STORIES OF MY LIFE … WITH DAVID MITCHELL

THE CELEBRATED ENGLISH NOVELIST WHO PENNED ‘CLOUD ATLAS’ HAS JUST PUBLISHED HIS NINTH NOVEL.

What book did you love as a child?

The Ghost of Thomas Kempe by Penelope Lively. It’s a story about a boy’s relationship with the ghost of a medieval scholar. Taut, smart, compassionate and one of the books that ushered me into reading.

What was the first adult book you read and loved as a teenager?

Native Son by Richard Wright. It was given to me in a box of unsold books from a jumble sale. Why did an English, white, middle-class 14-year-old get so engrossed in a tale of American racial injustice? It was just so very, very, very different to my life. A great book lets you walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.

What books or authors inspired you to write?

All of them. The good ones whisper, “Come on, write; if you enjoy receiving it this much, how do you think it would feel to make it?” The bad ones harrumph, “Come on, write!

I got published and I’m utter dross.” If you want names, one of the best was The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula Le Guin.

What book last made you laugh or cry?

Piranesi, the new one by Susanna Clarke. Made me blear up a bit right at the end. Just a bit. It is really, really, really good, but any description risks being a spoiler. Just trust me.

What book has been a comfort to you during the current COVID-19 crisis?

We’ve had a relatively easy lockdown and my work-from-home life hasn’t altered that much, so ‘comfort’ isn’t quite the right word. The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh keep me grounded. Letters from the black sheep of a family writing to his brother for a couple of decades as he tries, and mostly fails, to make it as an artist. They were never intended for other eyes, of course. It feels

like you’ve found them in a drawer. Pathos, love, kindness, stoicism and, for the modern reader, all the dramatic irony you can eat.

Can you tell us a little bit about your new book, Utopia Avenue?

It’s the story of a psychedelic-folk-rock band, Utopia Avenue, who form in the London scene in 1967. Over two years, Elf, Dean, Jasper and Griff tour the UK’s scuzzier clubs, flirt with success, swim in the revolutionary counter-culture, play in Amsterdam and Rome, embark on a short US tour, reach the brink of stardom. And then …

(Utopia Avenue is out now)