"Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell Online Quiz | Literature

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. On which archipelago does Adam Ewing's Pacific journal start?

Answer: Chatham Islands

The Chatham Islands are about 680 kilometers southeast of New Zealand. Adam Ewing was a notary from San Francisco. This story is set in 1849 and 1850 during the California Gold Rush.

2. To which tribe did Autua belong?

Answer: Moriori

The Moriori are the natives on the Chatham Islands, which they call Rekohu. They had a pacifist society until the Maori enslaved and nearly exterminated them. Adam Ewing witnessed Autua being tortured by the Maori. Later Autua was a stowaway in Adam's cabin.

3. What was Adam Ewing's ailment according to Dr. Henry Goose?

Answer: Parasite worm

Dr. Henry called it the gusano coco cervello, a worm that can enter the brain and lead to death. It turned out however that Dr. Henry was a fraud who was after Adam's money. He was poisoning his patient with arsenic.

4. What job does Robert Frobischer accept in Chateau Zedelghem?

Answer: Amanuensis

An amanuensis is someone who writes down what a composer dictates. Frobischer became Vyvyan Ayrs' amanuensis, but Ayrs didn't mind stealing Frobischer's ideas.

Neerbeke is a fictitious village to the south of Bruges (Belgium), but there is a real village called Zedelgem in that region.

5. Who couldn't tell C-major from a sergeant-major according to Robert Frobischer?

Answer: Eva

Eva was the daughter of Vyvyan and Jocasta. At first she behaved condescendingly towards Robert, but later she changed her attitude and he was infatuated with her "for the blink of an eye" in spite of hints that he had a homosexual relationships with Sixsmith.

6. For which magazine did Luisa Rey work?

Answer: Spyglass

The third story is a thriller, supposedly the first in a series about Luisa Rey. As a journalist she found out that a nuclear reactor on Swanneke island had lethal flaws.

7. Why was Dr. Rufus Sixsmith murdered?

Answer: He wrote a negative report about a nuclear reactor

His report identified lethal design flaws in the reactor. Along with eleven other scientists he was put under pressure to write a positive safety report about the reactor, but he didn't give in.

8. Who skipped bail in "Half-Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery"?

Answer: Lloyd Hooks

He resigned as energy secretary to become the new head of Seaboard Corporation after Grimaldi's dead. He ordered the deaths of Rufus Sixsmith and Alberto Grimaldi. He had Luisa fired after acquiring Spyglass magazine. He skipped bail for $250,000 by leaving the country. This is mentioned in a newspaper article late in the story.

9. Which adjective did Timothy Cavendish use very often?

Answer: Ruddy

"Ruddy" is a mild cursing word in the United Kingdom. E.g. "What kind of ruddy hotel hires thieves for chambermaids?" "The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish" is a comical story about a 65 year old publisher and editor who is held in a nursing home against his will.

10. About which novel did Sir Felix Finch write a negative review?

Answer: Knuckle Sandwich

This Dermot "Duster" Hoggins novel was published by Timothy Cavendish. It became a bestseller after Hoggins killed his critic by throwing him of a balcony. Sir Felix wrote for the Trafalgar Review of Books.

11. What kind of establishment was Aurora House?

Answer: Nursing home for the elderly

Timothy Cavendish was sent to this nursing home in Hull by his brother. Timothy signed thinking it was the hotel registry. When he realized he was held there he started plotting his escape.

12. Of which manuscript was the second half found under a bed leg?

Answer: The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing

Each main character besides the first discovers the story of his predecessor in the shape of a manuscript or a film. Robert Frobischer finds Adam Ewing's manuscript in Chateau Zedelghem. The second part was put under the leg of a bed to keep it from wobbling.

13. Which of the main characters commits suicide?

Answer: Robert Frobischer

Mainly because of his financial problems he shot himself in a bathtub in a hotel after completing his Cloud Atlas Sextet. He wrote a suicide letter to Sixsmith, calling him his one true love.

Later Luisa Rey heard a recording of the Cloud Atlas Sextet.

14. What does an orison look like?

Answer: Silver egg

An orison is a recording device for sounds and images that can also project a film. It was used to record Sonmi's interrogation. Zachry found it among Meronym's personal belongings.

15. Which word is a correct description of Sonmi-451?

Answer: Fabricant

A fabricant is a kind of clone in a dystopic future created in a womb tank. Fabricants are programmed or "genomed" to perform one particular task like serving in a dinery. Sonmi was a female fabricant.

16. Sonmi~451 was transferred to Mount Taemosan. What kind of place was this?

Answer: University

Sonmi became the study object of Boom-Sook Kim, a lazy student. Sonmi started downloading books from the library on his computer or "sony". This led to her "ascension", meaning she rose to the intellectual level of a human or "pureblood".

17. Where is "Sloosha's Crossin' an' Ev'rythin' After" set?

Answer: Hawaii

The sixth story takes place in a remote future after the fall of civilization. Sloosha's crossing is a place on the Big Island of Hawaii or "Ha-Why".

18. What did the Kona do to Zachry's family when he was nine?

Answer: Killed his father, enslaved his brother

The Kona were an enemy tribe. Zachry feels guilty because he led the Kona in the direction were his father and brother were hiding.

19. "Well, it's our spech visitor what's anxin' me so," said Zachry to Abbess. Which special visitor was frightening him?

Answer: Meronym

Meronym was a "Prescient" who visited Hawaii. A Prescient was someone from the island Prescient I near Alaska. The word pre-scient can be interpreted as someone who knew what happened before the fall of civilization.

20. What was the shape of the birthmark the six main characters have in common?

Answer: Comet

The six main characters shared the same birthmark, indicating that they can be seen as reincarnations of each other.

Source: Author wardcogge

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor LeoDaVinci before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

"Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell Quiz

In this 2004 novel British author David Mitchell combines six interrelated stories set in six different periods and places and written in six different styles. The "interesting information" sections contain spoilers.

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