I would like to recommend a book, if you haven’t come across it before. It is Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.

Simply the best novel I’ve read. I can’t remember reading a better one anyhow. And though I never tend to read a book or watch a film twice, I am going to make an exception for this one. And the same for the film, by the way, which had a similar impact on me when I watched it a few years ago.

I’m probably not clever enough to properly understand Shakespeare’s genius, though I have read him enough to see that he was clearly a master of language. It’s hard to fully appreciate writing from a completely different era though, without certain historical knowledge and insight. I don’t possess those.

But if Shakespeare is a better story teller, a better painter of people, a better wordsmith, a better commentator on life than Mitchell, then he must be pretty damn good. Coz Mitchell is bloody brilliant.

Take my recommendation with a pinch of salt by all means. As I say, my qualifications are limited, and there is always a certain amount of personal taste and subjectivity in these matters.

But as you can see, I’m not recommending it lightly.