David Mitchell is folded into a pillowy leather armchair, situated deep in the Soho hotel - Georgian, discreetly fashionable - that is our meeting place. And this most celebrated of British writers - named in Time magazine's 2007 list of the 100 people doing most to transform our world - is about to sum up something of his approach to fiction. "Novels," he says, "are Lego. I used to be so intimidated by the novel. I'd think, 'how does any writer do that? A novel is so long'.
"But any novel, even one that appears to be a continuous narrative, is really made up of a series of interlocking strands. You write in such a way that the strands have common threads running through them." It seems pre-destined, somehow, that an interview with Mitchell should end up traversing this kind of ground. He is, after all, the British novelist who, uniquely among his contemporaries, embodies a trinity rarely managed by any one writer: huge popular success, high critical acclaim, and a dedication to formal experimentation.
His best-known book, 2004's Cloud Atlas, pushed at the boundaries of the novel when it presented a mirrored hall of six disparate but interlocking narratives, ranging from the diaries of an 18th-century naval officer in the Cook Islands, to the testimony of a cloned slave-human living in a futuristic dystopia. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and sold over 500,000 copies after Richard and Judy Bookclub viewers voted it Best Read of the Year. There followed, in 2007, the more restrained Black Swan Green, a semi-autobiographical novel about a teenager growing up - as Mitchell did - with a stammer in 1980s Worcestershire.
Even there, though, he retained a formal playfulness, ensuring that each of the 13 chapters functioned both as a self-contained short story, as well as a part of the whole. Narrative experimentation, in the popular imagination, is Mitchell's USP, and it has served him well: TIME credited him with "creating the 21st-century novel". Granta included him, in 2003, in their influential list of the 20 Best Young British Novelists.
But Mitchell is here to talk about publication of his latest work, called The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, and one of the most anticipated books of 2010. Thousand Autumnstransports us to the Japanese man-made island of Dejima, in the bay of Nagasaki, at the end of the 18th-century. Back then, Dejima was the only point of contact between Europe and a Tokugawa Shogunate Japan in the midst of Sakoku, or self-isolation. With no Japanese subject allowed to leave the Shogun's realm, and no European allowed to enter, the island - occupied by traders from the Dutch East India Company - became the single, narrow gateway across which two civilisations could touch hands. We follow the ambitious, prissy East India Company clerk Jacob de Zoet as he navigates a path through corrupt colleagues, and falls in love with a Japanese midwife, Orito. Soon enough Orito is kidnapped by a sinister religious cult, and the foundations are laid for this part novel of colonial encounter, part unabashed page-turning adventure. It all sounds exactly what Mitchell-watchers would expect least: a conventional, third-person historical novel.
So what drew Mitchell to Dejima? His interest, he says, dates back to the years he spent in Japan in his 20's, teaching English, and cultivating an ambition to write: "I was on a street car in Nagasaki in 1984, and I got off at the wrong stop," he explains. "I walked down a narrow little road, and there it was: Dejima. It piqued my curiosity, and I spent the day there. "For a writer, how could Dejima - this little catflap between east and west - not be fascinating? Walls are good for fiction, too. In a place like Dejima there is no outlet for human neuroses, so they just bloom."
The recurring Mitchell themes, then - power, miscommunication, microcosmic worlds within worlds - are all in evidence. But what of his decision, here, to treat them via a conventional, chronological structure? Has Mitchell finally had enough of narrative experimentation? "The form grows out of the material," he says. "It's about asking: how I can get this book done, and make it good? This time, it felt as though a whacko structure would only confuse the picture."
And there's a danger, he says, of allowing a technique - however successful - to calcify into a formula: "I don't want to repeat myself. I'm conscious that being Mr British Postmodern Novelist could send me down a cul-de-sac." Of course, Mitchell's success means he finds himself now - as all famous novelists do - in a world where his temperament is endlessly to be judged against his writing. For all the superabundance of imagination in his novels, he is, in person, quiet, considered, so friendly as to be disarming. It's no wonder the opinion prevails that big time literary success Never Happened to a Nicer Guy. These days Mitchell is settled in Cork, Ireland, with his wife Keiko and their two children. He works, he says, around the school run: "I've got an office near to the children's school. I'll do three or four hours in the morning, get the children home, and then a couple of hours in the afternoon."
It's been a productive routine. But the writing of this novel, Mitchell says, was beset with early problems. They were to do with the departure from his usual first-person voice, and they provide a fascinating insight into the way he thinks about the fiction making process: "For a year I wrote this book in the first person, using Jacob's voice," he says, "but it just didn't take off. "I realised that I needed the third-person, which I'd never used before. The thing is, the first-person voice acts as an infinity filter. You have a character. You start by asking: who is this person? What were his childhood experiences? What are his relationships with money, love, God, sex, death? Meanwhile you come to understand how this person speaks: so voice is thrown in for free. And one you know who a person is, you know what he is going to do: so plot is almost thrown in for free, too. That's always been the way I've approached the blank page.
