#utopia avenue

[camgoloud]

yuletide author reveals! i've got two this year:

good advice

fandom: shadow of the leviathan (robert jackson bennet)

characters/relationships: ana & din

Rated M; ~3.2k words

a book 1-2 interlude sort-of roadtrip, featuring din's one-night stand era and ana's Opinions on it. also featuring a bit of worldbuilding speculation re: What It's Like To Be An Engraver, because i think that shit has got to be way weirder as an experience than din/bennet lets on. fun banter between ana and din! even if they're both a little actually-angrier at each other than they're coming out and admitting!

The Desperados Don't Want to Come to Their Senses

fandom: utopia avenue (david mitchell)

characters/relationships: dean & jasper (or dean/jasper? or in-universe-fandom!dean/in-universe-fandom!jasper?)

Rated T; ~7k words

what if your favorite obscure 60s band got rediscovered in 2025 by way of a tik tok trend and the tragically unconsummated romance (???) between two of its members became the hottest pop culture discussion topic of the year... that's right, this one's a social media fic, folks. knowledge about the dean/jasper guys isn't really necessary as primarily this fic is about The Internet and so tbh whether or not you're familiar with the utopia avenue canon i kind of think you should all go check out the fic just to admire my beautiful work re: the formatting/skin on this one. i've gotten multiple compliments on my rendition of the atlantic's paywall. those following me here might also appreciate the tumblr sections. et cetera. my love letter to music rpf <3

[thesweetpills]

All good books, of course, but which is the best? Well, we can confidently say No Way To Beehive is the *newest*...

[jagerbow]

why is no one asking JOOO she seems so cool what kinda stuff does she like/do

ach jolene merrick, both the bane and light of my existence - so, jo was born 22nd may 1970 in woodhouse leeds. she has one older brother called elliot who she loves like A LOT. she's fiercely loyal to him and incredibly protective to a fault which is something she critiques a lot in the flash forwards to the lady electric doc in 2024. - the band dynamics are pretty odd though, obviously jo's older brother is in utopia avenue but there's also roadie who sort of has a big PHAT massive crush on jo but never acts on it because of his friendship with eli. jo and jude, however, is another thing altogether - jo and jude are pretty atypical for the times e.g jude is very masculine in both her appearance and personality, she acts laddish, crude and is someone of little words until you get some drugs in her. jo on the other hand is outrageously extravagant, all darlings and sweethearts and very in tune with her femininity. however, she isn't very in tune with her emotions. she's not sad very often and lives in the moment, life is all about having FUN FUN FUN whereas jude is incredibly sensitive which we see from her POVs - jude and jo aren't the closest due to jude and eli's constant arguing so out of loyalty to her brother, jo stays away for the most part. this doesn't mean she hates jude though, in fact it's the opposite. if you can remember, after jude leaves liam in 1992, a couple months later utopia avenue go back to manchester for a gig where malcolm accompanies them. liam attends the show and tries to get backstage to see jude, but the security won't let him past. jo walks by however and when liam asks her to get him in, she says she doesn't know who he is. BITCH MOVE all the comments said, but in reality jo was just trying to protect jude from getting hurt by malcolm. in all, they're very complex but let's move onto more FUN THINGS - jo is a very confidant, headstrong girl. she is who she is and fuck everyone else. she wears whatever she wants and doesn't care what anyone has to say. her signature look is her dyed blonde pixie cut, she almost always has outgrown roots, and wears bright red lipstick and draws on a beauty mark next to her lip. - her style draws upon a lot of 'chavvy' designer. she likes to mix burberry in particular with athleisure and music merch. e.g a signature jolene look in my mind is a blue adidas polo shirt, a leather skirt with silver trainers and a burberry scarf around her neck. it's ugly but somehow jolene makes it work. her face is very edie sedgewick to me and her whole vibe is unique, original and a mix of high fashion and her leeds/working class roots.

[crabanarchy]

I do not like when David Mitchell does his cutesy little David Mitchell Extended Universe shit. I do not like it at all. I think Utopia Avenue is a perfectly decent novel about English alt pop that ruins itself by trying to get cute with it. It works in Cloud Atlas because that's what Cloud Atlas is about. It doesn't work here. I came to hear you talk about Keith Moon not demonic shinto priests and your bisexual ocs, David, focus for me,

[mybooksandlittlemore]

[utopiaavenuefanclub]

welcome

i hope some random person in the near future who's just finished reading Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell and is starved for fandom content discovers this account to be delighted. WARNING: there is NO fan-art because i cannot DRAW!!!!!! so i sincerely apologise if you're derived of art, i'll make stickmans to make you happy. WARNING 2: i'm not yet an avid reader of David Mitchell's work, so if you're expecting any novel other than Utopia Avenue, I cannot provide. enjoy my psych ward :):):):):):):)

[justforbooks]

