<p>I think of an atlas as a collection … “A book of illustrations or diagrams on any subject” … even looking back to the word’s origin: “1580–90 in sense ‘prop, support’; as name for a collection of maps, said to be from illustrations of Atlas supporting the globe in early books of this kind.” </p>
<p>(I know some of you applied musical terms to the structure of the book. Certainly, Frobisher’s letters hinted at that. Me … having no musical background whatsoever, I always viewed the book as an atlas of sorts … a collection of tales, linked … not restricted by the boundaries of time or place … ephemeral, like clouds/people’s lives.</p>
<p>NJTM, psychmom and ignatius, these are such thoughtful analyses…and they all complement each other: Clouds are the same everywhere in the world, but there is an endless variety in how they change shapes. </p>
<p>And as Timothy Cavendish reminds us, it’s the How, not the What.</p>
<p>Did anyone else see Tom Hanks on Good Morning America this morning? First, Elizabeth Vargas raved about the movie. </p>
<p>But, the newsworthy and very funny moment happened when Tom Hanks was asked to speak in character, and he got carried away. He was so humbled and embarrassed it was very amusing.
Not sure this segment shows the entire interview, which I’m sure you’ll all enjoy. </p>
<p>Another of those linkages:
As well, Ayrs’ physician is a Dr. ** Egret **, which may be a reference/meant to coincide with **Dr. Goose ** in the Adam Ewing narrative.</p>
<p>That Tom Hanks clip from Good Morning America is great. </p>
<p>Down at the bottom of the webpage the clip is on are stills from the movie, some of which I hadn’t seen. I just realized that Joe Napier is being played by the African American actor Keith David. I like that!</p>
<p>When asked about how the movie version differs from the book----</p>
<p>"There is one brief scene where the directors continue a characters story arc further than I imagined, in the case of Cavendish. This extension feels so right that Ive incorporated it into the book Im working on, making it canonical so to speak. Heres hoping the Wachowskis wont object. ". . .</p>
<p>Copied post from editorial eyes- I don’t think these points were discussed so sharing " Erin’s comments".</p>
<p>Erin on October 20, 2012 at 1:33 am
I dont recall if its been mentioned yet, but I felt that all three of Zachrys augurins were echoed in other stories. The most obvious one is here in Letters part 2, when Frobisher feels a jamais vu as he briefly considers slitting Ayrs throat as Ayrs lies sleeping (let his throat be not slit).</p>
<p>The first augurin, let that rope be not cut, is (somewhat loosely) paralleled in part 1 of Adam Ewings journal. Adam Ewing finds Autua hiding under the coil of rope in his room, but does not cut the rope, i.e. he does to betray Autua and is later glad of it just as Zachry was.</p>
<p>The third augurin, let that bridge be not crossed, is echoed in Half Lives part 1 when Joe Napier tries to catch Luisa in the parking lot, right after Isaac calls her about Garcia. Je intends to help Luisa, but she ignores him and leaves anyway, crossing the Swanekke Bridge which is of course where Bill Smoke catches her.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for this readalong! Really enjoy following and cant wait to see the film.</p>
<p>That’s a great find about the echoes of the augurins, SJCM! This is what I liked so much about this book–we keep finding more and more in it.</p>
<p>I liked everyone’s observations on the title. I think of “Cloud Atlas” as an oxymoron–how can you create an “atlas” of something that is so hard to fix in time and place? And in the same way, how can you get at the “truth” of a story when it is continually retold and reworked by different people in different formats (and different time periods)?</p>
<p>Tom Hanks was on David Letterman last night, with the clip where Dermot Hoggins throws the book critic out the window.</p>
<p>The NY Times review was great fun to read, even though it was mixed. The reviewer referred to the structure of the book (as opposed to the movie) as a “turducken”!</p>
<p>I saw it this afternoon. A few quick observations:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>It’s hard to understand what people are saying in the Sloosha’s Crossing parts. I agree with one of the reviewers above who stated that it is the weakest part of the movie. </p></li>
<li><p>Jim Broadbent, who played Cavendish and Ayrs, was just fantastic…a delight in every scene he was in. Because of him (and Tom Tykwer’s direction), the Cavendish sequences were perhaps the most enjoyable in the movie.</p></li>
<li><p>There were too many non-Asian actors made up to look Asian. It was distracting.</p></li>
<li><p>Watch for a hilarious scene (not in the book) involving a younger version of Cavendish…and a cat.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>A couple of member reviewers on Netflix have given the movie 5 stars without having seen it… based on the trailer alone! One of these people invited folks to join their new facebook group called “The Cloud Atlastrailer changed my life.” </p>
<p>I think the movie is going to turn out to be a cult classic.</p>
Planning to try to see it today.</p>