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  The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet (Hardback) By (author) David Mitchell

  Book rating: 05

  

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  Short Description for The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De ZoetThe exhilarating new novel by 'one of the most brilliantly inventive writers of this, or any country' - Boyd Tonkin, Independent.
  Full description

  • Publisher: Sceptre
  • Published: 13 May 2010
  • Format: Hardback 480 pages
  • See: Full bibliographic data
  • Categories: Contemporary Fiction
  • ISBN 13: 9780340921562 ISBN 10: 0340921560
  • Sales rank: 4,972

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Reviews for The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet

• â??The truth of a myth, Your Honour, is not in its words but its patterns.â??Book rating: 5

  This novel opens in 1799, on the island of Dejima in Nagasaki Bay, where the Dutch East India Company was the sole trading point between Europe and the isolationist Japanese. Young Dutch clerk Jacob de Zoet has been tasked with stamping out corruption.
  
  The Company desires me, sir, to be thorough in all things.'
  
  Dejima is a small island and is inhabited only by translators, prostitutes and traders. Access to mainland Japan is over a small fiercely guarded bridge. The Europeans resident on Dejima are isolated in every sense.
  Jacob de Zoet is drawn to Orito, a midwife who has found favour with Hiroshima's governor and has been permitted greater contact with the Europeans as a consequence. Orito is working with Dr Marinus, the resident physician. Jacob and Orito fall in love, but culture and politics keep them separated. Jacob falls out of favour with his superior, and Orito is sold to a shrine after her father dies. These separate events, and what follows, serve to underline the difference between two very different worlds.
  
  Details beget facts, and facts, judiciously sent forth, become assassins.'
  
  Meanwhile, world events are changing the balance of power between the Dutch and the British. This becomes clear when Captain John Penhaligon of the British Navy sails into Dejima with a view to dislodging the Dutch.
  
  Everything is happening too slow and too fast and all at once.'
  
  This is a wonderful work of fiction. The main stories are those of Jacob de Zoet and Orito and to a lesser extent John Penhaligon. While the underlying historical basis is solid, not all facts and dates are accurate. But it doesn't matter, not for this story. This novel has its own rules, and is enhanced by the rich detail in the writing. And the ending? I think it's best to read the novel to appreciate the context.
  
  Looking backwards, Jacob sees pages from the months and years ahead.'
  
  Jennifer Cameron-Smith by Jennifer Cameron-Smith

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