David Mitchell's Post-Secular World - Buddhism, Belief and the Urgency of Compassion

Since the publication of Ghostwritten (1999), David Mitchell has rapidly established himself as one of the most inventive and important British novelists of the 21st century. In this landmark study, Rose Harris-Birtill reveals the extent to which Mitchell has created an interconnected fictional world across the full run of his writing. Covering Mitchell''s complete fictions, from bestselling novels such as Cloud Atlas (2004), The Bone Clocks (2014) and number9dream (2001), to his short stories and his libretti for the operas Sunken Garden and Wake , this book examines how Buddhist influences inform the ethical worldview that permeates his writing. Using a comparative theoretical model drawn from the Tibetan mandala to map Mitchell''s fictional world, Harris-Birtill positions Mitchell as central to a new generation of post-secular writers who re-examine the vital role of belief in galvanizing action amidst contemporary ecological, political and humanitarian crises. David Mitchell''s Post-Secular World features two substantial new interviews with the author, a chronology of his fictions and a selected bibliography of important critical writings on his work.>

About the author

Rose Harris-Birtill is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the University of St. Andrews, UK.

Product details

• Authors: Martin Paul (Birkbeck College University of L Eve, Dr Rose Harris-Birtill, Rose Harris-Birtill, Rose (University of St. Andrews Harris-Birtill
• Assisted by: Bryan Cheyette (Editor), Martin Paul Eve (Editor), Martin Paul (Birkbeck College University of London UK) Eve (Editor)
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.01.2019
• EAN: 9781350078598
• ISBN: 978-1-350-07859-8
• No. of pages: 256
• Series: New Horizons in Contemporary W; New Horizons in Contemporary Writing; New Horizons in Contemporary W; New Horizons in Contemporary Writing
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies