Thoughts and Sentiments on Cloud Atlas; the Novel and the Movie by Mathias Orhero

It is without doubt that #CloudAtlas by David Mitchell is the most philosophical book and movie I've ever read and seen in my life up till this very moment and in my opinion, the most ambitious work ever produced by any author and director. This piece of art makes me wonder the limits the human imagination can truly go in creating artistic masterpieces that touches something, deep down, in every man regardless of culture and race. As a philosophical piece, there are some witty quips that attempts to exposit the nature of man and the universe. Some of them which I find memorable include: "Truth is Singular, its versions are mistruths", ". The nature of our immortal lives is in the consequences of our words and deeds that go on apportioning themselves throughout all time. Our lives are not our own; from womb to tomb, we are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness we birth our future", "To be is to be perceived","If God created the world, how do we know what things we can change and what things must remain sacred and inviolable?", "There is a natural order to this world, and those who try to upend it do not fare well","Belief, like fear or love, is a force to be understood as we understand the theory of relativity, and principles of uncertainty. Phenomena that determine the course of our lives. Yesterday, my life was headed in one direction. Today, it is headed in another. Yesterday, I believe I would never have done what I did today. These forces that often remake time and space, they can shape and alter who we imagine ourselves to be, begin long before we are born, and continue after we perish. Our lives and our choices, like quantum trajectories, are understood moment to moment, at each point of intersection, each encounter, suggest a new potential direction", "this world spins from the same unseen forces that twist our hearts", "death is only a door, when it closes, another opens".

Without delving too far and too much on philosophical quotes that unravel existence and its nature in ways never before witnessed by myself in any work of fiction, I find it imperative to touch on other parts of this work that makes it truly a masterpiece. Firstly, it is important to note that I have seen and read this work more than uncountable times already. This is a big deal for me because I rarely read a book twice! Once read, it converts itself into my neural archives and can be recalled when needed. However, re-viewing what is already stored shows that the work is an artistic masterpiece unrivalled.

Through the use of Modernist and Post-Modernist literary techniques as well as innovative cues, the work explores the stream of consciousness of various characters as they re-incarnated in various times of human existence which spans from the late 19th Century to a Post-Apocalyptic future. These characters explore the various archetypes of human beings. We have Mr. Ewing, the repentant slave business-man who is saved by a self-freed slave, Autua. There is Tom Hanks, an actor who reprises various roles as a misanthrope who eventually finds redemption in a moment of kindness. There is Robert Frobisher, a queer Musician who commits suicide, Halle Berry reprises the roles of a Slave, an adulterous wife, a journalist, and most importantly, a futuristic scientist that helps a Valleyman and connects her kind with the remainder of the human race. Sonmi is a character I love the most. She is deified and her words form 70% of the philosophical nature of this work. Mr. Cavendish is a Briton who is caught in a comedy of errors. Through this usage of characters in a complexly woven narrative, the author echoes the issue of reincarnation, karma, the nature of evil and good and human existence.

The Wachowskis, who had earlier produced an existential masterpiece called The Matrix, also co-produced the motion picture of Cloud Atlas. It comes as no surprise that the movie is unrivalled in originality of sound track, quality and cast. David Mitchell has created a work that should be canonised with the best the world has yet produced.

Far from being a critique or even an appraisal, this write up is a personal confirmation of the high emotions this piece tingled in me. Each time I sit to read the book or watch the three hours motion picture, I learn something new about human existence; why we are here; our purpose; the nature of being; our past and future. These are answers that even most Religious movements have no answer to. If this book was to be the basis of a new religion, I would become the first Priest. #CloudAtlas is a piece every philosophically and mystically inclined rational being must read or see.


-Mathias Orhero, a literary critic and scholar, writes from Warri, Delta State.
Source:https://www.facebook.com/mr.mathy/posts/10204730677974358

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