"I did an event with A.S Byatt, and asked her: 'with third person, how do you know what to leave out?' She said, 'well, you simply tell the reader what you think they're going to want to know'. She's far too nice a person to have added, 'idiot' at the end," he laughs. Eventually, Mitchell settled on a third-person voice that is itself limited, told from the point of view of one character at a time. Then, he had to ensure that each narrative building block combined to form a whole: the novel as Lego.
There's no doubt that Thousand Autumns succeeds. From the outset we're drawn into Jacob's dealings with malicious colleagues, his memories of his father back in Amsterdam, and his quest to rescue the kidnapped Orito. By Book III - which also sees the arrival of the hostile British - the pages are flying by. It's clear that Mitchell was again guided, here, by a principle that he says is the at the heart of all fiction. "Establish a character that the reader cares about, and then cause the reader to ask: is this person going to be OK?"
"Show me any good fiction that doesn't do that," he says. "There are novels that knowingly ignore that dictum in the name of experimentation. But none that anyone really loves." Look close, and it's a stance that is at the heart of the success - artistic and popular - of Mitchell's work. The truth is, for all the structural complexity of Cloud Atlas and his debut,Ghostwritten, Mitchell is misunderstood by those who view him as primarily a novelist of narrative experimentation. In fact, his first concern is something much more old-fashioned: good story-telling:
"I don't crave a vast readership," he says. "But I do want to move readers. "It's common now for writers to declare the novel a dying form. I can't see that. We novelists are the distant descendants of those ancient story-tellers who spoke around the campfire. We appeal to an ancient instinct. The Twilight books have just sold tens of millions of copies, and there is no way around the fact that they are novels.
"I'm optimistic. If we write good stories, people will want to read them." And, for a moment, this quiet back-room study in Soho seems filled with the cacophonous sound of a million stories clamoring to be heard. No doubt David Mitchell will end up telling us a few of them.
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
Drivers’ championship standings after Singapore:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - 263
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - 235
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - 212
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull - 162
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari - 138
6. Sergio Perez, Force India - 68
Williams at Wimbledon
Venus Williams - 5 titles (2000, 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008)
Serena Williams - 7 titles (2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016)
Secret Pigeon Service: Operation Colomba, Resistance and the Struggle to Liberate Europe
Gordon Corera, Harper Collins
India squads
T20: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Shivam Dube, Shardul Thakur
Test: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant
What is an ETF?
An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
The biog
Mission to Seafarers is one of the largest port-based welfare operators in the world.
It provided services to around 200 ports across 50 countries.
They also provide port chaplains to help them deliver professional welfare services.
Match info
Manchester United 1
Fred (18')
Wolves 1
Moutinho (53')
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
25-MAN SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Francis Uzoho, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Daniel Akpeyi
Defenders: Olaoluwa Aina, Abdullahi Shehu, Chidozie Awaziem, William Ekong, Leon Balogun, Kenneth Omeruo, Jamilu Collins, Semi Ajayi
Midfielders: John Obi Mikel, Wilfred Ndidi, Oghenekaro Etebo, John Ogu
Forwards: Ahmed Musa, Victor Osimhen, Moses Simon, Henry Onyekuru, Odion Ighalo, Alexander Iwobi, Samuel Kalu, Paul Onuachu, Kelechi Iheanacho, Samuel Chukwueze
On Standby: Theophilus Afelokhai, Bryan Idowu, Ikouwem Utin, Mikel Agu, Junior Ajayi, Valentine Ozornwafor
'Young girls thinking of big ideas'
Words come easy for aspiring writer Afra Al Muhairb. The business side of books, on the other hand, is entirely foreign to the 16-year-old Emirati. So, she followed her father’s advice and enroled in the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s summer entrepreneurship course at Abu Dhabi University hoping to pick up a few new skills.
“Most of us have this dream of opening a business,” said Afra, referring to her peers are “young girls thinking of big ideas.”
In the three-week class, pupils are challenged to come up with a business and develop an operational and marketing plan to support their idea. But, the learning goes far beyond sales and branding, said teacher Sonia Elhaj.
“It’s not only about starting up a business, it’s all the meta skills that goes with it -- building self confidence, communication,” said Ms Elhaj. “It’s a way to coach them and to harness ideas and to allow them to be creative. They are really hungry to do this and be heard. They are so happy to be actually doing something, to be engaged in creating something new, not only sitting and listening and getting new information and new knowledge. Now they are applying that knowledge.”
Afra’s team decided to focus their business idea on a restaurant modelled after the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Each level would have a different international cuisine and all the meat would be halal. The pupils thought of this after discussing a common problem they face when travelling abroad.
