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Kalliope's Reviews > Cloud Atlas
Cloud Atlas
by
by
Given that to review Cloud Atlas has become a perilous activity in GR, since it can elicit all kinds of backlashes and from a variety of stands, I will only include an innocent declaration of intent.
In respect to the book and to the following incumbents: the author David Mitchell, the publisher, the editors, the printers, any reading groups, any member readers in GR, whether friends or followed or followers, any member of Management in GR, and even, yes! even the new owners of GR.
I, Kalliope of GoodReads, and any other of my possible avatars, both past and future, as well as my mortal and limited self, do not wish to:
Annoy, pester, criticize, torment, blame, madden, provoke, badger, despise, anger, bother, vilify, exasperate, scorn, displease, insult, irritate, tease, mock, taunt, vituperate, reproach, revile, affront, slam, rile, deride, abuse, outrage, irk, offend, vex, bully, belittle, nor show any disrespect to the aforementioned.
Nor do I, Kalliope of GoodReads, and any other of my possible avatars, both past and future, as well as my mortal and limited self, do not wish to:
Congratulate, applaud, cheer, hail, laud, pay homage, honor, admire, eulogize, flatter, sanctify, commemorate, acclaim, glorify, idolize, boost, cherish, venerate, revere, exalt, rave, fete, esteem, praise, celebrate, approve, solemnize, chant, adore, commend, bless, extol, compliment, proclaim, nor endorse anything nor anybody of the aforementioned.
I also wish to add that the above declaration has been submitted with the conviction that it is reliable and that it has been narrated in good faith.
As for my stars… well yes, I’ll have to admit the five stars.
P.S.: I just hope now that with the above disclaimer I shall not fall prey to anyone or to anything and that civilization will continue its proper march undeterred.
In respect to the book and to the following incumbents: the author David Mitchell, the publisher, the editors, the printers, any reading groups, any member readers in GR, whether friends or followed or followers, any member of Management in GR, and even, yes! even the new owners of GR.
I, Kalliope of GoodReads, and any other of my possible avatars, both past and future, as well as my mortal and limited self, do not wish to:
Annoy, pester, criticize, torment, blame, madden, provoke, badger, despise, anger, bother, vilify, exasperate, scorn, displease, insult, irritate, tease, mock, taunt, vituperate, reproach, revile, affront, slam, rile, deride, abuse, outrage, irk, offend, vex, bully, belittle, nor show any disrespect to the aforementioned.
Nor do I, Kalliope of GoodReads, and any other of my possible avatars, both past and future, as well as my mortal and limited self, do not wish to:
Congratulate, applaud, cheer, hail, laud, pay homage, honor, admire, eulogize, flatter, sanctify, commemorate, acclaim, glorify, idolize, boost, cherish, venerate, revere, exalt, rave, fete, esteem, praise, celebrate, approve, solemnize, chant, adore, commend, bless, extol, compliment, proclaim, nor endorse anything nor anybody of the aforementioned.
I also wish to add that the above declaration has been submitted with the conviction that it is reliable and that it has been narrated in good faith.
As for my stars… well yes, I’ll have to admit the five stars.
P.S.: I just hope now that with the above disclaimer I shall not fall prey to anyone or to anything and that civilization will continue its proper march undeterred.
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Reading Progress
April 29, 2010
– Shelved
May 8, 2012
– Shelved as:
fiction-english
April 13, 2013
–
Started Reading
April 14, 2013
–
3.02%
"What moral to draw? Peace, though beloved to our Lord, is a cardinal virtue only if your neighbours share your conscience."
page
16
April 16, 2013
–
9.45%
"Frobisher as pupil of a certain Sir Trevor Mackerras....mmm...
synthesis between Trevor Pinnock and Sir Charles Mackerras..."
page
50
synthesis between Trevor Pinnock and Sir Charles Mackerras..."
April 20, 2013
–
15.5%
"How vulgar, this hankering after immortality, how vain, how false. Composers are merely scribblers of cave paintings. One writes music because if one didn't, the wolves and blizzards would be at one's throat all the sooner."
page
82
April 20, 2013
–
28.54%
"Come now, what's a reviewer? I reasoned. One who reads quickly, arrogantly, but never wisely...."
page
151
April 22, 2013
–
35.35%
"Lets begin. Usually, I start by asking interviewees to recall their very earliest memories. You look uncertain.
(My reply)... Longtemps, je me suis couché de bonne heure..
I am certainly enProusted."
page
187
(My reply)... Longtemps, je me suis couché de bonne heure..
I am certainly enProusted."
April 23, 2013
–
41.4%
".. to go... on Hokkaido in Eastern Korea...
mm.. Korea has swallowed up Japan."
page
219
mm.. Korea has swallowed up Japan."
