Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

This book, like If on a Winter's Night A Traveller..., consists of a series of interlocking stories. While at first the shifts in time are disorienting, and the connections between the stories not entirely clear, Mitchell gradually makes a case against colonialism, slavery, and settling to be part of a morally unacceptable system, despite personal cost. Mitchell speculates on the ends of civilization and on the power of writing (and communication more generally) to forge human connections and inspire hope for the future. In addition to containing all of these moving themes, the book is beautifully written. I suspect this book will stay with me. Booker shortlisted, 2004.