50) Slade House by David Mitchell
I’ve been a big David Mitchell fan for a while, particularly hooked by his early Japan-based books Ghostwritten & number9dream. I loved Cloud Atlas and Black Swan Green too. So I approached this with high expectations and it didn’t disappoint. It’s one of his most purely readable, fun and inventive books, with a dash of ghoulish horror and time-travelling whimsy for good measure. As with many of his books, there’s a structure of interlocking stories (or mini-novellas really) which finally come together in the final part.
It’s hugely entertaining stuff, and there are countless references and sly nods to both Mitchell’s own books and to other films and literature. It all seems quite effortless on the surface, and there is a sense here of an author really letting themselves have fun with genre, characters, plot and comedy here (much of it is very funny too). Lovely stuff; brilliant writer.
Score: 9/10
Dog-eared Man: a book a week 