The Bone Clocks: Longlisted for the Booker Prize

David Mitchell

Sep 2014 · Hachette UK

About this ebook

'ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANTLY INVENTIVE WRITERS OF THIS, OR ANY, COUNTRY' INDEPENDENT
Winner of the World Fantasy Award and longlisted for the Booker and Folio Prizes
'A triumph'
GUARDIAN

'Fantastical'
OBSERVER

'Epic'
EVENING STANDARD

'Mind-spinning'
INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

'Dazzling'
NEW YORK TIMES

The internationally bestselling novel from the author of Cloud Atlas, at once the kaleidoscopic story of an unusual woman's life, a metaphysical thriller and a profound meditation on mortality and survival
Run away, one drowsy summer's afternoon, with Holly Sykes: wayward teenager, broken-hearted rebel and unwitting pawn in a titanic, hidden conflict.

Over six decades, the consequences of a moment's impulse unfold, drawing an ordinary woman into a world far beyond her imagining. And as life in the near future turns perilous, the pledge she made to a stranger may become the key to her family's survival . . .

PRAISE FOR DAVID MITCHELL
'A thrilling and gifted writer'
FINANCIAL TIMES

'Dizzyingly, dazzlingly good'
DAILY MAIL

'Mitchell is, clearly, a genius'
NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

'An author of extraordinary ambition and skill'
INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

'A superb storyteller'
THE NEW YORKER

Ratings and reviews

Highly enjoyable novel covering sixty years, several continents, various first person narrators and numerous genres. For me the weakest part is the fantasy section set in 2025 but the characters are well formed and believable. As ever enjoyed how even minor characters are weaved into different strands of the narrative and connection are reestablished. Recommended but perhaps not the first David Mitchell novel you should read.

Almost entirely not fantasy or sci fi. Interesting and detailed character backgrounds that do not pertain to the plot. Enjoyable but all too brief fantasy elements. Depressing, lengthy essay-like epilogue, with only tenuous links to the main story.

A story about Holly Sykes, told over her life time through the eyes of many people, and of her experience with the "radio people". Split into chunks, narrated by different people, similar to Cloud Atlas. I really enjoyed the story, was sad to reach the end!

About the author

David Mitchell is the author of the novels Ghostwritten, number9dream, Cloud Atlas, Black Swan Green, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, The Bone Clocks, Slade House and Utopia Avenue. He has been shortlisted twice for the Booker Prize, won the World Fantasy Award, and the John Llewellyn Rhys, Geoffrey Faber Memorial and South Bank Show Literature Prizes, among others. In 2018, he won the Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence, given in recognition of a writer's entire body of work. His screenwriting credits include the TV shows Pachinko and Sense8, and the movie Matrix: Resurrections.

In addition, David Mitchell together with KA Yoshida has translated from Japanese two autism memoirs by Naoki Higashida: The Reason I Jump and Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight.

He lives in Ireland.