The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet: A Novel
By the New York Times bestselling author of The Bone Clocks and Cloud Atlas | Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize
In 2007, Time magazine named him one of the most influential novelists in the world. He has twice been short-listed for the Man Booker Prize. The New York Times Book Review called him simply “a genius.” Now David Mitchell lends fresh credence to The Guardian’s claim that “each of his books seems entirely different from that which preceded it.” The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is a stunning departure for this brilliant, restless, and wildly ambitious author, a giant leap forward by even his own high standards. A bold and epic novel of a rarely visited point in history, it is a work as exquisitely rendered as it is irresistibly readable.
The year is 1799, the place Dejima in Nagasaki Harbor, the “high-walled, fan-shaped artificial island” that is the Japanese Empire’s single port and sole window onto the world, designed to keep the West at bay; the farthest outpost of the war-ravaged Dutch East Indies Company; and a de facto prison for the dozen foreigners permitted to live and work there. To this place of devious merchants, deceitful interpreters, costly courtesans, earthquakes, and typhoons comes Jacob de Zoet, a devout and resourceful young clerk who has five years in the East to earn a fortune of sufficient size to win the hand of his wealthy fiancée back in Holland.
But Jacob’s original intentions are eclipsed after a chance encounter with Orito Aibagawa, the disfigured daughter of a samurai doctor and midwife to the city’s powerful magistrate. The borders between propriety, profit, and pleasure blur until Jacob finds his vision clouded, one rash promise made and then fatefully broken. The consequences will extend beyond Jacob’s worst imaginings. As one cynical colleague asks, “Who ain’t a gambler in the glorious Orient, with his very life?”
A magnificent mix of luminous writing, prodigious research, and heedless imagination, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is the most impressive achievement of its eminent author.
Praise for The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
“A page-turner . . . [David] Mitchell’s masterpiece; and also, I am convinced, a masterpiece of our time.”—Richard Eder, The Boston Globe
“An achingly romantic story of forbidden love . . . Mitchell’s incredible prose is on stunning display. . . . A novel of ideas, of longing, of good and evil and those who fall somewhere in between [that] confirms Mitchell as one of the more fascinating and fearless writers alive.”—Dave Eggers, The New York Times Book Review
“The novelist who’s been showing us the future of fiction has published a classic, old-fashioned tale . . . an epic of sacrificial love, clashing civilizations and enemies who won’t rest until whole family lines have been snuffed out.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post
“By any standards, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is a formidable marvel.”—James Wood, The New Yorker
“A beautiful novel, full of life and authenticity, atmosphere and characters that breathe.”—Maureen Corrigan, NPR
Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more.
In 2007, Time magazine named him one of the most influential novelists in the world. He has twice been short-listed for the Man Booker Prize. The New York Times Book Review called him simply “a genius.” Now David Mitchell lends fresh credence to The Guardian’s claim that “each of his books seems entirely different from that which preceded it.” The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is a stunning departure for this brilliant, restless, and wildly ambitious author, a giant leap forward by even his own high standards. A bold and epic novel of a rarely visited point in history, it is a work as exquisitely rendered as it is irresistibly readable.
The year is 1799, the place Dejima in Nagasaki Harbor, the “high-walled, fan-shaped artificial island” that is the Japanese Empire’s single port and sole window onto the world, designed to keep the West at bay; the farthest outpost of the war-ravaged Dutch East Indies Company; and a de facto prison for the dozen foreigners permitted to live and work there. To this place of devious merchants, deceitful interpreters, costly courtesans, earthquakes, and typhoons comes Jacob de Zoet, a devout and resourceful young clerk who has five years in the East to earn a fortune of sufficient size to win the hand of his wealthy fiancée back in Holland.
But Jacob’s original intentions are eclipsed after a chance encounter with Orito Aibagawa, the disfigured daughter of a samurai doctor and midwife to the city’s powerful magistrate. The borders between propriety, profit, and pleasure blur until Jacob finds his vision clouded, one rash promise made and then fatefully broken. The consequences will extend beyond Jacob’s worst imaginings. As one cynical colleague asks, “Who ain’t a gambler in the glorious Orient, with his very life?”
