Cloud Cuckoo Land

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 Book Review:


Okay, I understand that “Cloud Cuckoo Land” sounds like a stupid title. It certainly didn’t inspire me to pick up the book the day it arrived in our library. But the author has multiple book awards under his belt (including a prestigious Pulitzer Prize), and I was in a mood. So, what the heck – take a chance, right? I’m glad I did!!

The story weaves together the strands of various characters’ lives in crisis: several youths during the 1453 siege of Constantinople, a kids' drama group embroiled in a modern-day bombing attempt, and a girl trapped in a future-time space voyage gone horribly wrong. The common thread throughout is the Greek myth Cloud Cuckoo Land in which Aethon searches for a paradise where all his troubles will end. Each character in the book encounters this tale in their own way, holding on to it’s crazy promise of a better future. Whether or not their hopes are ill-founded is by no means certain.

Anthony Doerr flings out a disparate array of story pieces, and then manages to pull them together creating a graceful, bitter-sweet, broken yet triumphant climax. Part tears, part joy, all deeply human. Pretty amazing for a book with such a stupid sounding title. I’m so thankful I gave it a try. It didn’t disappoint!!

Recommendation: A mix of historical fiction, sci-fi, and realistic fiction, with a mentally ill antagonist thrown in for good measure; if this piques your curiosity, then Cloud Cuckoo Land is for you. Have fun with it!

Note - this is a Mature read.

 Mr. Wedel

Author – Anthony Doerr

Publishing – Scribner, New York, 2021

Genre – Science Fiction

Pages - 636

 


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