The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

What Our Readers Are Saying

Share your thoughts on this title!

Average customer rating 4.8 (28 comments)

---

`

Man, that's a lot of five-star reviews. "History is not, after all, what really happened, but only what we believe happened."-David Mitchell There is no disputing English author David Mitchell's technical ability. His best-know novel, "Cloud Atlas," was a virtuoso performance, yet it failed to cohere as a narrative and its ambition was more often exhausting than inspiring. "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet," from 2010, is more conventionally structured than "Cloud Atlas" and a more satisfying read, yet it suffers from some of the same issues. Set in a Japanese harbor town in the late 1700s, Mitchell's novel evokes, in detail, the clash between societies and cultures, while channeling a wide range of voices, from the Dutch clerk of the title to an Irish criminal to a Japanese midwife. Again, it's impressive, but not particularly insightful or engaging, and I find it hard to view as a masterpiece or as "fiction's future." "I didn't set out to write a historical novel just for the heck of it--you'd have to be mad."-D.M.

`

I heard David Mitchell interviewed on NPR and found what he said, and how he said it to be fascinating. Intrigued, I went to NPR's website and read a selection from The Thousand Autumn's of Jacob de Zoet. It happened to be the first few pages of the opening scene which, quite frankly, horrified me. I concluded I didn't have the constitution to deal with feudal Japan and Mitchell's often intense storytelling style. But then I happened upon the actual book at the library and picked it up to leaf through. After reading one page from the middle, I was hooked. Mitchell's storytelling abilities are just too good. The opening scene turned out to be not as horrific as I thought and the rest of the book, while gritty in a few parts, was lyrical, often funny and always compelling. Compared to Mitchell's earlier works, The Thousand Autumns is in a rather conventional storytelling style, until you realize he's written this historical novel entirely in present tense! No wonder it feels like we're there, exploring this exotic, strange, beautiful and foreboding place along side a handful of very engaging characters. Since reading The Thousand Autumns, I've also read Cloud Atlas, another work of Mitchell's I was worried I wouldn't like and ended up loving. Now I'm entralled with Mitchell's ability to create whole worlds out of his amazing imagination and innovative craft. Prose this good must take a lot of work, but like all real writing, it flows easily and swiftly. I enjoy the ride.

`

A fascinating story written with exquisite historical detail. The story starts simply enough--a Dutchman in the 18th century sets off for a clerkship at a Dutch East India Company trading post in Japan in order to earn his fortune so he can marry the woman he loves. But he doesn't expect to encounter so much corruption that will test his morals, meet a beautiful Japanese midwife, befriend a cantankerous doctor, or parter with a friendly translator to expose an evil monk. This was the sort of novel that kept me surprised and completely engaged from start to finish. The story kept getting better as it went on and I didn't want it to come to an end.

`

This is my best book of 2012. Good story, characters, description, architecture....need I go on? Lovely prose too!!!!

`

The Thousand Autumns is heartbreakingly sad, and heartbreakingly beautiful. I have nothing in common with Ogawa and everything in common with Ogawa. I love this book and I love Pei Pei.

`

Beautifully written and moving.

`

In one respect, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet is a finely crafted and authentic historical novel of cloistered Shogun Japan and the mortal struggle of European empires to control the fortune-building sea trade. But for the reader, that's just a particularly well painted backdrop. For us, it is a completely engaging tale that follows the lives of an ambitious junior Dutch clerk and the strong and intelligent young Japanese woman with whom he is smitten. As the plot develops, we become increasingly drawn in to Jacob and Orita's lives. We can't help but feel a measure of their hopes and disappointments, as they are buffetted by chance and circumstance and the casually terrifying natures of others more powerful. Mitchell has a genius for dialogue, always seeming to strike the right note. He effortlessly captures the rough accents and humourous ignorance of base waterfront bullies and just as well, creates the tension and stylised formality of the machinations of the Japanese Mandarins. His many characters come to life through this convincing dialogue and by the meticulously described environments in which they live. His gouty English sea captain Penhaligon aboard HMS Phoebus is just as believable as the conflicted young Japanese interpreter Uzaemon Ogawa as he struggles to find meaning in the strange phrases of his Dutch charges. But although we're privy to all this detail, the story never drags or bottlenecks. We're whisked along in one direction, then the next so that it's nearly impossible to put the dammed book down. This was my first David Mitchell and I've already secured my second. The Thousand Nights will appeal to a broad audience and I highly recommended it as the best novel I've read this year.

