So I just finished Cloud Atlas which is highly rated by many as being so original with its 'nested' story style. That annoyed some people but others loved it. Neither here nor there for me. I liked the stories and would give it a solid 3.5/5. I expected it to be better based on reputation and recommendations but I guess I was a little disappointed that it didn't really tie in together like I was expecting. Anyway all that is beside the point of my post.
I found a number of what I thought were errors in the book, but was wondering if any of these were deliberate or part of the story. Anyway my list:
1. In the Luisa del Rey story (first story) she gets into a lift (or elevator can't recall) and it says she presses the button for the "ground floor" but she's in California and in the US there is only ever a "first floor".
2. In the Sonmi-451 story (first story) there is this odd futuristic spelling used which is never explained (or should I say "xplained") where there are lots of words that start with 'ex' but in this world the 'e' is dropped. One of these was missed as I saw a word like 'exit' where the 'e' was retained. Not important of course. Throughout all instances of 'ight' are changed to 'ite' with the exception of 'sight' – I assume because then it becomes a different word – 'site' whereas 'britely' can't be mistaken.
3. In the Luisa del Rey story (second story) there's an explosion in the bank and it clearly says "Luisa tries to pull herself away but her right leg has been blown off" which sounds pretty physically devastating. I re-read it multiple times to check. On the next page Napier asks her if she can walk and she says "I can run" and no injury is mentioned again.
I know there were a few more but I've forgotten them for now. I appreciate mistakes can creep in if it's an early edition but this version has the movie cover so it's about a decade after it was first published.
Anyway what do you think? Regarding other books I mean. Any comment on Cloud Atlas also appreciated.
by imapassenger1
3 Comments
Yes, errors take me out of focus and I definitely judge the author/editor probably too harshly. Just being honest.
Plenty of buildings/elevators in the US label the 1st floor as G or L. I wouldn’t think anything odd reading that.
1. I don’t think that’s true? I feel like I’ve been in a ton of elevators in the States that have a ground floor button. Or labeled as g or gr.
2. The point of the removal of e and some of the simpler spellings is to show the evolution of language and how a lot of letters that don’t technically contribute to the comprehension of the word have been removed/altered. E wouldn’t be removed in exit because it would confuse the word; unless you spelled it x-it, you’d likely read the word as ‘zit’ and have to reread the sentence to clarify meaning.