. He has twice been short-listed for the Man Booker Prize." The New York Times Book Review" called him simply a genius. Now David Mitchell lends fresh credence to "The Guardian" s claim that each of his books seems entirely different from that which preceded it. "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet" is a stunning departure for this brilliant, restless, and wildly ambitious author, a giant leap forward by even his own high standards. A bold and epic novel of a rarely visited point in history, it is a work as exquisitely rendered as it is irresistibly readable.
The year is 1799, the place Dejima in Nagasaki Harbor, the high-walled, fan-shaped artificial island that is the Japanese Empire s single port and sole window onto the world, designed to keep the West at bay; the farthest outpost of the war-ravaged Dutch East Indies Company; and a de facto prison for the dozen foreigners permitted to live and work there. To this place of devious merchants, deceitful interpreters, costly courtesans, earthquakes, and typhoons comes Jacob de Zoet, a devout and resourceful young clerk who has five years in the East to earn a fortune of sufficient size to win the hand of his wealthy fiancee back in Holland.
But Jacob s original intentions are eclipsed after a chance encounter with Orito Aibagawa, the disfigured daughter of a samurai doctor and midwife to the city s powerful magistrate. The borders between propriety, profit, and pleasure blur until Jacob finds his vision clouded, one rash promise made and then fatefully broken. The consequences will extend beyond Jacob s worst imaginings. As one cynical colleague asks, Who ain t a gambler in the glorious Orient, with his very life?
A magnificent mix of luminous writing, prodigious research, and heedless imagination, "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet" is the most impressive achievement of its eminent author.
Praise for "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet"
""
A page-turner . . . [David] Mitchell s masterpiece; and also, I am convinced, a masterpiece of our time. Richard Eder, "The Boston Globe"
""
An achingly romantic story of forbidden love . . . Mitchell s incredible prose is on stunning display. . . . A novel of ideas, of longing, of good and evil and those who fall somewhere in between [that] confirms Mitchell as one of the more fascinating and fearless writers alive. Dave Eggers, "The New York Times Book Review"
The novelist who s been showing us the future of fiction has published a classic, old-fashioned tale . . . an epic of sacrificial love, clashing civilizations and enemies who won t rest until whole family lines have been snuffed out. Ron Charles, "The Washington Post"
By any standards, "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet "is a formidable marvel. James Wood, "The New Yorker"
A beautiful novel, full of life and authenticity, atmosphere and characters that breathe. Maureen Corrigan, NPR"
About the Author :
David Mitchell is the award-winning and bestselling author of "The Bone Clocks, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, Black Swan Green, Cloud Atlas, Number9Dream, "and" Ghostwritten." Twice shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Mitchell was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by "Time" in 2007. With KA Yoshida, Mitchell translated from the Japanese the internationally bestselling memoir "The Reason I Jump." He lives in Ireland with his wife and two children.
Review :
A page-turner . . . [David] Mitchell s masterpiece; and also, I am convinced, a masterpiece of our time. Richard Eder, "The Boston Globe"
""
An achingly romantic story of forbidden love . . . Mitchell s incredible prose is on stunning display. . . . A novel of ideas, of longing, of good and evil and those who fall somewhere in between [that] confirms Mitchell as one of the more fascinating and fearless writers alive. Dave Eggers, "The New York Times Book Review"
The novelist who s been showing us the future of fiction has published a classic, old-fashioned tale . . . an epic of sacrificial love, clashing civilizations and enemies who won t rest until whole family lines have been snuffed out. Ron Charles, "The Washington Post"
By any standards, "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet "is a formidable marvel. James Wood, "The New Yorker"
A beautiful novel, full of life and authenticity, atmosphere and characters that breathe. Maureen Corrigan, NPR"
"A page-turner . . . [David] Mitchell's masterpiece; and also, I am convinced, a masterpiece of our time."--Richard Eder, "The Boston Globe"
" "
"An achingly romantic story of forbidden love . . . Mitchell's incredible prose is on stunning display. . . . A novel of ideas, of longing, of good and evil and those who fall somewhere in between [that] confirms Mitchell as one of the more fascinating and fearless writers alive."--Dave Eggers, "The New York Times Book Review"
"The novelist who's been showing us the future of fiction has published a classic, old-fashioned tale . . . an epic of sacrificial love, clashing civilizations and enemies who won't rest until whole family lines have been snuffed out."--Ron Charles, "The Washington Post"
"By any standards, "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet "is a formidable marvel."--James Wood, "The New Yorker"
"A beautiful novel, full of life and authenticity, atmosphere and characters that breathe."--Maureen Corrigan, NPR
"If any readers have doubted that David Mitchell is phenomenally talented and capable of vaulting wonders on the page, they have been heretofore silent. Mitchell is almost universally acknowledged as the real deal. His best-known book "Cloud Atlas" is one of those how-the-holy-hell-did-he-do-it? Modern classics that no doubt is -- and should be -- read by any student of contemporary fiction... ["The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet"] confirms Mitchell as one of the more fascinating and fearless writers alive."
--DAVE EGGERS, COVER OF "THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
"
"By any standards, "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet "is a formidable marvel."
--"THE NEW YORKER"
..".underscores Mr. Mitchell's mastery here not only of virtuosic literary fireworks, but also of the quieter arts of empathy and traditional storytelling."
"--The New York Times
"
"Now [Mitchell] startles us again with a rich historical romance set in feudal Japan, an epic of sacrificial love, clashing civilizations and enemies who won't rest until whole family lines have been snuffed out. Yes, the novelist who's been showing us the future of fiction has published a classic, old-fashioned tale. It's not too early to suggest that Mitchell can triumph in any genre he chooses.
"-Washington Post"
"It's as difficult to put this novel down as it is to overestimate Mitchell's virtually unparalleled mastery of dramatic construction, illuminating characterizations and insight into historical conflict and change. Comparisons to Tolstoy are inevitable, and right on the money."
--"Kirkus Reviews," starred review
"Mitchell's rightly been hailed as a virtuoso genius for his genre-bending, fiercely intelligent novels...The Thousand Autumns of Jacob is a dense and satisfying historical with literary brawn and stylistic panache. "--"Publisher's Weekly, " starred review & Pick of the Week
"Despite the audacious scope, the focus remains intimate; each fascinatin
