The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet: A Novel

Given that the only book by David Mitchell that I had read before was Cloud Atlas, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet - I knew it was widely regarded, but little more than that, not even the setting. (And, from what I've read, it's not quite as genre-bending as some of Mitchell's other works, so it may not have been a representative choice from his works.) What I got, in many ways, couldn't be more different from Cloud Atlas, but it's no less beautiful, powerful, and astonishingly well-written, and by the time I finished it, I knew I had read another masterpiece from Mitchell. A historical fiction, Thousand Autumns details the lives of officers in the Dutch East Indies company stationed near Nagasaki right around the dawn of the 19th century. That's a wholly, utterly foreign world to most Western readers, and much of the book's first section finds Mitchell exploring the culture and society through his characters, letting the world come to life as he subtly sows seeds for the plot threads to come. And then, before you know it, you're lost in Mitchell's rich world, entranced by his complicated, utterly human characters, and caught up in his dense plotting, which involves everything from the British empire to a sect of Japanese monks with horrific beliefs. And just when you think Mitchell has lost track of everything, he pulls it together in two astonishing final chapters that left me stunned, moved, and on the verge of tears at his powerful ending. But the plotting is never really the focus of Thousand Autumns; what fascinates Mitchell, and by extension, the reader, are the characters that populate the world, and the way they're governed by their pasts, their cultures, their senses of honor and betrayal, and a desire to make the most of their lives as best as they can. What Mitchell ends up doing here is telling a story that could be told at no other time in history, but making it beautifully, wonderfully contemporary in the emotions and feelings it deals with. More than that, he succeeds in immersing you in a world that you could never experience, and makes it come to life in such a vivid way that you not only picture it, but can feel yourself getting lost in it. And that, along with Mitchell's astonishing, beautiful prose, makes Thousand Autumns a masterpiece worth savoring.

(Caution: some spoilers ahead) I thought the first 200 or so pages of The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet were absolutely brilliant: Mitchell succeeded precisely by dismissing any suspicions or expectations that his story would be a reheated version of the novel that--for better or for worse--has become the archetype of historical fiction written about Japan by non-Japanese: Shogun. Where Shogun is expansive, Thousand Autumns starts off delightfully claustrophobic; whereas Shogun's protagonist quickly becomes a Japanophile, gains entry into the inaccessible and the exotic, and sets off on a series of adventures, Thousand Autumns' protagonist is--although intelligent and likable--clearly out of his element, lacking in power amongst his own people let alone a foreign race, and more observer than participant. By creating a story about Dejima (rather than "Japan" per se) that is both as inward-looking and in-between worlds as that tiny island, Mitchell quickly finds his own voice and creates a unique story very different than Shogun and focused on universal and timeless issues like race, power, and faith. Looking back, I found the beating of Sjako--the reasons for it, the reactions to it--in many ways to be among the most impactful and passionate sections of the entire book: full of deeper meaning, demanding of the reader's introspection, and--brilliantly, and unconventionally for this genre--having completely nothing to do with "Japan". Then, abruptly, Mitchell abandons his sympathetic protagonist and the nuanced confines of Dejima (the island becomes a character in its own right) for a good 200 pages to focus on the Orito-in-captivity story. If the first part of the novel was an interesting expansion of The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing from Cloud Atlas, the second part was an oddly flat retelling of An Orison of Sonmi-451 from the same tale, without the nuance or deeper meaning. I found myself bewildered by Enomoto and the infanticide plot line ... it touched upon some of the recurring motifs of faith, power, and oppression but not in a convincing or compelling manner. Enomoto feels like a cardboard cutout villain, the "good guys" like Orito and Ogawa are oddly impotent and less interesting as main protagonists compared to the supporting roles they previously held, and the whole strange storyline seemed to drag on unnecessarily long. Moreover, despite being set in "normal" Japan with a cast of Japanese characters, the whole part felt jarringly un-Japanese. The setting could have been a monastery in Europe, the characters talked, acted, and thought distinctly in a European fashion despite clumsy attempts to "orientalize" things. Creating a believable world and realistic characters doing reasonable things in it is a big challenge with historical fiction, and Mitchell is usually spot-on in this regard; in this case, it just did not come together or ring true. I was happy to get back to de Zoet in the last third of the novel, but this new de Zoet felt more like someone out of Clavell's tale: heroic, powerful, master of Japanese language and custom. Mitchell wrapped up loose ends fairly well and adopts a somber tone of melancholia suitable for the final plot twists and turns ... but at the end of the journey, he still leaves the reader feeling a bit unfulfilled. Most of my comments about the book have been fairly negative. Yet, it was a page-turner; even when I could see where Mitchell was going, I still enjoyed being taken along for the ride. de Zoet was, overall, an interesting and thoughtful protagonist. Yet, it just seemed fairly predictable and conventional in the end--it was like eating a meal that is good enough, but you keep waiting for that extra little something to make it special and memorable. Perhaps Cloud Atlas just raised my expectations too high--honestly, if I didn't know better, I'd have thought Thousand Autumns was his earlier work, not Cloud Atlas. After all, in the latter, Mitchell essentially weaves together *six* historical fiction novels (some of the "history" just happens to be in the future). In comparison, this just feels a bit less ambitious and lacking in its ability to live up to its potential: Mitchell had a chance to transform the genre; instead he seems to just conform to it. Cloud Atlas grabbed my heart and stimulated my brain; Thousand Autumns kept me more or less entertained, but the fact that I did not end up enjoying it as much as I truly hoped I would left me feeling a little betrayed and disappointed. I debated between three and four stars, but decided to round up in the end--not a bad novel by any means, but perhaps a victim of my lofty expectations.

