The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet
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1799, Dejima in Nagasaki Harbor. Jacob de Zoet, a devout and resourceful young clerk, has a chance encounter with Orito Aibagawa, the disfigured daughter of a samurai doctor and midwife to the city's powerful magistrate. The borders between propriety, profit, and pleasure blur until Jacob finds his vision
… More »1799, Dejima in Nagasaki Harbor. Jacob de Zoet, a devout and resourceful young clerk, has a chance encounter with Orito Aibagawa, the disfigured daughter of a samurai doctor and midwife to the city's powerful magistrate. The borders between propriety, profit, and pleasure blur until Jacob finds his vision clouded, one rash promise made and then fatefully broken--the consequences of which will extend beyond Jacob's worst imaginings.
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The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
Imagine an empire that has shut out the world for a century and a half. No one can leave, foreigners are excluded, their religions banned and their ideas deeply mistrusted. Yet a narrow window onto this nation-fortress still exists: an artificial walled island connected to a mainland port, and manned by a handful of European traders. And locked as the land-gate may be, it cannot prevent the meeting of minds -- or hearts. The nation was Japan, the port was Nagasaki and the island was Dejima, to where David Mitchell's panoramic novel transports us in the year 1799. For one Dutch clerk, Jacob de Zoet, a dark adventure of duplicity, love, guilt, faith and murder is about to begin -- and all the while, unbeknownst to him and his feuding compatriots, the axis of global power is turning...
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Add a CommentThis man is a genius. "Her smile was both nettle and dock leaf." Aaigh!!!
A bit rambling at times but overall an excellent piece of historical fiction.
Historical fiction - 1799 in Dejima, Japan's single port. The Dutch East Indies Company ship has sailed in to trade bringing clerk Jacob De Zoet. I found this well written but a little dry.
Historical fiction, well-written. Not as engaging as Cloud Atlas , or Ghostwritten. You do learn something about the introduction of western culture into insular Japan, and there is an element of mystical fantasy in the section about the weird monastery.
Yes, it slows down in the middle (and takes its time getting started, too), but once it gets revved up, you won't be able to put it down. Brilliant, really. The best historical novel I've read in years (including Wolf Hall, which was first-rate).
Sly wit throughout. Self-examination, self-reflection, without taking itself too seriously! Quite rare. Well researched, fanciful, imaginative. A rare book. I loved it.
I loved the writing in this book. I found the pacing of it to be a little uneven, but was captivated by the setting of the story nonetheless. The ending was a little disappointing... Overall, worth reading.
loved what i read but got bogged down in the details and skipped the middle
I had trouble getting into this book at first, but I persisted and ended up loving it. Towards the end, it was so suspenseful and involving that I couldn't put it down.
I gave up and I tried... I really did, but I could not get into this book AT ALL. What a shame, I was so looking forward to reading it.