A magnificent mix of luminous writing, prodigious research, and heedless imagination, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is the most impressive achievement of its eminent author.
Praise for The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
“A page-turner . . . [David] Mitchell’s masterpiece; and also, I am convinced, a masterpiece of our time.”—Richard Eder, The Boston Globe
“An achingly romantic story of forbidden love . . . Mitchell’s incredible prose is on stunning display. . . . A novel of ideas, of longing, of good and evil and those who fall somewhere in between [that] confirms Mitchell as one of the more fascinating and fearless writers alive.”—Dave Eggers, The New York Times Book Review
“The novelist who’s been showing us the future of fiction has published a classic, old-fashioned tale . . . an epic of sacrificial love, clashing civilizations and enemies who won’t rest until whole family lines have been snuffed out.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post
“By any standards, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is a formidable marvel.”—James Wood, The New Yorker
“A beautiful novel, full of life and authenticity, atmosphere and characters that breathe.”—Maureen Corrigan, NPR
Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more.
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Community Reviews
Writer David Mitchell wrote a “single, largely chronological, story, told in three main sections” in the novel, The Thousand Autumns of de Zoet, in the words of the Goodreads reviewer named Cicily. Compared to David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas, Mitchell’s The Thousand Autumns of de Zoet is a more traditional historical novel. The Historical Novel Society (HNS) writes, “Japan is the ‘land of a thousand autumns’” (HNS 2010). On the surface, the novel tells the story of Jocab de Zoet, a Dutch clerk assigned to Japan in the late 1790s, who works for the Dutch East Indies Company (VOC). Employees of the VOC and the Dutch cannot leave the trading fortress on Dejima in the Nagasaki Harbor (HNS 2010). That being said, Mitchell’s The Thousand Autumns of de Zoet is not a traditional historical novel. The blogger Maryb writes, “I think Mitchell was more interested in exploring an idea than in telling a story. I think Mitchell was exploring the concept of imprisonment. While he explores it, he tells a pretty good story” (maryb 2012). Different characters tell different parts of the novel. The middle part of the novel is a story of a horror cult. The book has illustrations. I found The Thousand Autumns of de Zoet to be a thoughtful historical novel about “the concept of imprisonment” in the words of maryb. I found the review of this novel by the Goodreads reviewer Cicily helpful in writing this review.’ I found the reviews of this novel by the Historical Novel Society and by the blogger named maryb helpful in writing this novel.’
Works Cited:
Historical Novel Society. 2010, May. Review of The Thousand Autumns of de Zoet. Historical Novel Society. Issue 52. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet - Historical Novel Society
maryb. 2010, August 12. Review of The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. Blog entitled alone with each other…Book review and TV reviews. alone with each other ...: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell
Mitchell, David. 2024. Cloud Altas: A Novel. New York: Penguin Random House, LLC. Kindle.
WatchMojo.com. 2015, April 29. “Top 10 Creepy Cults in Movies.” WatchMojo.com. YouTube. Top 10 Creepy Cults in Movies
I really just don't enjoy books like this. It was a bummer as I'd been saving it to read on my trip and then had to slog my way through it. It is written will but not my cup of tea.
This is the story of a Dutch clerk who travels to Japan in the late 1700's to earn his fortune in order to return home to marry his beloved. Little did he know that he would fall in love with a Japanese woman upon his arrival.
Jacob de Zoet is a righteous man in every sense of the word, and he manages to navigate the world of corrupt Dutch traders and Japanese shoguns without succumbing to the riches of corruption.
I enjoyed learning more about Japanese culture of that time. The characters' names, both Dutch and Japanese, were hard to remember. I kept mixing up who was who. But other than that frustration it was a very enjoyable read with an unexpected ending.
Jacob de Zoet is a righteous man in every sense of the word, and he manages to navigate the world of corrupt Dutch traders and Japanese shoguns without succumbing to the riches of corruption.
I enjoyed learning more about Japanese culture of that time. The characters' names, both Dutch and Japanese, were hard to remember. I kept mixing up who was who. But other than that frustration it was a very enjoyable read with an unexpected ending.
A very well told story. It's a bit long, but all the parts of the story are necessary. Worth a read!
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