The Cloud Atlas

I wasn't particularly interested in reading this title, but I am presenting Liam Callanan's second book All Saints at a workshop so I felt that I needed to be conversant with The Cloud Atlas as well. As it turns out both books are amazing and Liam Callanan is certainly a writer to watch.

In one of the strangest episodes of World War II, the Japanese created rice paper balloons with bombs attached, which often reached the shores of North America and sometimes detonated and sometimes did not. Thrust into these events, 18-year old Sergeant Belk is seduced by the mysteries and secrets of Alaska. He falls under the spell of Lily, a Yup'ik Eskimo woman and her lover, who is also his Superior Officer.

As in All Saints the story travels backwards and forwards in time seamlessly. The 18 year old boy is now a Catholic Priest looking back over his life. Perhaps the book is his final confession.

NOTE: Not to be confused with David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas.

And now for something completely different. . .

All Saints by Liam Callanan is his sophomore book having created a stir with The Cloud Atlas, which was compared to Ondaatje's The English Patient. I am not familiar with either.

All Saints, is a Catholic High School located on the Pacific ocean in Newport Beach, California. It should be paradise. The author weaves in stories of saints, which are interesting whether you are Catholic or not.

My first impulse was to associate with the narrator, theology teacher Emily Hamilton, because our private thoughts are often not what others would expect from us and she is fascinating. After finishing the book, I grew more and more appalled at her character and how the author allowed Emily to draw us in as she did those who attempted to love her. Emily's self absorption and lack of control results in unfortunate endings for a number of people who make the mistake of reaching out to her. A disturbing and cautionary story.