Book Review - The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell

Mr Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas" is a book that made quite an impression on me a few years back. Framed in an unusual structure, it is in essence six novellas that form a very satisfying whole. Prior to reading "The Bone Clocks", "Atlas" had been the only other Mitchell book I had read. With "Bone Clocks" Mitchell once again uses a structure of six interconnected stories, each written in a different style, with one recurring character, and two of the stories told in that character's voice.
Without spoiling much, the book revolves around two groups of "immortals" waging a centuries old battle, with at least one side moving through the ages by having their souls inhabit different people as they progress. The author uses that format to express some opinions about world politics, specifically different aspects of Middle-East flash-points such as the American presence in Iraq or the Israeli Palestinian conflict among others.
Mitchell also made the unusual decision to take a character from his previous novel, 2010's historical novel "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet" and make him/her a central figure in "Clocks". Reading "Thousand Autumns" before "Clocks" is not necessarily a pre-requisite, the book stands perfectly on its own, but I'll probably be joining the numerous readers who will now have to discover that connection in the wrong order. To some extent it is similar to Neal Stephenson's use of recurring named characters in his "Cryptonomicon" and "The Baroque Cycle". Not reading one should not affect enjoying the other.
Personally I didn't enjoy "Clocks" as much as I had "Atlas". The satisfaction in "Atlas" comes from the completeness of that work, the way everything ties together so perfectly. The joy in reading "The Bone Clocks" lies more in the parts, the individual novellas, than in the whole: appreciating the individual styles, the humour in one, the drama and metaphysical aspects in the next. Mitchell is a skilful writer and seems to have a good time trying out different story-telling forms, sometimes to the detriment of the book as a self-contained novel.

TV Review - The Leftovers: Season 1

This HBO show is difficult to pin down. Part magic realism, part commentary on modern society,  a study of painful loss and existentialism, it is all these things and so much more. Based on a novel by Tom Perrotta (which I have not read) and counting among its show-runners Damon Lindelof, one hopes the creators won't leave us "Lost" when all is said and done (like they've been known to do). This show aims for "big moments" and actually manages to hit them more often than not. HBO definitely took a chance on this one, all to the benefit of us viewers. 

On one fateful October 14, 140 million people, two percent of the earth's population, simultaneously disappear from the planet. Why they were chosen, where they went, what it all means, those are some of the questions their loved ones are left to deal with. As the series kicks off, we are three years after the "departure". The story focuses on events taking place in a fictional town, Mapleton NY. One of the main plot twists revolves around a nihilistic cult, the Guilty Remnants, whose members smoke incessantly and have adopted some sort of vow of silence. Their motives are not clear, and yet they seem to be well funded and have a strong sense of purpose (despite said nihilism). 

Personally I found this show to be exceptional and compelling. The cast is phenomenal, the music unsettling. It does not make for easy viewing and yet I can't wait for season two to begin. Season one seems to have pretty much covered the story of the novel, and the next season will be entirely original material written for HBO. One more well earned feather in their cap.

Benefiting From Banks

Talk about a symbiotic relationship: Apple benefits from banks getting in on the Apple Pay game which in return benefits those same banks. Now that sort of relationship might just create its own momentum and spin things up to an even higher level. 

Here is Bank Of America's contribution, though others including Wells Fargo, Citibank and Chase have their own campaigns going. Hopefully we'll see the service pretty soon outside the U.S. as well. 

The Watch Maven's Dilemma

Hard core mechanical watch aficionados are facing quite a choice with the advent of "smart watches" or "wearables": on the one hand they would want to keep up with the latest trends in "smart anything", and with the Apple Watch due out soon chances are the next big thing in "smart" will be worn on one's wrist, yet at the same time they wouldn't want to give up on their love and fascination of all things mechanical. What is one to do ? The first answer for what may be a new trend comes to us from luxury good makers Montblanc. Rather than give up on the mechanical time piece, this one gets complemented by a smart band attached to the watch and said band would communicate with a smartphone pretty much the way other such products by Jawbone or Fitbit do.

Looking at this example I have to imagine that there will be quite a lot of trial and error before luxury goods makers find the right solution (this one requires wearers to twist their wrists to get to the data) but we might see some creative ideas spring up from luxury good makers over the coming months and this is definitely a space worth watching.