Author Q&A: David Mitchell on Cloud Atlas, Bone Clocks and great TV
Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell on books, great TV and what to do to beat jet lag
The writer of , David Mitchell, was in Dubai recently to speak at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. "It paid for the house," Mitchell says of his 2004 sci-fi novel of six interconnected stories about the past and the future. went on to become a Hollywood film. His sixth novel was long-listed for the 2014 Man Booker Prize. Mitchell has spent years teaching English in Japan. He has also taught in Italy. He prefers to not travel for book tours and literary festivals in some seasons. Domesticity requires him to be home with his wife and two children over the winter. During his session at the festival called "Writing Other Worlds", Mitchell disagreed with the view of fellow panellist Lauren Oliver who called writing "painful". Mitchell gently introduced a little perspective: painful is someone working in a sweatshop in the third world. Before he went on stage, Mitchell spoke to
Yes. First time. Am a bit woozy. For years people have been saying you must watch , you must watch . And I had the box set on the in-flight. So first I watched , which was wonderful. And then I started watching . I know I should have been trying to sleep but it was only about midnight - 1am UK time, or Irish time. So I arrived with my head full of (laughs). And you can see how it's influenced and things that have come since. And even things like .
Very, very selectively. We don't have a TV at home. We just have DVDs. I haven't really started Apple TV or Netflix or anything like that. I'm still stuck in 2002. I'm still getting DVDs. My friends laugh. But the best of the best or the most addictive - so and I'm slowly working through . They're very formulaic. But I can watch one a month. It's my indulgence on Friday nights. Saturday nights. I don't really go out much. I don't go out to the pub. So I reward myself … oh and , as well.
, , I often confuse the two. House of Thrones or Game of Cards … (laughs).
You have to find individual episodes. I can't say … let's swap. This is fun.
I've watched on planes when there's not enough time to watch a movie and I have 80 minutes until touchdown. I agree. The writing of course is very intelligent. The set pieces in … there're some stunning pieces. I still remember the bit where Kevin Spacey is addressing the church in about the second episode of season one. A kid has died. And he's there as a politician and there's some antagonism towards him in the church. The way he acknowledges that and turns it around … I replayed it three or four times just to get the musicality of the speech.
It's worth having box sets and DVDs, just for this reason. I like to study them. Good writing is good writing, [regardless of] where it's from or who did it or what the format is.
Very much. It was fabulous. I'm still watching it now in my mind. The difference between a four-star film is that you forget the next day, and a five-star film - you wake up the next day and you're still thinking about [the latter].
Oh it would be arrogant of me. I am just a beginner here. But does Orhan Pamuk count? I think he's great.
Absolutely not (laughs). I'm experiencing a Dubai hotel. Not really experiencing the city. But it's still exposure. I had a great tip from my friend Pico Iyer. He said, 'Don't fight jet lag, use it'. So instead of lying there trying to get some sleep, get up and go downstairs and have a chat with the concierge … strike up a conversation. Even though it's not Dubai, it's a hotel in Dubai. Human beings everywhere have stories.
I never used to. But at about age 40 you realise that life is pretty short. So now by about page 50, if it isn't ignited by then I don't think it ever will be. But this is with contemporary stuff. For stuff that has been in print 50 years, that's no accident. Even if it is slow-going, like , you just know it's a classic. It's going to be worthwhile so you stick with it. I know that D.H. Lawrence is brilliant. But I won't be annoyed with myself if I die without ever having completed a D.H Lawrence. However, I have Marcus Aurelius just waiting on my bookshelf.