`

After reading Cloud Atlas, and now The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, I'm convinced that David Mitchell is an amazing writer, classical in every sense yet totally unique. These two books have been totally absorbing. I want to read more!

`

Another fascinating book from Mitchell.

`

Outstanding book! It plays with readers' expectations of narrative structure, and develops so many unique voices!

`

How do you describe this book? I liken it to a fantastic meal at a restaurant with a well trained chef. The first bite takes your breath away, the second you try to savor letting all of the well blended seasonings sit and melt in your mouth. You struggle not to wolf the meal down as it is so good, yet you have to force yourself to slow down to enjoy the rich bliss of it all. It is a story of a young Dutchman who believes he is to work as a clerk for the Dutch Indies Company at a port in Japan for several years so he can make his fortune and then come home to marry the love of his life. Its just that it did not happen quite like that.

`

Fascinating and extremely well researched bit of history.There was a time when a country could insulate itself from outside influences. Not anymore with our present day technology.

`

Elegant, charming, unusual, compelling, and ultimately, a work of rare beauty. Very few contemporary novels are as affecting.

`

A fascinating story around one of the strangest interactions between two highly advanced societies.

`

My favorite read of the year. (Amitav Gosh's "River of Smoke" is a very close second and I have not gotten around to "1Q84" by Murakami yet)

`

An amazing tale, beautifully written, and absolutely compelling from start to finish. Definitely the best book I read this year!

`

David Mitchell has never disappointed me and this book is no exception. The writing is wonderful, his prose are lyrical and complex . The story itself is an adventure tale of a young Dutch man, Jacob, stationed at a trading post in Japan at a time when Japan was still closed to outsiders. It has everything from history and travel, to romance and mystery.

`

This book fulfilled all my criteria for a great book. The historical background was accurate and interesting. The characters were believable and well rounded. The fictionalized story line was entertaining and compelling. The story prompted me to further investigate the time period and the events that shaped that part of the world. Well done, David Mitchell!

`

I am a big David Mitchell fan; I think his ability to write, in such engaging and living details, about so many different worlds, is amazing. In this novel, he brings alive late 18th c. Japan (and its British and Dutch trading partners). Foreigners are restricted from Japan, but he uses Japanese characters to take us into the interior of the country and expand the perspectives of the story. There was a slightly "magical realist" section in the center of the book that was not to my taste, but overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the novel.

`

great read--exotic setting, effective character development,.captivating adventure.

`

Absolutely a wonderful book.

`

Entrancing...David Mitchell is a poet-novelist. Go read this, right now! You won't be disappointed.

`

I am very happy to have discovered David Mitchell, an erudite and complex writer who sets forth the beautiful and the distasteful with equanimity, and leaves the reader with a positive overall sense of life. After The Thousand Autmns, I have enjoyed his Cloud Atlas, and now intend to read all his writings. A real writer!

`

David Mitchell at his finest!

`

This novel immersed me in the lives and culture of the shogunate-era Japan it depicts. The story and the characters are always foremost, while at the same time, I learned about the Dutch East India trade with Japan and European competition to trade with Asia. It's told from more than one point of view, which allowed me to get into the minds of varied characters. To be honest, I was slightly put off in the middle with what seemed to be a more "supernatural" turn of events, but I loved the book as a whole.

`

Mitchell imaginatively recreates the little-known world of Dejima, the man-made island in Nagasaki harbor where Dutch traders lived in the Edo period. He spices up history with romance and intrigue, and weaves a tale with well developed characters in a very unique and real setting.

`

You know what this book is? It's grumous. Look that up, not only because it well describes Mitchell's style, but because Mitchell is also one of the half dozen humans who have ever used it in an actual sentence -- right here in this very tome! If you enjoy novelists who write to flatter themselves and their readers for being self-appointed-smart and knowing the big words -- if you think "In the rice paddy beyond the garden, a cacophony of frogs detonates" is good writing -- then Mitchell's your boy. Personally, my word is "ptooey." I'd rather read the dictionary than suffer this kind of supposedly great, but actually lazy and pretentious gamesmanship.

`

David Mitchell does it again - writes a book about seemingly obscure locations and lives and comes up with a winner. I'm not sure how he does it, but this book that I would think I would have no interest in reading, captured and kept my attention with his finely crafted writing. After reading 2 of his books (also Cloud Atlas), I will be eagerly awaiting the next.