nicanical
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell tells six stories, separated by time and place but connected through a birthmark implying the main character's reincarnation. A film adaptation directed by the Wachowskis released in 2012.
Cloud Atlas's stories are nested: the first five stories halt midway, the sixth story is told in full, then the first five are concluded in reverse order. The stories also happen to be presented in increasingly engaging order: the first two stories are collections of diary entries, archaically-styled and, frankly, boring; followed by an action-mystery, a "prison" break, a dystopian thriller, and a post-apocalyptic survival story.
The drawback with the nested structure is the most engaging stories end in the middle and the weaker stories close out the book. Also, when each story is interrupted halfway, momentum lost. Readers have to recalibrate when resuming the story later—like matching revs before shifting gears. It's not a smooth reading experience.
I think this is one of those times where the film adaptation is better because the film allows itself to deviate from the book's nested structure. By switching between the stories several times, and also by grouping scenes of similar energy, the film avoids momentum issues, and the weak ending.
Interestingly, the book's US and UK editions differ but the differences are only in the content of the Sonmi-451 story—nothing with the nested structure. (The US edition is the basis for the film and also later electronic editions, but neither has been declared as the definitive edition).
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell tells six stories, separated by time and place but connected through a birthmark implying the main character's reincarnation. A film adaptation directed by the Wachowskis released in 2012.
Cloud Atlas's stories are nested: the first five stories halt midway, the sixth story is told in full, then the first five are concluded in reverse order. The stories also happen to be presented in increasingly engaging order: the first two stories are collections of diary entries, archaically-styled and, frankly, boring; followed by an action-mystery, a "prison" break, a dystopian thriller, and a post-apocalyptic survival story.
The drawback with the nested structure is the most engaging stories end in the middle and the weaker stories close out the book. Also, when each story is interrupted halfway, momentum lost. Readers have to recalibrate when resuming the story later—like matching revs before shifting gears. It's not a smooth reading experience.
I think this is one of those times where the film adaptation is better because the film allows itself to deviate from the book's nested structure. By switching between the stories several times, and also by grouping scenes of similar energy, the film avoids momentum issues, and the weak ending.
Interestingly, the book's US and UK editions differ but the differences are only in the content of the Sonmi-451 story—nothing with the nested structure. (The US edition is the basis for the film and also later electronic editions, but neither has been declared as the definitive edition).