Ghostwritten. David Mitchell.
From
Titus G@noone@nowhere.com to
rec.arts.sf.written on Tue Mar 3 17:24:35 2026
From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written
Ghostwritten. David Mitchell.
rCLThe act of memory is an act of ghostwriting.rCY
Each section of Ghostwritten is a short story but they have the common
theme of what is truth, how do we see our own reality, they paint vivid pictures of diverse characters, customs and history, the influence on motivations and beliefs from others whilst there is always at least a
tenuous link from one story to another like the granddaughter selling
favour in Hong Kong for the benefit of the family of the continuously
exploited simple grandma, 'owner' of the Tea Shack of Holy Mountain.
And, the presence of a "supernatural being".
Ghostwritten means that all the characters in these stories are not
architects of their own future, someone else is writing it, that they
are a creation of other forces especially chance. All the characters are manipulated or exploited in different ways.
The opening sentence of the first section, Okinawa, is, "Who was blowing
on the nape of my neck?".
The second last sentence of the last section, Underground, is, "Who is
blowing on the nape of my neck?".
I think that means that the rogue AI or supernatural being is having a
second attempt.
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