April 23, 2013
–
41.59%
"For readers who are falling asleep and had not noticed..
..but I succeeded with two Optimists translated from the Late English, Orwell and Huxley.."
page
220
..but I succeeded with two Optimists translated from the Late English, Orwell and Huxley.."
April 23, 2013
–
85.26%
"She had chosen the Rothko canvases in the hope I would find them meditative....; he painted how the blind must see."
page
451
April 23, 2013
–
45.75%
"You are allowed to feel messed up and inside out. It doesn't mean you're defective - it just means you are human."
page
242
April 27, 2013
–
70.51%
"Books don't offer real escape but they can stop a mind scratching itself raw."
page
373
April 30, 2013
–
95.65%
"No Jacob's Ladder this, but rather "Civilization'Ladder", if you will. Highest of all the races on this ladder stands the Anglo-Saxon. The Latins are a rung or two below. Lower still are Asiatics - a hardworking race, none can deny that, yet lacking our Aryan bravery."
page
506
April 30, 2013
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 75 (75 new)
Fionnuala wrote: "Wonderful!Better to be trapped in the language of Proust than in the language of Si Fi."
The language of SiFi in CA is a clone of corporate language.
Nea So Corpos indeed.Perhaps it's a anagram for something else - I couldn't figure what though.
Can think of a few (idiotic in anything else but Finneganian, perhaps).
Necropolis, dead people in a dead city, is close..but they're not dead really, just sold their souls to consumerism....
I keep seeing Corpus Habeas, ASEAN Coops/Corps, Soon C Opera...C wot oy meening amnot.
Very prudent. I shall also consult a lawyer before posting my next review.
Where's the lash?(oops sorry, wrong thread. I though we were in Pooh).
Brava, Kall -- this made my morning. :)
This needs to be notarized and submitted in triplicate.
And digitised, microfisched and microchipped.
Just a little gimmicky AND revolutionary, Kalliope?Well done on all fronts but especially on finishing...
Fionnuala wrote: "Just a little gimmicky AND revolutionary, Kalliope?Well done on all fronts but especially on finishing..."
What!!! Fionnuala!
You mean to tell me that my disclaimer was not water-tight enough!
Being hailed as a Revolutionary and a Gimmickress when I am all innocence...
I will have to use Manny's Lawyer next...!!!
Gary wrote: "This needs to be notarized and submitted in triplicate."Gary and Scribble,
Do not worry. It is kept in an Orison.
Kris wrote: "Brava, Kall -- this made my morning. :)"Thank you Kris.. That is one of the best steps for the advancement of Civilization.
Way to go, Kalliope!! This is indeed an inspiration for people,like us on GR,having best intentions towards their fellow beings in mind! May peace prevail!
Kalliope wrote: ".....Being hailed as a Revolutionary and a Gimmickress when I am all innocence....."I wish I could see your 'innocent' face - I think there might just be a big grin on it...
Diplomatically astute now, yesterday and tomorrow.
Fionnuala wrote: "Kalliope wrote: ".....Being hailed as a Revolutionary and a Gimmickress when I am all innocence....."I wish I could see your 'innocent' face - I think there might just be a big grin on it..."
My face is a spiral staircase that leads onto a black hole...
:)
Dolors wrote: "Diplomatically astute now, yesterday and tomorrow."Yes, Dolors...
All for the sake of Civilization.
Beautifully and tastefully worded Kalliope to suit all persuasions.
Kalliope wrote:"Fionnuala wrote:"I wish I could see your 'innocent face'. I think there might just be a big grin on it"My face is a spiral staircase that leads onto a black hole...."
Grinning black holes do exist. Ever looked into a half-empty glass of Guinness?
Fionnuala wrote: "Kalliope wrote:"Fionnuala wrote:"I wish I could see your 'innocent face'.Grinning bla..."
I should add the Spanish saying: "la cara es el espejo del alma" (the face is the mirror of the soul).
And yes, I have looked into a half-empty glass of Guinness.. beautiful mirror too.
Black holes as the mirror of the soul? This is far more revolutionary stuff than anything in Cloud Atlas!
Fionnuala wrote: "Black holes as the mirror of the soul? This is far more revolutionary stuff than anything in Cloud Atlas!"OMG.. I'm being caught..!!
Haha, good stuff.
So there's no way to start an argument? That doesn't seem very friendly.
Revolutionary and gimmicky. Nice touch. Any implication that this disclaimer is the product of indentured labor or undentured servitude is surely coincidental. Get thee to a toothery! Teeth, Madame, are the enameled grails of the quest in hand.
