History Literature / CloudAtlas

* CloningBlues: Various types of fabricants are mass-produced to perform all sorts of tasks in Sonmi's era. As a result, human society has become dependent on the fabricants never questioning their lot in life. Indeed, fabricants are created specifically to be incapable of questioning their lot. How and why Sonmi (and her predecessor and friend Yoona) are different is an important plot point.

* InterchangeableAsianCultures: Nea So Copros is a corruption of '''N'''ew '''E'''ast '''As'''ian ('''S'''phere '''o'''f) '''Co-Pros'''perity. It is named after the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, which is Imperial Japan's attempt to establish a pan-Asian union.

* InterchangeableAsianCultures: Nea So Copros is a corruption of ''N''ew ''E''ast ''As''ian (''S''phere ''o''f) ''Co-Pros''perity. It is named after the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, which is Imperial Japan's attempt to establish a pan-Asian union.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Did it strike you as unrealistic that the people of Nea So Copros refer to shoes as "nikes", to electronic devices as "sonys", and to movies as "disneys"? Well, have ''you'' ever instinctively referred to a stick of lip balm as "chapstick", to a tissue as a "kleenex", or to an adhesive bandage as a "bandaid"? All three of those common words are actually brand names ("[=ChapStick=]", "Kleenex", and "Band-Aid") that have become widely accepted terms for everyday items. As bizarre as it might sound, there ''is'' [[BrandNameTakeover precedent for brand names becoming recognized words in vernacular languages]], and the novel accurately shows that phenomenon in action.

The third novel by Creator/{{David Mitchell|Author}} ({{n|amesTheSame}}o, not ''Series/{{that|MitchellAndWebbLook}}'' [[Creator/DavidMitchellActor one]]), ''Cloud Atlas'' is a sweeping epic that connects wildly different genres and writing styles into a single narrative. The novel consists of six nested stories, each set in a different place and era, moving forwards in time from the 19th century all the way to the [[AfterTheEnd future]]. Each story and style is a {{pastiche}} of the most recognisable examples of the genre (which the characters swiftly realise and comment on), and lovingly combines old clichés with new twists. A comet-shaped birthmark appears in each story, generally on the protagonist, and the characters often recognize names, places, and experiences from other stories. In order of introduction, the six stories are:

** "I will not be subjected to criminal abuse!"

* BattleaxeNurse: A scary one runs the nursing home where Cavendish is confined.
%%* BavarianFireDrill: Involving the BarBrawl above (also see ViolentGlaswegian below).

* GreatOffscreenWar: ''An Orison of Sonmi~451''’s Skirmishes.
%%* GunKata

* {{Reincarnation}}: A recurring theme in the novel (though it is left ambiguous whether it is real). Also an explicit belief of the Valleysmen in ''Sloosha’s Crossin’ an’ Ev'rythin’ After'', of the Buddhists in Sonmi's era and of the Moriori. Luisa doesn't believe in it at all.
%%* RedemptionEqualsDeath

* StopOrIWillShoot: “[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill Excessive force authorised.]]”
%%* StraightGay: Rufus Sixsmith

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: It features six stories that take place in six different periods of time, each with its own principal cast. Needless to say, it ends up being quite a lot.

* {{Diary}}: ''The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing'' is written this way, although Frobisher notes it's a bit ''too'' well-structured to be a real journal.

* ManipulativeBastard: Frobisher, very much so. [[NotSoDifferent As is Ayrs.]]

* NoPaperFuture: 2144. The Fabricants thought a book was a broken computer, and where surprised to inside find "[[Literature/{{Cinderella}} the grimy server serving three ugly sisters]]; [[Literature/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs seven stunted fabricants carrying bizarre cutlery behind a shining girl]]; [[Literature/HanselAndGretel a house built of candy]]".

* LiteraryAgentHypothesis: Played with. Despite the characters apparently being reincarnations or something similar of each other, some of the stories are presented as fiction when they appear in another story. Lampshaded by Frobisher, who points out to Sixsmith in his letters that ''The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing'' feels a bit too well-structured to be a true diary. The logical overlap between the lives of Rey and Cavendish only makes things more confusing. The novel lampshades this when Cavendish outright rejects the idea of his birthmark being similar to a comet.

