British writer David Mitchell: biography, books

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

David Mitchell is a contemporary English writer. He has several bestselling novels to his credit. But his work came to the attention of many thousands of people after the film "Cloud Atlas", which was based on one of the novels of the young author.

Biography of David Mitchell

The writer was born on January 12, 1969 in the south of England, in Southport. Until the age of five, he did not speak, then he spoke with a stutter, so he spent a lot of time alone. As soon as I started reading, I spent all my time reading books. Like all boys, he dreamed: at eight - to become an inventor, at ten - a football player. But after the physical education teacher gave him a "C", calling this mark "charitable", he stopped dreaming about football.

At the age of twelve, when his stutter became apparent, he decided that he was unlikely to work in a field where he would have to communicate with people. Therefore, he decided to become a lighthouse keeper, and when he was told that this profession was dying out, he would switch to a forester. At thirteen he was given a computer and became interested in programming games in BASIC. Two or three adventure quests were quitechallenging.

From childhood I dreamed of becoming a writer, but did not bother to complete writing courses, but simply went with the flow - this is how David Mitchell talks about himself. After graduating from university with a debt of 50,000 pounds, he continued to "drift". A Japanese friend once said: "There is no plan - it's a plan," - and with this expression he described his career. Without a plan, David had to rely on luck in everything. And she helped him out.

At the University of Kent, he received a bachelor's degree in English and American literature. He lived in Sicily for about a year, and in 1994 he left for Japan, where he taught English for eight years. He returned to England with his wife and two children. He now lives with his family in Ireland.

Literary debut

The first novel "Literary Ghost" was published in 1999. This book almost immediately lifted the writer to the literary Olympus. The author won the John Llywelyn Rhys Award and was nominated for the Xatafi-Cyberdark Award.

Ten chapters and nine different destinies. The reader will get acquainted with a sectarian who staged a sarin attack, with a saxophonist who moonlights in a store, a bank manager who launders money for the Russian mafia. He will meet with an intelligence veteran who decided to publish his memoirs, and with his literary negro, with a ghost hovering over the steppes of Mongolia, with a woman physicist and many others. The ten chapters of the novel tell about nine different people, each with their own story.

People are in different countries and cities. It would seem that it could bedo they have in common? And yet their destinies are intertwined with invisible threads. All characters are bright and memorable personalities. David Mitchell managed to fit completely different people on the pages of the book. The author visited each of the places described in the novel personally.

In a dream and in reality

Mitchell's next book, Dream No. 9 (2001), was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It tells about a young boy who comes to Tokyo in order to find his father. Arriving from a provincial island, known for a measured way of life, the guy finds himself in a whirlpool of events. Hotels, yakuza, endless cafes, sushi, skyscrapers, pachinko - among this abundance, he is looking for a person whom he knows practically nothing about.

Against the background of a seemingly simple plot, dreams and reality are intertwined. If at the beginning of the novel the boundary between them was clear, then by the middle of the book this boundary is blurred and it is difficult to distinguish a dream from reality. And the reader will have to deal with this on their own.

Despite the fact that the author lived in the Land of the Rising Sun, where the events of the novel take place, lovers of Japan will not find any interesting and hitherto unknown details. Nevertheless, Mitchell's simple plot is overgrown with unusual details of the hero's inner world and situations in which he finds himself.

Unified time model

David Mitchell's third book Cloud Atlas shortlisted for the 2004 Booker Prize. The novel was filmed, the film of the same name was released in 2012. Reminds me of Mitchell's first novel in thatsix different stories in time merge into one exciting story about the connection of two times - the past and the future.

In the first half of the novel - stories from the travel journal of an American notary who meets missionaries, sailors and islanders on the way. The second story is about a composer who came to earn some money in the house of a famous writer. In the third story, a young journalist is fighting against a large company that is building a nuclear power plant. In the fourth story, a London publisher is held captive in a nursing home. The fifth story takes place in a future where the lives of people are at the mercy of corporations. In the final story of Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell talks about the distant future, where, after a catastrophe, humanity on Earth is on the verge of extinction.

To life from oblivion

Mitchell's fourth novel Black Swan Meadow stands alone among his works. David Mitchell introduces readers to a thirteen-year-old teenager who is struggling with his stutter. To hide the defect of speech, he paraphrases his speech, looking for synonyms. Thinks in advance to keep the conversation going, trying not to say words that start with 'n' or 's'.

Thirteen chapters - thirteen months, that's how much it took the hero of the novel to turn from an insecure teenager into a self-confident adult. A novel with a psychological background tells no longer about growing up as such, but about how to save yourself in this world, how to preserve inner purity.

Forbiddenlove

The fifth book, "A Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet", differs from previous novels by writer David Mitchell with a linear plot. Not without magic, of course, which the author likes to let in unexpected places. But on the whole, this is a solid adventure novel about 18th century Japan, about trade intrigues, terrible secrets and robbers.

A young Dutchman arrives in the Land of the Rising Sun and falls in love with a Japanese woman. At home, his beloved is waiting for him, of course, his conscience torments him. But Anna is far away, and the mysterious oriental beauty is nearby. But for them, love can turn into a tragedy, because this love is forbidden. This is a clash of East and West, a clash of two cultures, customs, religions. For this novel, the author deservedly received two awards: the Alex Prize and the Costa Prize.

The story begins

The sixth book of the writer, "Mere Mortals" (2014), justifying its title, begins rather banally: a teenage girl who does not want to put up with her mother's shortcomings runs away from home. This is where the reality of the story ends, then something awaits it that may not happen to everyone. In the first part of the novel, the narration is conducted on behalf of the heroine, then each story has its own narrator.

Six different stories, each of which is addictive - here are strange rituals, and telekinesis, and the secrets of the Universe, and reincarnation. But surprisingly, against the background of the mystical component, the characters of the novel look quite realistic and vital. The novel won the World Fantasy Award and was nominated for the Goodrids, Ignotus and Nowa magazine awards. Fantastyka.

Slide House

The Hungry House, David Mitchell's seventh book, won the Goodreads and Children of the Night awards, like all of his previous novels. Among readers, the novel caused conflicting opinions. Horror fans expected more from the novel, others are sure that she was unfairly assigned an age limit of 18+.

In fact, the book contains rude language and describes the intimate life of the characters in sufficient detail. Overall, this is a good read. As is typical of Mitchell, there are several genres here: detective, classic horror, and gothic history.

The novel consists of several parts, each beginning after nine years. The old mansion opens its doors to everyone every nine years. In 1979, he lets in more victims. The owners of the mansion welcome them cordially, each guest is waiting for something different. The boy who was bullied at school by his peers will make friends with the same different child. An insecure student has a love affair. And the lone policeman will receive care and unforgettable sex here. Each of them will receive what they need most. But… no one will be able to leave the house. Those who get there disappear forever. Only their portraits remain on the wall. Five parts, five disappearances, five stories that, acquiring new details, more and more open the veil of mystery.

How does the author write?

David Mitchell's books reflect the perspective of events, not the events themselves. This is the main aspect of the writer's approach to his work. He skillfully juggles genres - thriller, science fiction, love stories, fairy tale. One word to describe Mitchell's prose would probably be rich.

The author does not waste time on trifles - from war-torn Baghdad, he throws his heroes into the snowy Alps, from post-apocalyptic Ireland - to Canada or London. David Mitchell has made an impression on the contemporary literary scene: Granta magazine has chosen him as one of its top young British novelists.