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(Six days into a ten-day trip to Japan I've already finished both books I brought with me, (I really need to get a Kindle); but the only English books available in Fukuoka are one small shelf in an otherwise huge Kinokuniya full of things I've already read, romance, J.D. Robb -- and this. So looks like I'll be reading something a little more highbrow for a change -- probably be good for me!)

And...wow. This was one brilliant book! It starts off slow (and by structure, ends the same way -- but you'll quickly see why when you get into it), but if you stick it out for the first 40 pages or so, what a reward awaits you! The overall structure is amazing -- at times it almost veers towards being too clever, but never quite crosses that line -- and I've never seen such an amazing range of voices in one work before. The Letters from Zedelghem section could have been written by David Sedaris, while the central Sonmi story could have come from World War Z. Timothy Cavendish is laugh-out-loud funny; and Sloosha's Crossin' rivals Ridley Walker in its imagining of a post-apocalyptic and much degraded English language.

Mitchell is also very self-referentially funny at times. The First Luisa Rey Mystery is written in short, Dan Brown-type chapters -- which book editor Cavendish criticizes in a future section; and towards the end of the Sonmi section, the lead character herself points out some of the plot inconsistencies that have come before, (and which - to my embarrassment - went unnoticed when I first read them).

That said, my one minor criticism is that while I was totally blown away when I finished it -- I just still wasn't quite sure what it was all about. Commentary on man's inhumanity to man? In a few sections, yes, but not a unifying theme for the whole book. Abuse of power? Yeeaah, maybe...just don't know. Maybe it doesn't need an overall theme -- and maybe I just missed it in the few overlong preachy sections, (many of which were in the slower-than-necessary final section).

Overall, unquestionably among the top 4-5 books I've read this year -- and I've read some GREAT books. Recommended for absolutely everyone, although you really do have to stick it out through those first pages.