Ted wrote: "So there's no way to start an argument? That doesn't seem very friendly."Ted, we could start a discussion, and I will agree with you.
Nice disclaimer! I suspect the Mitchell-haters may file a counter-suit...
Kalliope wrote: "Ted wrote: "So there's no way to start an argument? That doesn't seem very friendly."Ted, we could start a discussion, and I will agree with you."
That would certainly be friendly, I guess. But isn't it possible that certain people could be offended by your protestation that you do not mean to offend anyone?
So you're hoping that your declaration of intent will absolve you of any blame for whatever feelings are actually aroused by your actions?
An interesting ethical and legal question.
:)
Actually, Kalliope, given that this review already has 40 "likes", this would appear to be your ticket to a top-of-the-stack reviewer rating, if you already don't have that.After all, you can use the same review for every book you read, simply modifying one word (at most) in "As for my stars… well yes, I’ll have to admit the five stars."
Ted wrote: "Kalliope wrote: "Ted wrote: "So there's no way to start an argument? That doesn't seem very friendly."Ted, we could start a discussion, and I will agree with you."
That would certainly be friend..."
Yes, Ted, you may be right. With a GR population close to that of Chile, for example, statistically, many different reactions are possible. There may be a trend, but there will be, inevitably, some outliers.
And even as Jim says, as my five stars may not be to the liking of those who do not agree with them, such as Mitchell’s detractors, I could be sued or...bullied.
And this bullying is exactly what Cloud Atlas is about -- how it can and it may derail human civilization. And it is to this idea that I gave the five stars.
Ted wrote: "Actually, Kalliope, given that this review already has 40 "likes", this would appear to be your ticket to a top-of-the-stack reviewer rating, if you already don't have that.After all, you can use..."
Ted, that is a brilliant idea that you've had.
Kalliope wrote: "...And this bullying is exactly what Cloud Atlas is about ..."Yep. The birthmarks are but a sideshow.
Ted wrote: "Actually, Kalliope, given that this review already has 40 "likes", this would appear to be your ticket to a top-of-the-stack reviewer rating..."I'm liking it this time, but I won't make a habit of it. ;)
*sigh* I'm editing this post, ......{content removed}..or, shall I really bow to pressure and be a coward? I'm sorry, but I just can't. It goes too much contrary to my nature, so to whomever may find it a problem that I said I enjoyed this review, sorry.
What Kalliope said...
So, here goes: I enjoyed this review, Kalliope! Viva free speech!
Kalliope wrote: "And this bullying is exactly what Cloud Atlas is about -- how it can and it may derail human civilization. And it is to this idea that I gave the five stars."Well said, Kalliope. And worth saying in a review, too.
Ian wrote: "Kalliope wrote: "And this bullying is exactly what Cloud Atlas is about -- how it can and it may derail human civilization. And it is to this idea that I gave the five stars."Well said, Kalliope. And worth saying in a review, too."
She did. At least in hers.
Scribble wrote: "She did. At least in hers."In this review? Where?
Right there in Message 37!
Ted wrote: "Right there in Message 37!"Thanks, Ted. I meant it was a point worth elevating from a thread to the content of a review itself. Post 42 was a response to post 37.
But ... but ...I thought this was a new style review, in which the review itself would appear in the reviewer's comments, and simply be introduced by a piece of boilerplate.
I thought it was a very creative, Ian-like innovation!
Ted wrote: "But ... but ...I thought this was a new style review, in which the review itself would appear in the reviewer's comments, and simply be introduced by a piece of boilerplate."
You might be right, Ted. The collaboration between review and thread creates an old style "deed of indenture":
"The term comes from the medieval English 'indenture of retainer' — a legal contract written in duplicate on the same sheet, with the copies separated by cutting along a jagged (toothed, hence the term 'indenture') line so that the teeth of the two parts could later be refitted to confirm authenticity." (wiki)
When there is more boilerplate than substance, rival lawyers often say the contract is "all gum and no teeth".
Ian wrote: "When there is more boilerplate than substance, rival lawyers often say the contract is "all gum and no teeth".stranger and stranger ...
( 8>)
I've lost my taste for reviewing with all the egos associated with it, the cliques, the bullying, or the manipulation. The best reviews are not necessarily the ones with the most "likes". I've been pretty quiet at GR, staying away from where there are cliques, and chatting only with a handful of good friends.
Well, I did go ballistic on my best friend's Cloud Atlas review, but it wasn't about Cloud Atlas at all. The argument we were having off-line carried to the review. Of course, people thought it was about Cloud Atlas, but it was about something else altogether.
Better to be trapped in the language of Proust than in the language of Si Fi.