What books qualify for must-reads? I prefer books with a compelling story and excellent writing. Sometimes I'll read books that lack one of these two qualities, but to make it to my must-read list, I require both. David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is a definite must-read. What a title! Upon reading it, you might turn away and select something else, but if you do, you've missed a wonderfully written story. Mitchell begins the book in 1799 on a small island outside of Japan, Dijima. This island is the only place where the then extremely isolated Japanese allowed trading with the outside world (the Dutch in particular). Our main character, Jacob de Zoet, arrived from a small town in Holland to make his fortune and a name for himself so he could marry his sweetheart. Many things conspire against our hero. First, he takes a huge risk when he decides to smuggle in a Psalter (a Christian book). The Japanese forbade any Christian relics, particularly books, crucifixes, rituals, etc. They were not interested in being overrun by missionaries or other outsiders trying to upturn their own beliefs. If Jacob were found with this offending item, he could have been tossed in the brink. Jacob kept the book because it belonged to his great grandfather. It was something he didn't think he could live without. At this stage of the book, we've learned two things about our character: risk-taker and strong beliefs. Fortunately for him, he made friends with the chief translator who ignored the book in exchange for lessons on the Dutch language. Mitchell develops the story around fascinating characters, including an interesting young Japanese woman who excelled as a midwife. The story reveals much about the Japanese culture during this early part of the 19th Century. It also reveals much about the Dutch merchants. If you want to read a compelling story with characters whom you'll warm to and with a bit of history about a part of the world most people have never heard of, this book is a must-read. Furthermore, Mitchell writes with the skill of a master. The language in the dialogue is superb and matches the language of the time. He juggles three languages--Japanese or Dutch or English--without imposing uncomfortable dialects. The plot moves fast and just when you think everything will work out, boom, something else happens. My only complaint was with the ending. Not in the form of an epilogue, it was written as such. Yes, we readers want to know what happened to everyone. Instead of carrying us through the saga Mitchell tells as might a news reporter. My guess is he grew tired of the story. As a reader, I wasn't tired and would have loved to have "seen" more. Nonetheless, you'll finish The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet wishing for more and sorry to turn the last page of a wonderful book. . .

