Cloud Atlas
by David Mitchell
★ Top 25 book of 2004 · #15 on Best Books of 2004
Six narrators, spread across very different eras and places, sense echoes of one another through history, and their fates shift in large and small ways. The novel reflects on humanity's dangerous will to power.
Best for: Adventurous readers who like inventive books that cross genres, eras and voices
Cloud Atlas is #15 on BookWard's Best Books of 2004, out of 48 2004 books that cleared our data bar.
What Cloud Atlas is about
Six stories, each told in a different voice and style, are nested inside one another across centuries. A lawyer keeps a sea journal in the 19th-century Pacific, a penniless English musician works for a composer in 1931 Belgium, a journalist in 1975 California investigates a nuclear plant, and a publisher in modern London finds himself trapped in a nursing home. Further on, a clone gives testimony in a future society, and a far-off island community lives in the aftermath of collapse.
The first five stories break off at a decisive moment and are picked up again in reverse order once the sixth is done. David Mitchell plays with genre as he goes, from journal to thriller to science fiction, while asking how power, exploitation and human choices echo through time. It is inventive and demanding, and rewards readers who enjoy patterns.
Cloud Atlas on the Best Books of 2004
Cloud Atlas came out in 2004. Of the 48 books first published in 2004 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #15 on our Best Books of 2004 list.
Why it made the list: 395 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (87 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2004 list
- The Definitive Book of Body Language Allan Pease, #13
- The Darkest Hour Erin Hunter, #14
- The Enemy Lee Child, #16
- The Spook's Apprentice Joseph Delaney, #17
See all Best Books of 2004 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2003 Best Books of 2005.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 277 want to read it, 4 are reading it now and 114 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4 out of 5 from 87 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 83 | 55% |
| Reader love | 58 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 15 | 20% |
Questions about Cloud Atlas
When was Cloud Atlas published?
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell was first published in 2004.
Was Cloud Atlas one of the best books of 2004?
Cloud Atlas is #15 on BookWard's Best Books of 2004, out of 48 2004 books that cleared our data bar. 395 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (87 ratings).
Why is Cloud Atlas on the Best Books of 2004 list?
395 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (87 ratings).
More of the best books of 2004
- Darkly Dreaming Dexter Jeffry P. Lindsay, #1
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad for Teens Robert T. Kiyosaki, #2
- The Ruins of Gorlan John Flanagan, #3
- Alexander Hamilton Ron Chernow, #4
- Blink Malcolm Gladwell, #5
- She Comes First Ian Kerner, #6
See the full Best Books of 2004, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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