ΟΣΟΙ ΕΧΟΥΜΕ ΔΙΑΒΑΣΕΙ τα μνημειώδη, πολυπλόκαμα και πρωτοποριακά μυθιστορήματα του Ντέιβιντ Μίτσελ και κυρίως όσοι έχουμε εισέλθει στους φανταστικούς του κόσμους, στους οποίους ανατρέχουμε πάντα με την ίδια όρεξη, δεν πρέπει να νιώσαμε έκπληξη που ο συγγραφέας του Άτλαντα του Ουρανού και των Χιλίων Φθινοπώρων του Γιάκομπ ντε Ζουτ επιστρέφει στη γη της αθωότητας. Μόνο που αυτήν τη φορά η ματιά της έφηβης Χόλι έχει αντικατασταθεί από αυτήν του μάνατζερ Λέβον, ο οποίος επιμένει να τρέφει για τη μουσική μια αυθεντική και σχεδόν αθώα αγάπη, διαμορφώνοντας έναν φιλοσοφικό, αποκαθαρμένο από ενδιάμεσες ιδιότητες κόσμο, στον οποίο επιστρέφει σχεδόν με τρόπο μυστικό ο Μίτσελ στα βιβλία του.

Οι εκδόσεις Μεταίχμιο πολύ εύστοχα είχαν επιλέξει ένα live για να λανσάρουν το νέο του βιβλίο Utopia Avenue, που διαβάζεται ως μια επιστροφή σε έναν ολοζώντανο κόσμο, όπου οι αγωνίες, οι σχέσεις και οι ελπίδες είχαν νόημα γιατί αφορούσαν ανθρώπους που φλέγονταν, και σε μια ουτοπία που στήνεται πάνω σε μεγάλα, δυσθεώρητα πάθη. Εξάλλου τα μπαρόκ σχεδόν ως προς τις απόλυτες επιδιώξεις τους βιβλία του Μίτσελ ποτέ δεν επεξεργάζονται απλώς ένα θέμα, καθώς μιλάνε ταυτόχρονα για περιπλανήσεις και αποκρυφισμούς, όργια του μυαλού και του σώματος, συμμείξεις του χρόνου και μπερδεμένες προσδοκίες. Έτσι και εδώ το Utopia Avenue, το οποίο μεταφράζει σαν να το ζει η Μαρία Ξυλούρη, είναι η ιστορία της ομώνυμης μπάντας που εμφανίζεται στην απόλυτα ροκ δεκαετία του ’60, αλλά διασχίζει τον χρόνο και συναντά πρόσωπα και πράγματα από το μακρινό μέλλον, δηλαδή το δικό μας πρόσφατο παρόν.

Πολλές φορές, μάλιστα, όπως συμβαίνει στα βιβλία του Μίτσελ, οι ήρωες ξεπροβάλλουν με κάποιον τρόπο από προηγούμενα βιβλία του, όπως ο Λέβον Φράνκλαντ, που επιστρέφει από τα Κοκάλινα Ρολόγια, διωγμένος από το πατρικό του στον Καναδά λόγω της ομοφυλοφιλίας του, για να συστήσει τη δική του ουσιαστική οικογένεια, δηλαδή τη δική του μπάντα. Μέλη της ο Ντιν Μος, ένα παιδί της εργατικής τάξης, επίσης με πολλαπλά τραύματα, ο ντράμερ Πίτερ «Γκριφ» Γκρίφιν, ο κιθαρίστας Γιάσπερ ντε Ζουτ (απόγονος του Γιάκομπ ντε Ζουτ, πρωταγωνιστή στα Χίλια Φθινόπωρα) και η πιανίστρια Ελφ Χόλογουεϊ, η οποία τρέφει φιλοδοξίες φολκ τραγουδίστριας. Στόχος όλων αυτών είναι να φτιάξουν μια αυθεντική μπάντα ‒η έννοια του αυθεντικού κόντρα στο επίπλαστο απασχολεί πάντα τον Μίτσελ‒ που θα ζει απόλυτα την τέχνη για την τέχνη ή αλλιώς τη ροκ για τη ροκ. Εύλογα, λοιπόν, μέσα από τις σελίδες αναπαρίσταται αυτούσιο το κλίμα της εποχής που έφτιαξε τη ροκ και ξαναζωντανεύει το swinging London και όχι μόνο, χωρίς νοσταλγία, αλλά με τις απαραίτητες ροκ δόσεις και αναφορές στους Μπιτλς, τον Ντέιβιντ Μπόουι, την Τζάνις Τζόμπλιν, τον Λέοναρντ Κοέν, τον Κιθ Μουν και όλα εκείνα τα ονόματα που δόξασαν το είδος και έφτιαξαν τη δική τους αυτούσια ροκ ουτοπία.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[sweetlittleneptune]

PEOPLE WHO HAVE READ UTOPIA AVENUE

I don't listen to classic rock/psychedelic rock as much as I used to (2020 me would be absolutely devastated at that btw), but I definitely haven't forgotten my roots because AS SOON as I saw the Utopia Avenue cover at the bookstore, I picked it up without asking a single question and bought it. Didn't look at the price, didn't read the blurb, nothing. I just bought it right then and there.

I read it last month, and initially I thought it was just fine. Not the greatest (some things kind of confused me) but definitely a good read for fun. But now it's been a month and I still think about it a lot. It made its place in my heart and now I'm wanting to reread it. And I want to talk about it toooooo!!!

this funky lil fake band is now comfortably sitting in my heart, playing with it.