Fascinating story. Brilliantly written. The "some sexual content" is written in obscure, sometime poetic, sometimes bored, no big deal language that is, in fact, not at all explicit. But you can figure it out, so I cannot say there is no sexual content. Plus one thread of the story follows a corrupt and sinister sexual cult run out of a shrine whose patron is the most powerful and dangerous Japanese official in the area. However, I would have given this book to my clever voraciously reading son, had it been around when he was 12 years old. I could hardly put this novel down. I wanted the pleasure of reading it never to stop. I kept backtracking, rereading passages and whole chapters just for the delight of the language. I laughed out loud, and I cried. It is a very complicated story, populated by assorted con artists, ugly Dutch trading company exploiters of whatever they can find to exploit, whose racial attitudes are those of the 1700s. And the Japanese are no better, except that is it their country they are trying to protect from being overtaken by outsiders. Japanese society was extremely rigid, with horrible tortures and punishments for all kinds of apparently slight infractions. But then the Dutch at that time were brutal in their quest to grab chunks of "empire" away from England and Spain. Japan was one of the few places where the people being exploited for trade managed to contain the foreign invaders, and made the trading company follow their rules. (While in the same time period, England and Spain were imposing their systems of law, religion, and culture on their subjugated colonies, with not much care for what the locals thought or wanted.) So in this time and place a young Dutch clerk, nephew of a protestant minister, has signed on with the Dutch Trading Company V.O.C. to make his fortune with a five year contract and return to Holland with enough money to win the heart of his future father-in-law, and be married to the girl he adores. We meet all the characters he has to live, work, and get along with, Dutch and Japanese, some earnest and fair, some merely greedy bastards, and some pure evil. He has to learn the language, keep his balance on the Company's tightrope while juggling the spoken and unspoken rules of both the the Company's and the Japanese officials' games. This group of outsiders is contained on a small trading island of warehouses, offices, and rooming houses for the officials of the Company, with only the Company men and their slaves and servants (and local bar girls) for social interaction. They are restricted from entering Japan proper. Their interactions with the Japanese are limited to formal business, translations, accounts, stock inventories, negotiating contracts for sales of various commodities, and trials and punishments for those caught breaking the many strict and arbitrary Japanese laws. This is no kind of a "junket," nor is it a particularly posh posting. Exotic yes, but most of young Jacob's co-workers lack the imagination to appreciate their environment as anything other than something to be endured, with the dream of wealth at the end of their term. Jacob does appreciate his surroundings, applies himself to learning Japanese, treats people fairly and with respect, but he gets in trouble because he is honest, and refuses to wink at his superior's fraudulent schemes to enrich themselves. The ending is not at all what I expected. I do not want to give anything away. It is both happier and sadder than I thought it might be. But it is a realistic and very satisfying end to a remarkable story. I have some Dutch ancestors, who in the 17th century went west, and ultimately ended up in one of England's colonies in North America. This book helps me imagine what their lives might have been, had they decided to sign on to a Dutch East Asia Company contract instead.

