Looking for books like Cloud Atlas and Cloud Cuckoo Land.
Even something a bit like Pachinko (even though that's a generational story, but similar in structure in some ways!)
Something that spans worlds/generations/different viewpoints.
by bethtravis94
13 Comments
The Three Body Problem
Ghostwritten and the Bone Clocks, which are also by Mitchell
Well, you’ve got to read Ghostwritten by David Mitchell. I prefer it to Cloud Atlas. Same sort of thing. Possibly The Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel as well. Another good read, with shifting perspectives that are tied together.
What We Can Know by Ian McEwan
The Overstory has similar vibes to Cloud Cuckoo Land to me. I’ve been suggesting it to my wife because she loves Mitchell’s books.
I sound like a broken record, but North Woods by Daniel Mason. Different POVs throughout history taking place on the same piece of land. Some of them aren’t even people! Very beautifully written
Red Sorghum is light on the more magical elements of those titles but heavy on the cross generational exploration.
I have gotten more reader satisfaction from Mitchell over the years than any other contemporary novelist I can name. Sitting here trying to think of someone…
The Overstory by Richard Powers, Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides, The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
If you already love Sea of Tranquility you’ve probably read this, but I thought Station Eleven also did really interesting stuff with generational echoes.
Anything by David Mitchell
Try “Flesh” by David Szalay. It just won the Booker prize. I devoured it in one day.
How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell
I’ve not yet read it, but am looking forward to – A Line You Have Traced by Roisin Dunnett
Two novellas that do this well in shorter form:
Arboreality by Rebecca Campbell
Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck
And I second all the suggestions for North Woods, The Bone Clocks and Homegoing.