“Sometimes we find the struggle of finding halal food, so we just eat fish and cheese, so it’s hard for us to spend 20 days with fish and cheese,” said Afra. “So we made this tower so every person who comes – from Africa, from America – they will find the right food to eat.”
rpennington@thenational.ae
Euro 2020
Group A: Italy, Switzerland, Wales, Turkey
Group B: Belgium, Russia, Denmark, Finland
Group C: Netherlands, Ukraine, Austria,
Georgia/Kosovo/Belarus/North Macedonia
Group D: England, Croatia, Czech Republic,
Scotland/Israel/Norway/Serbia
Group E: Spain, Poland, Sweden,
N.Ireland/Bosnia/Slovakia/Ireland
Group F: Germany, France, Portugal,
Iceland/Romania/Bulgaria/Hungary
Pakistan World Cup squad
Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abid Ali, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez(subject to fitness), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Junaid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain
Two additions for England ODIs: Mohammad Amir and Asif Ali
Four reasons global stock markets are falling right now
There are many factors worrying investors right now and triggering a rush out of stock markets. Here are four of the biggest:
1. Rising US interest rates
The US Federal Reserve has increased interest rates three times this year in a bid to prevent its buoyant economy from overheating. They now stand at between 2 and 2.25 per cent and markets are pencilling in three more rises next year.
Kim Catechis, manager of the Legg Mason Martin Currie Global Emerging Markets Fund, says US inflation is rising and the Fed will continue to raise rates in 2019. “With inflationary pressures growing, an increasing number of corporates are guiding profitability expectations downwards for 2018 and 2019, citing the negative impact of rising costs.”
At the same time as rates are rising, central bankers in the US and Europe have been ending quantitative easing, bringing the era of cheap money to an end.
2. Stronger dollar
High US rates have driven up the value of the dollar and bond yields, and this is putting pressure on emerging market countries that took advantage of low interest rates to run up trillions in dollar-denominated debt. They have also suffered capital outflows as international investors have switched to the US, driving markets lower. Omar Negyal, portfolio manager of the JP Morgan Global Emerging Markets Income Trust, says this looks like a buying opportunity. “Despite short-term volatility we remain positive about long-term prospects and profitability for emerging markets.”
3. Global trade war
Ritu Vohora, investment director at fund manager M&G, says markets fear that US President Donald Trump’s spat with China will escalate into a full-blown global trade war, with both sides suffering. “The US economy is robust enough to absorb higher input costs now, but this may not be the case as tariffs escalate. However, with a host of factors hitting investor sentiment, this is becoming a stock picker’s market.”
4. Eurozone uncertainty
Europe faces two challenges right now in the shape of Brexit and the new populist government in eurozone member Italy.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, which has offices in Dubai, says the stand-off between between Rome and Brussels threatens to become much more serious. "As with Brexit, neither side appears willing to step back from the edge, threatening more trouble down the line.”
The European economy may also be slowing, Mr Beauchamp warns. “A four-year low in eurozone manufacturing confidence highlights the fact that producers see a bumpy road ahead, with US-EU trade talks remaining a major question-mark for exporters.”
Januzaj's club record
Manchester United 50 appearances, 5 goals
Borussia Dortmund (loan) 6 appearances, 0 goals
Sunderland (loan) 25 appearances, 0 goals
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Abu Dhabi GP starting grid
1 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
3 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
4 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
5 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
6 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
7 Romain Grosjean (Haas)
8 Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
9 Esteban Ocon (Force India)
10 Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
11 Carlos Sainz (Renault)
12 Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
13 Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
14 Sergio Perez (Force India)
15 Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
16 Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso)
17 Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso)
18 Stoffe Vandoorne (McLaren)
19 Sergey Sirotkin (Williams)
20 Lance Stroll (Williams)
Adele: The Stories Behind The Songs
Caroline Sullivan
Carlton Books
RESULT
Fifth ODI, at Headingley
England 351/9
Pakistan 297
England win by 54 runs (win series 4-0)
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nag%20Ashwin%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPrabhas%2C%20Saswata%20Chatterjee%2C%20Deepika%20Padukone%2C%20Amitabh%20Bachchan%2C%20Shobhana%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%E2%98%85%E2%98%85%E2%98%85%E2%98%85%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Jaguar F-Type Convertible
Price, base / as tested: Dh283,080 / Dh318,465
Engine: 2.0-litre inline four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 295hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 1,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.2L / 100km
The%20Woman%20King%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Gina%20Prince-Bythewood%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Viola%20Davis%2C%20Thuso%20Mbedu%2C%20Sheila%20Atim%2C%20Lashana%20Lynch%2C%20John%20Boyega%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Under-21 European Championship Final
Germany 1 Spain 0
Weiser (40')
FA Cup semi-finals
Saturday: Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur, 8.15pm (UAE)
Sunday: Chelsea v Southampton, 6pm (UAE)
Matches on Bein Sports
About Seez
Company name/date started: Seez, set up in September 2015 and the app was released in August 2017
Founder/CEO name(s): Tarek Kabrit, co-founder and chief executive, and Andrew Kabrit, co-founder and chief operating officer
Based in: Dubai, with operations also in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon
Sector: Search engine for car buying, selling and leasing
Size: (employees/revenue): 11; undisclosed
Stage of funding: $1.8 million in seed funding; followed by another $1.5m bridge round - in the process of closing Series A
Investors: Wamda Capital, B&Y and Phoenician Funds
MATCH INFO
Kolkata Knight Riders 245/6 (20 ovs)
Kings XI Punjab 214/8 (20 ovs)
Kolkata won by 31 runs