I'm left with mixed feelings. I devoured it eagerly, mostly enjoyed it as I was reading it, but was ultimately left with a sour taste in my mouth, as with a cream puff that, although very pretty to look at, had passed its pull-date. The novel is structured around two real events: the collapse of the Dutch East India company in 1800, and the "Nagasaki Harbor Incident" of 1808, in which the HMS Phaeton, an English frigate, intruded into the harbor with the intention of plundering the Dutch ships they expected to find there. Mitchell has both events happen the same year, and lightly disguises the HMS Phaeton as the HMS Phoebus, but in general hews reasonably close to the events that transpired, providing a realistic framework for the novel. And what does this "realistic framework" contain? In a typically Mitchell-esque fashion, it frames a deliberately unrealistic Gothic melodrama about evil Japanese monks who keep deformed women as brood mares, and a brave but inexperienced samurai who attempts to rescue the woman he loves from them. Readers of Cloud Atlas: A Novel and Ghostwritten won't be surprised by this abrupt shift of genre from realism to romanticism (and back again, through several iterations) but what served Cloud Atlas so well here feels contrived, muddled -- too realistic for "magical realism" -- there is a very careful attention to period detail throughout -- but too fantastical and haphazard for "historical fiction." Beyond this, there were a number of plot and character elements of the novel that were distracting. Many of the minor characters have been given elaborate back-stories, which tend to be revealed in ways that awkwardly interrupt the flow of the narrative. For instance, Van Cleef chooses a post-coital morning stretch on the roof of a brothel to tell the novel's hero, Jacob de Zoet, his entire life story. In a similar vein both Jacob and the novel's heroine, Aibagawa Orito, are noble, brave and self-sacrificing well beyond the point of implausibility. (I found the climactic scene between Jacob and Penhaligon unintentionally ridiculous.) Mitchell eschews the most obvious kinds of sentimentality -- the ending of the novel resonates powerfully in its emotional honesty -- but indulges in smaller instances throughout that jar. Would a samurai really feel any remorse about the loss of a life? Would an uptight, religious Dutch clerk really fall head over heels in love with a scarred women he'd hardly spoken to? Too, for the first time, Mitchell's stylistic quirks began to get on my nerves. As always, I found a great deal to admire in his style -- he brings 18th-century Nagasaki very vividly to life -- but certain Mitchellisms began to seem too predictable, mannered: his use of nouns as verbs; his choppy back-and-forthing between interior monologue and public utterance (as during the sermon on the frigate); his non-sequiturs for poetic effect (e.g. "This Nagasaki," notes Wren, "is an anchorage the equal of Port Mahon.." In clear water, a shoal of silver fish changes direction. "...a few modern placements would make it impregnable"). What seemed effortless panache in Cloud Atlas and Black Swan Green: A Novel here comes across as effortful. Enough griping. As I said at the outset, I enjoyed the novel despite its flaws, but I hope next time out Mitchell delivers a more consistent effort.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet works on multiple levels, as noted elsewhere here. My neighbor Roger Brunyate says that Mitchell writes small, medium, and large. I agree and think this can be even further defined as the individual characters, historical setting, and spiritual. I think we can also view the book through Aristotilian lenses, where the action (a very important word in this book) is the most important element, the characters second, and the thought (given the action and characters what is possible going forward) follows. I say action is important because in the Eastern philosophy of the awakened mind (Buddhism) action is translated as the Sanskrit karma and consists of three parts: 1) cause, 2) effect, 3) motivation. It is the third element that makes the action complete. So, the action of generosity is completed when the motivation is good - that is nothing is expected in return and there is no reluctance about the giving (think Jacob when he gifts the dictionary to Aibagawa and the subsequent repercussions). A reviewer here who unjustly denigrated their perception quite rightly noted that the actions of the characters came from within themselves. And that's a large part of the multifaceted brilliance of this book. Early on (p.115), Jacob is asked to define repercussions, and does so thusly: "a consequence; the result of an action. A repercussion..." And that's what this book is about: the repercussions of the characters' actions, and collectively (yes, there is collective karma) the actions of their peoples. The characters don't act in a void. As Shiroyama notes in his final go match against the Abbot, it seems as if the two have been pieces or puppets controlled by other forces, a possibility raised throughout the book. Mitchell doesn't conclusively address the issue, but the book leaves the impression it could be the energy and momentum these two have developed over their lives that is (they suffer the repercussions of their own actions - karma); or Mitchell holds out the vague possibility of some unnamed force of the world (fate?). The main action of the book is the the ends (repercussions) of the characters, especially the unity achieved between Jacob and Aibagawa. This is a special unity because he is a figure of wisdom (seeing the true nature of a phenomena by understanding the phenomena and how it is connected to other phenomena), as is Aibagawa. He is the masculine element, typically associated with the direct light of the sun (think about his hair) that dispels the darkness and illuminates. Masculine wisdom is intellectual and direct, such as when Jacob revealed the incriminating scroll directly to the magistrate, not through translators as is customary. Feminine wisdom - more intuitive - is associated with the reflected light of the moon, which illuminates all in a softer light that does not dispel the darkness. So, in that regard it is often regarded as more complete. It's worth noting here, Aibagawa is the one who connects all the dots and sees the whole picture at the end. It is she who sees how the chain of cause/effect has made her path possible and the role suffering played in it. This addresses, however briefly, the small and large of the book. On the medium level as Roger defined it, is the historical. Some readers here raised the issue of what they see as the inferior quality of Mitchell's historical recounting. I think that can be better understood if one considers a highly likely influence on Mitchell: The Autumn of the Middle Ages, by the Dutch historian Johan Huizinga, which was republished in 1997. Briefly, its import is that it is a breakthrough approach to viewing new eras by defining them in an examination of the decaying previous era, exactly the approach Mitchell takes in his book. (This also strikes me as a very feminine approach as detailed above.) So in that regard, Mitchell is examining the emergence of a new global era that conflates East & West. Perhaps the thing that most impresses me about this book is how close it comes to expressing the unity of Western dual thinking (a system of thought based on paradoxical poles - masculine and feminine, for instance) with Eastern nondual thinking (masculine and feminine are so connected that there is no inherent difference). Experts no less than Carl Gustave Jung and the Dalai Lama have unanimously held forth that ultimately the two schools of thought diverge. But Mitchell has produced a text that at least makes me wonder. Let me apologize for yammering on at such length. If some are interested in discussing this book further, I am greatly interested and I believe Amazon allows for such things.

