This book was on my wish list for years; I finally found it at a thrift store and got the chance to read it. I love historical fiction and this one was set in a time period and subject matter I'd not read about before, and I found the whole concept of Dejima and 1799 Japan vs. foreigners of any kind absorbing to read about and felt it added to my body of knowledge. I did like that David Mitchell made some of the uglier characters tell their 'back story' and make them more real and understandable for the time period. It rounded out the overall story. I never really emotionally connected with the main character's personality but overall did like the book and all of the interactions. I think what it was missing for me was the effect of Diana Gabaldon's ability to write with such historical detail that you feel like you're right there with them living in the same time period--in this case I felt like an interested observer watching from my living room reading chair. Even the Horatio Hornblower books left me feeling like the author placed me right on deck and I could feel the wind, perceive what he saw, hear what he heard, even smell the smells he described...but this book did not nail that feeling.
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