A philosophy that Mitchell seems to aspire to is one that is outlined in Voltaire's seminal work Candide (1759): namely, that we become better people through our bad experiences. While each separate narrative seems to allude to a very specific style of writing- Timothy Cavendish is similar in style to the snobby, `stiff upper lip' fiction of Kinglsey Amis; Frobisher to the youthful, humourous sarcasm of Evelyn Waugh; Luisa Rey to tongue-in-cheek airport bestsellers; and Sonmi to the high-class science fiction of Philip K Dick or Ray Bradbury- the novel as a whole appears to have a lot in common with Candide. Candide was a novel written to prove that the world is far from a wonderful place, but that, through discovering this truth, we mature as human beings. The character journey of Candide's protagonist is one that mirrors many...