I'd read all of David Mitchell's other books before finally getting round to The Thousand Autumns, and I'm so pleased that it is as strange and brilliant as his other works!

It's a slow burn of a historical novel that took me to both a period and a location that I visit in fiction only sporadically, and evokes the sights, sounds and smells of a Dutch trading port at the end of the 18th century astonishingly well. The (many!) characters spring to life too, and I found myself strangely compelled by the stories about how each of the sailors/traders came to be in Dejima.

I particularly loved the middle section that departs from Jacob's point of view to tell part of the story from the perspective of Orito, a Japanese midwife, and provides much of the suspense that kept me reading to find out how her story turns out. I would've liked much more from Orito’s perspective, to be honest, but the rest of the novel unfolds so beautifully and unexpectedly that I can forgive Mitchell for this oversight…!

A wonderful, rich read that might take a little while to get through, but is so rewarding when you do. ( )

Seems as if the Mitchell books that everyone else loves (this, Cloud Atlas) I find to be patience-trying and pretentious. The ones other people dismiss (Black Swan, Bone Clocks), I think are really solid. ( )

It's not my favorite David Mitchell novel, but it still has all of the beautiful themes and style that lock me into his books. ( )

Perhaps it was my mood, but somehow I never got carried away by this novel. It was well-plotted and the settings vividly evoked, yet failed to evoke much tension or emotional impact. The characters were interesting, although the narrative seemed to heavily emphasise their flaws. The titular Jacob never really endeared himself to me - I liked that he was a pedant, but other than that he never exhibited a great deal of personality. Orito was by far my favourite character and the sections from her point of view had the greatest appeal. On the other hand, the sections from the viewpoint of Captain Penhaligon made me yearn for Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey & Maturin series. The setting of Dejima, Japan’s only trading link with the outside world at the turn of the 19th century, was well-chosen. I do wish, though, that the politics of Japanese/Dutch relations had been more of the focus than Jacob’s emotional life. I was also surprised by the somewhat perfunctory ending, which seemed to do Orito a disservice and ignore other side characters.

Since I’ve really enjoyed other recent novels by David Mitchell, the lack of connection I felt with this one was disconcerting. I reiterate, it might be my current mood, which requires relatively cheerful reading matter to relax me after thesis-writing. Whatever its other merits, this is definitely a depressing novel that takes a dim view of almost every character. If you’re feeling in the mood for that, I imagine you’d get more out of it than I did. ( )

Jacob comes to work in Dejima, the closed city island off the coast of japan. ( )