An imagined life in late 18th early 19th century Dejima is evoked with great skill; ample references to literature from the time available to Dutch and Japanese create a culturally rich background and add a depth of realism to the story and characters. Actual events are skilfully woven into a suspense story that is highly readable and hard to put down. A truly entertaining read that stimulated this reader to read around the subject. It is easy to do this because Mitchell has thoughtfully provided a bibliography of the ample original sources he himself used, including Kaempfer's Japan and Tokugawa Culture Observed, Hendrick Doeff's Recollections of Japan and contemporary scholarship by Timon Screech. The illustrations are extremely useful and beautifully executed in a style which complements the period of the novel. The ghastly vampire-like cult of Enomoto seems reminiscent of the culture-gone-mad surrounding Somni 451 in Cloud Atlas. However, Somni 451's world, set in the future and an extrapolation of our current challenges with genetic research, seemed much more believable by comparison. It was disappointing that Mitchell, with his great skills, should have to depart so far from historical reality to evoke the sort of fear and dread that may have been abundant in feudal Japan in any case. This is a mere detail in a novel that works so well in all its other aspect, however. In all, the great plot, the wonderfully precise knowledge of the state of art at that time, related through Dr. Marinus's medical knowledge and Jacob de Zoet's accounting and religious knowledge, together with a well-researched historical setting in Edo period Nagasaki and an understanding of the workings of Japanese society, make this a quite extraordinary work. Undoubtedly, Mitchell's past achievement in Cloud Atlas pitch one's expectations too high.

I loved and adored The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet. This was another audiobook I rented from my local library. Despite how much I gushed my way through my first David Mitchell novel, I'm at a loss as to how to go about writing a review. There is so much that goes on and it's all inner-related. Unlike most of my reads, I actually took a fair amount of notes and I even highlighted quotes (will explain below). You would think that this would make for a rather good start. Well, I've been sitting with these notes for ages. Nothing's coming. So, I've decided I would just transpose my thoughts into a post of sorts: The Dutch, be they characters or references are everywhere! I am in heaven. My favorite Dutch-specific quote comes from Jacob De Zoet: Mercenaries are risky allies, as we Dutch know well. Now I think I'm going to adopt the catch phrase "As we Dutch know well" for myself. It could literally go anywhere, but I've yet had the opportunity to use it. I cannot wait for it. If I could give an Oscar for Best Supporting Character in a Book, it would go to Dr. Marinus. He is hilarious, a stand-up friend, and much more open-minded than he first appears. The first time he was introduced, I never in my life would have imagined the role he'd play in Miss Ibagowa's life. He has made me laugh out loud more than any other character. My favorite quote from Dr. Marinus came after Fischer, an Eastern European who does whatever he can to diminish De Zoet, tells the story of his war experience. It made me laugh Diet Coke out of my nose: "The passage where you ate the maggots," remarks Marinus, "rather over-egged the brûlée." There is one scene (which I will not divulge as it would be a spoiler) in which he made me so home sick for my best friends. It's good to know that I have Dr. Marinus' in my life. I just wish they weren't so far away. These villains are villainous! I can't say that I love to hate them, because there is nothing lovable about them. What I loved was the way it all played out in the end. Jonathan Aris is making listening to this audiobook that much more fun. The way he reads the asides and provides tone for the characters is outstanding. The English is very British and quite formal, but that doesn't bother me. Others on Twitter have abandoned the audiobook in favor of reading it in print though. David Mitchell's writing is genius! I loved it so much that I purchased the Kindle edition so I could reread sections again as I went along. There is so much going on in this book. I'll definitely need to reread it in the future. Jacob De Zoet you will forever have a place in my heart. It's interesting to see a glimpse the end of two eras - the Japanese and the Dutch. The Japanese have tried their best to keep Europeans from impacting their culture. That's nearly impossible to do. The Dutch empire is also waning. Jacob De Zoet's time in Japan, where he was marooned in Japan for maintaining his integrity is symbolic of the end of Dutch imperialism. Love, love, love how the story revealed the meaning of the novel's title. Perhaps most people already knew that, but I didn't. I don't want to spoil it here for those who are like me. It was a moment I'll never forget in the narrative. I suppose that pretty much captures my thoughts and feelings about this wonderful novel. I hope you take the opportunity to explore it for yourself.

