This is the book that
fulfills the potential of a writer I have so desperately wanted to laud praise
on. With his novel Number9dream, the talents that David Mitchell has are fully
recognized. All of his unique abilities to transcend genre’s and even the novel
itself come together in a story that is both pleasurable to read as well as
being insightful about the heart of the human spirit. Even when reading books
of his, like his famous novel Cloud Atlas and his most recent book The Thousand
Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, I was struck by the stylistic high wire acts that
Mitchell is capable of that makes reading any one of his books a wholly
original experience you cannot get anywhere else, but the stories themselves
never really intrigued me, and they, as well as their meaning and power, got
lost under the weight of these unique concepts and ideas. But that is not the
case for Number9dream, which is not only the best book of Mitchell’s I have
read, but may be a candidate for favorite book of the year, even as early as
January. All the pieces fit together to tell a very honest and heartfelt coming
of age story that reads like an alternate version of Murakami’s Kafka on the
shore, with the same kind of beautiful absurdism that somehow tells a more
honest truth than the actual reality. The story begins as Eiji Miyake is
waiting outside an office building in Tokyo to confront his father whom he has
never met. He has just turned 20, yet is still reeling from the death of his
sister as well as the neglect from his mother who has checked herself into a
mental health facility, both of which happened years ago. He devises an
elaborate plan to meet with his father’s secretary and coerce her into giving
up the details on how to meet him. Much like a Murakami novel, things are never
really as they seem, but unlike him, Mitchell is all but happy to reward you
with the answers to his many riddles. We find out that a lot of the things that
are happening, especially the more extravagant and preposterous events that
Eiji is experiencing exist merely within his own imagination (don’t worry, that
is not a spoiler to how well you enjoy the book). This journey, which has been
built up inside the mind of Eiji as well as the reader, takes many drastic and
fun turns involving the yakuza and computer hacking, but the real emotion of
this book reveals itself in its last few pages, which are absolutely marvelous.
It becomes less a tale of fantasy and more a tale about growing up, and finally
turning all of your inward imagination and dreams outward in order to become an
adult, no matter how cozy it is to think about what you want to do instead of
doing it and how hard it is to make the things you want a reality. This revelation
leads to a very intense and heartfelt ending that left me floored. Can’t say
enough about how much I loved this book, and can finally praise Mitchell for
his amazing talents.
Rating: 5/5
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