Black Swan Green

So I've been reading quite a lot to keep up with my 52 Book Challenge, and one of the books I've recently read was Black Swan Green by David Michell. Now I may not have written all that much about him here, but David Mitchell (not to be confused with the comedian of the same name) is one of my favourite authors.
As with most of my favourite authors, I first read his most well-known novel, Cloud Atlas, because you have to start somewhere, and if lots of people are saying a book is great, you start to believe them. And it is great, beautifully written, very intricate, with seven different 'layers' of story all interweaving into one big saga. Most people know the novel, or the film, which was less good but still nice. Then I read The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, which is about a Dutchman living in Decima in Japan. This novel doesn't have the whole 'separate stories making up one bigger story', but that is a good thing, because it lets you focus on how great the actual writing is. The sentences are very well-constructed, with lots of imagery and metaphor; it is almost poetic. Which meant that I'd become hooked, and that I had to read his three earlier novels too, while waiting for a new one to come out.
His 'earlier' novels, before he became really famous for Cloud Atlas, are Ghostwritten, number9dream, and Black Swan Green, and I read them in that order (although Black Swan Green was published after Cloud Atlas, it never go the same amount of attention, weirdly enough). I've done the same with Ian McEwan's novels after 'discovering' him with Atonement and Saturday, and I think this is a great way to get to know an author, see how they've developed with regards to themes and characters, but also the things that really show their style, who they are as an author. Ghostwritten follows a slightly similar pattern as Cloud Atlas, only less complicated and well-developed: it travels through various countries and characters in various chapters, as the protagonist 'moves' through different people. You can definitely see his style as an author and his way of combining different stories into one, and the mystical elements that become part of all of his novels, but this is clearly a 'first novel'. Then in number9dream and Black Swan Green, we follow the live of a young, teenage male protagonist during a difficult period in their lives. number9dream is set in Japan, and it is a coming-of-age story in which a boy searches for his long-lost father, getting further entrenched in the Japanese underground world. In this novel, there a strong sense of imagination; some scenes don't really happen, but just take place inside the head of the main character as he ponders his options. It is sometimes confusing to read, but very nicely done, and it keeps you as a reader on your toes.
And then there is Black Swan Green. In this, we follow 13-year-old Jason for one year, from January to December 1982, and experience one (or sometimes several) day of each month through his eyes. The chapters begin and end quite suddenly, so you sometimes don't really know what happend until someone mentions something in a later chapter, and some things you never really find out. Which is okay, because again the writing is some of the most beautiful I've ever written (Jason is a poet, after all) and the scenes just take on a magical atmosphere of their own. What happens, really, is nothing out of the ordinary for a 13-year-old in the early 1980s, but because of Mitchell's style, it becomes almost fairytale-like to read. Also, I've just found out that it's semi-autobiographical, which gives it a whole extra layer of complexity. In all, I think Black Swan Green may be my favourite Mitchell novel, even ahead of Cloud Atlas.
So Mitchell is great with his (written) language, and his characters are very well-rounded and deep, and his plots are amazing (even when nothing really happens, which is a lot of the time). But there is one final thing that makes his novels so interesting to read; they are all interconnected. Where Marvel has its Marvel Cinematic Universe, with all of their super-hero movies combined into one larger story, so all of Mitchell's novels are also connected. Characters from one novel appear in another, or are referenced to, or there are other connections that you only see when you've read the novels quite carefully. For example, take Mrs. Crommelynck, who teaches Jason about poetry in Black Swan Green. She mentions she is the daughter of a famous composer from Belgium, whose last sextet was actually written by a young man named Frobisher. This sextet, and the character of Frobisher, form a very important part of Cloud Atlas. Then there is the song '#9 Dream' by John Lennon, played in Black Swan Green, but obviously a reference to number9dream. Several other characters, including classmates and teachers of Jason, appear in other novels or short stories by David Mitchell. So all in all, you get the feeling that not only some of his novels consist of several smaller stories making up one bigger story; no, all of his novels combined make up one large David Mitchell universe, with some things actually taking place in this place and time, and some in mysterious pasts, unknown futures, or mystical 'other' worlds very similar to our own. He does count on his readers to be intelligent, attentive, and amazed. Although the novels are just as nice without seeing the connections, it just adds another layer of brilliance.
Luckily for me, his newest novel The Bone Clocks is out already, and waiting on my 'to read' pile (and another novel, Slade House, is said to come out this year). But as with all great writers, I have to take a little break with some other, lighter novels, before I can dive into one of his intricate and beautiful stories again. It is an experience you can't get enough of, but one you should take in small, measured quantities, or all other novels will seem unoriginal, unintelligent, and uninspired by comparison.