Cloud Atlas

Content Warning: This section discusses death by suicide.

In 1975, Rufus Sixsmith is 66 years old and lives in California. While standing on a balcony, he contemplates ending his life to “lay his dilemmas to rest” (89). Elsewhere, Luisa Rey wants to leave a party. A “minor league rock musician” (91) named Richard Ganja is acting inappropriately toward her, babbling about his spirituality and encouraging Luisa to take drugs with him, even though she’s trying to interview him in her capacity as a journalist. Unimpressed by his romantic advances, she walks toward the elevator, and Sixsmith holds the door for her. As they ride, the elevator stops because of a “power-outage.” They’re stuck in the elevator together, and Luisa is relieved that she’s not trapped inside with Richard Ganja. They talk. Sixsmith learns that Luisa’s father was a famous journalist named Lester Rey and that Luisa hopes to follow in his footsteps but has yet to make her name as a journalist. She writes for an entertainment magazine called Spyglass. Next, they talk about films, particularly the thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock. Sixsmith talks about his “treasured niece,” Megan. He speaks about his family and shows Luisa a photograph of him with Megan on The Starfish, his yacht.