The third novel by Creator/{{David Mitchell|Author}} ({{n|amesTheSame}}o, not ''Series/{{that|MitchellAndWebbLook}}'' [[Creator/DavidMitchellActor one]]), ''Cloud Atlas'' is a sweeping epic that connects wildly different genres and writing styles into a single narrative. The novel consists of six nested stories, each set in a different place and era, moving forwards in time from the 19th century all the way to the [[future AfterTheEnd]]. Each story and style is a {{pastiche}} of the most recognisable examples of the genre (which the characters swiftly realise and comment on), and lovingly combines old clichés with new twists. A comet-shaped birthmark appears in each story, generally on the protagonist, and the characters often recognize names, places, and experiences from other stories. In order of introduction, the six stories are:

The third novel by Creator/{{David Mitchell|Author}} ({{n|amesTheSame}}o, not ''Series/{{that|MitchellAndWebbLook}}'' [[Creator/DavidMitchellActor one]]), ''Cloud Atlas'' is a sweeping epic that connects wildly different genres and writing styles into a single narrative. The novel consists of six nested stories, each set in a different place and era, moving forwards in time from the 19th century all the way to the future AfterTheEnd. Each story and style is a {{pastiche}} of the most recognisable examples of the genre (which the characters swiftly realise and comment on), and lovingly combines old clichés with new twists. A comet-shaped birthmark appears in each story, generally on the protagonist, and the characters often recognize names, places, and experiences from other stories. In order of introduction, the six stories are:

The third novel by Creator/{{David Mitchell|Author}} ({{n|amesTheSame}}o, not ''Series/{{that|MitchellAndWebbLook}}'' [[Creator/DavidMitchellActor one]]), Cloud Atlas is a sweeping epic that connects wildly different genres and writing styles into a single narrative. The novel consists of six nested stories, each set in a different place and era, moving forwards in time from the 19th century all the way to the future AfterTheEnd. Each story and style is a {{pastiche}} of the most recognisable examples of the genre (which the characters swiftly realise and comment on), and lovingly combines old clichés with new twists. A comet-shaped birthmark appears in each story, generally on the protagonist, and the characters often recognize names, places, and experiences from other stories. In order of introduction, the six stories are:

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/58d11e1c90dad.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[-"What is any ocean but a multitude of drops?"-]]]

The [[Film/CloudAtlas film version]] -- which is a gorgeous PragmaticAdaptation, with some of the storylines significantly altered -- is written and directed by Tom Tykwer, the director of ''Film/RunLolaRun'' and ''Literature/{{Perfume}}'', and the [[Film/TheMatrix Wachowski siblings]]. The AllStarCast includes Creator/TomHanks, Creator/HalleBerry, Creator/KeithDavid, Creator/HugoWeaving, Creator/SusanSarandon, Creator/HughGrant, Creator/BenWhishaw and many others. It was released in October 2012.

* BioPunk: The Sonmi section takes place in a future setting where humanity is heavily genetically engineered, UterineReplicator{{s}} are common, and clones perform most unwanted tasks. It's a dystopia, and the biotech in the story is used to enhance the power of the corporate hierarchy that makes the world a dystopia.

!This book contains examples of the following tropes:

* {{Pastiche}}: Every story. Most notable in Sonmi's chapters.

* DoorStopper: The hardcover stands for 528 pages long.

->''“Souls cross ages like clouds cross skies, an’ tho’ a cloud’s shape nor hue nor size don’t stay the same, it’s still a cloud an’ so is a soul. Who can say where the cloud’s blowed from or who the soul’ll be ’morrow? Only Sonmi the east an’ the west an’ the compass an’ the atlas, yay, only the atlas o’ clouds.”''

* DownerEnding: Zachry's tale ends with the extinction of all free tribes on the Big Island, the Kona expanding across the Hawaiian archipelago, and the collapse of the last advanced civilization on Earth. It's implied that the reason the novel doesn't continue further into the future of the human race is because there ''isn't'' any future for it to probe. The only thing that saves the entire book from being an example of this is that after his story concludes, the NestedStory moves back in time and shows that [[BittersweetEnding despite its faults and failings, humanity perseveres]].

** In Adam Ewing's storyline, [[spoiler: Rafael]], after [[spoiler: being repeatedly raped by the First Mate and his goons]].

* FramingDevice: Adam Ewing's story was documented in his journal, which is being read by Robert Frobisher, whose story is in turn unfolding in letters he writes to his lover Rufus Sixsmith. Sixsmith is also a character in Luisa Rey's story, the events of which are packaged into a novel and are being read by Timothy Cavendish. A film based on his shenanigans is eventually made, which Sonmi-451 watches. Sonmi tells her own story in the interview leading up to her execution, which is viewed by Zachry and the rest of the characters of ''Sloosha’s Crossin’''.

* FunetikAksent: Zachry's narration.

** The humans of Zachry's era developed their own future slang as well, though it's more primitive.
* GenreBusting / GenreRoulette: Each story is a completely different genre and written in a different format, from letters to semi-screenplay to interview transcription. Genres include PeriodDrama, HistoricalFiction, {{Cyberpunk}}, FilmNoir, {{Adventure}}, {{Satire}}, {{Comedy}}, {{Dystopia}}, ScienceFantasy, SpaceOpera, RomanticComedy, {{Romance}}, SpyFiction, MysteryFiction, {{Tragedy}}, MagicalRealism, and about [[{{Troperiffic}} everything inbetween]].

* GentleGiant: Wing the disasterman, who stands almost ten feet tall and was genomed to clean up disasters. He's kind to Sonmi and carries her up to the roof to see the sights.