Mixed feelings about this one. Author David Mitchell clearly has an ability to write with many voices and create very distinct worlds, and he offers a unique structure that makes short stories feel less short storyish. The novel consists of 6 stories told in two parts (except for the 6th). The first halves of the five stories are told (1-2-3-4-5), the 6th story is told in its entirety, then the five stories return in reverse order (5-4-3-2-1). The stories are linked with one character of each story connected in some way to the adjacent story. Mitchell’s intent, if I understood correctly, was to imply the soul being reincarnated with a vastly different life experienced in each story. Time periods of the stories go from the 19th century to the distant future. My experience with the book would have benefited from understanding the book’s structure and premise ahead of time. The writing styles to mimic time periods past and future were also challenging to read, so it was slow going and by the time I got to the second halves of the stories I had forgotten details and characters from the first halves. Now knowing what I know, my overall impression of the book would be more positive with a re-read. But for all the stellar writing contained within, my desire to indulge the author down this path again is not there.