A Little Thought About David Mitchell

By rights I shouldn't like David Mitchell. His writing is slightly cyber-punky, Matrix-y and Bladerunner-y; all things I steer pretty well clear of. Whilst not overly elaborate it's not spare - fast becoming my favourite writing style - either. It's punchy and quick and he weaves a good yarn. Now yarnin', as Zachry in Cloud Atlas calls storytelling, is something I do like. And it's probably what makes me like him as much as I do. He has a similar storytelling prowess to Haruki Murakami and weaves in and out of reality much like him. (I'm too ignorant to say whether it's the Japanese connection - Mitchell lived and taught in Tokyo for many years). That not-sparse prose is given to occasional flourishes but not exaggerated ones. It is calm and somewhat measured but reveals a joy of the wriggliness of language too.