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brianreynolds
Jul 29, 2011brianreynolds rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Some reviews (and the cover blurb) take pains trying to find a genre niche for David Mitchell's second novel. One could consider shelving it next to Don Quixote, imho. number9dream reads primarily like a quest. Eiji Miyake is not only focused on the Holy Grail of an absent parent, but on the tightrope that separates reality from dream, from wish or the surrealism of contemporary urban society, quests that may be particularly poignant to youth. Eiji's search is frantic. He, a fragile 19 year old with little education or athletic prowess from an unsophisticated village, fares well in the company of heroes like James Bond or Indiana Jones. Mitchell can tell a story. He can also deal with complexity. But he writes with a clarity and sense of timing that makes sense out of chaos and grips my attention in spite of its exotic and intricate track across places I have never seen.