So far I've written reviews about fantasy, science fiction and horror novels and novellas, but this time I'll write a short review about a historical novel, because The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is of exceptional quality and it contains a couple of slightly fantastical elements. At first I wasn't sure if I should write this review or not, because this novel isn't speculative fiction, but I decided to write it, because The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is a damn good novel (and I think that several fantasy readers will enjoy reading it). David Mitchell is an interesting author, because he writes different kind of books and he isn't afraid to blend different genres (for example, Cloud Atlas is a combination of mainstream fiction and science fiction). His new novel, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, is a successful and satisfying combination of love story and historical adventure. It's literary fiction at its best and it's David Mitchell's best book so far. David Mitchell spent four years working on this novel and it shows in the text: all the small details are accurate and believable, the story is intriguing and the prose is nuanced, eloquent and beautiful. It's almost amazing how beautifully the author creates a fascinating and stunning vision of Feudal Japan. By using historical details, exquisite worldbuilding and excellent characterization, he brings the story to life. Here's a few words about the plot and the characters: The events take place in Dejima (in Nagasaki Harbor) in 1799. The artificial island of Dejima is Japan's only window to the West. The main characters are Jacob de Zoet, a clerk and Orito Aibagawa, a midwife. Jacod de Zoet tries to earn his fortune in Dejima, but fate has different things in store for him, because he falls in love with Orito Aibagawa. Uzaemon Ogawa is also an important character, because he's an interpreter. The author writes fluently about the lives of Jacob de Zoet, Orito Aibagawa and Uzaemon Ogawa. He also writes fluently about political intrigue and dark cults (dark and mysterious cults add a slightly fantastical element to this novel). The author has divided this book into three parts: "The Bride for Whom We Dance", "A Mountain Fastness" and "The Master of Go". The first part tells how Jacob de Zoet arrives to Dejima, the second part tells what happens to Origo Aibagawa in the mountains and the third part tells how things end. Each part is different and together they form a solid novel. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet isn't a novel for hasty readers, because it's a complex and sophisticatedly written novel. It demands quite a lot from its reader, but it's worth reading, because it's a rewarding reading experience. If you like good prose and appreciate a gradually developing plot, you'll love this novel. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet was longlisted for the 2010 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, but unfortunately it wasn't selected to the shortlist. In my opinion this novel should've won the Booker Prize, because it's a fascinating and extremely well written historical novel. By the way, if somebody happens to wonder where the name of this book comes from, it's a reference to one of the native poetical names for Japan, The Land of a Thousand Autumns. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is one of the best historical novels I've ever read. It should be read by everybody, who's interested in history (and especially Japanese history). It can also be recommended to fantasy readers, because the second part of this novel reads almost like a fantasy book.

This was a complex and absorbonh tale. The book was well constructed and written. I enjoyed learning about the early dutch colony in Japan and the interation of the inhabitants of the colony with those of the authorities in Nagasaki and Japan..

I reread this on Kindle after giving away my paperback. It is even more wonderful second time, even when you know the end. Funny sad powerful but the most amazing thing is the detail in which this other world is painted. Truly marvellous.

Well written and well crafted tale set around 1800 in Nagasaki when the Dutch had a trading monopoly with the Japanese. Note there is a list of characters the back of the book that I did not find until I had finished it. Thoroughly recommend this yarn, a good page turner.

Wow. I had a wonderful time with this. Captivating characters, extreme situations, how will it all come out. Not a disappointing ending either.