Point of View

David Mitchell tells his novel, "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet" in the third-person omniscient perspective, in present tense, excepting one chapter. One chapter is told in the first-person perspective, from the point of view of the slave Ignatius. The majority of the novel is told in the third-person omniscient perspective because Mitchell has to work across two vastly different cultures in a vastly different time than today. Covering thousands of miles, two centuries-old history, and a host of characters, the continuous narration of the third-person allows for easier transition between people and the events they experience.

Setting

David Mitchell sets his novel, "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet" in late eighteenth-century and early nineteenth-century Japan. The novel involves the meeting of two dramatically different nations and cultures, which sets a perilous and momentous stage upon which the story is told. The setting works...