Title: The Bone
Clocks
Author: David
Mitchell
Publisher: Random
House
Publication Date: September
2, 2014
Genres: Mystery,
Sci-fi
Reviewed by: Ellen
Fritz
Ellen’s rating: 5/5
SUMMARY
Following a scalding row with her mother,
fifteen-year-old Holly Sykes slams the door on her old life. But Holly is no
typical teenage runaway: a sensitive child once contacted by voices she knew
only as “the radio people,” Holly is a lightning rod for psychic phenomena. Now,
as she wanders deeper into the English countryside, visions and coincidences
reorder her reality until they assume the aura of a nightmare brought to life.
For Holly has caught the attention of a cabal of dangerous mystics—and their enemies. But her lost weekend is merely the prelude to a shocking disappearance that leaves her family irrevocably scarred. This unsolved mystery will echo through every decade of Holly’s life, affecting all the people Holly loves—even the ones who are not yet born.
A Cambridge scholarship boy grooming himself for wealth and influence, a conflicted father who feels alive only while reporting from occupied Iraq, a middle-aged writer mourning his exile from the bestseller list—all have a part to play in this surreal, invisible war on the margins of our world. From the medieval Swiss Alps to the nineteenth-century Australian bush, from a hotel in Shanghai to a Manhattan townhouse in the near future, their stories come together in moments of everyday grace and extraordinary wonder.
For Holly has caught the attention of a cabal of dangerous mystics—and their enemies. But her lost weekend is merely the prelude to a shocking disappearance that leaves her family irrevocably scarred. This unsolved mystery will echo through every decade of Holly’s life, affecting all the people Holly loves—even the ones who are not yet born.
A Cambridge scholarship boy grooming himself for wealth and influence, a conflicted father who feels alive only while reporting from occupied Iraq, a middle-aged writer mourning his exile from the bestseller list—all have a part to play in this surreal, invisible war on the margins of our world. From the medieval Swiss Alps to the nineteenth-century Australian bush, from a hotel in Shanghai to a Manhattan townhouse in the near future, their stories come together in moments of everyday grace and extraordinary wonder.
REVIEW
Spanning a time period of about fifty-nine years, The Bone Clocks is a captivating and
highly stimulating read. The story follows Holly Sykes from her teenage years,
through numerous paranormal encounters, to her old age when she tries to make
an existence in a disintegrating world.
Although this lengthy novel provided me with five days
of intense reading, I can truly say that it was worth every minute. Apart from
the beautifully written prose, I loved the well chosen bits of well-known
poetry and prose from popular works quoted at appropriate places in the story.
The characters are masterfully crafted, fleshed out
and absolutely lifelike. Holly Sykes, the main character, starts off as a
rebellious teenager who runs away from home simply because her mother
disapproves of her boyfriend. Throughout the book she shows growth until, at
the end, she is a great-grandmother in charge of young children in a near-apocalyptic
setting.
Other remarkable characters include the womanizing,
thieving student, Hugo Lamb aka Marcus Anyder, a bestselling writer with a
serious grudge, and Ed Brubeck, a father who tries to convince himself that he
isn't a war-zone junkie. Then there are the mysterious body hopping Immaculée
Constantin and the strangely reincarnating Marinus; both of whom are hugely
paranormal. The question is: which of them is really the bad guy in this tale?
The Bone Clocks presents the most
believable end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it scenario that I've ever encountered
in a book. It is so logical and realistic that the Endarkenment, as it is
called, turned out to be the scariest part of the book for me.
For an engaging read with tons of action, brilliant
characters, and a completely captivating storyline, I recommend The Bone Clocks as an absolute
must-read!
ABOUT the AUTHOR
David Mitchell was
born in Southport, Merseyside, in England, raised in Malvern, Worcestershire,
and educated at the University of Kent, studying for a degree in English and
American Literature followed by an M.A. in Comparative Literature. He lived for
a year in Sicily, then moved to Hiroshima, Japan, where he taught English to
technical students for eight years, before returning to England. After another
stint in Japan, he currently lives in Ireland with his wife Keiko and their two
children.
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