Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

On the New York Times bestseller list for over 20 weeks * A New York Times Notable Book * A National Book Award Finalist * Named a Best Book of the Year by Fresh Air, Time, Entertainment Weekly, Associated Press, and many more

“If you’re looking for a superb novel, look no further.” —The Washington Post

From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of All the Light We Cannot See, comes the instant New York Times bestseller that is a “wildly inventive, a humane and uplifting book for adults that’s infused with the magic of childhood reading experiences” (The New York Times Book Review).

Among the most celebrated and beloved novels of recent times, Cloud Cuckoo Land is a triumph of imagination and compassion, a soaring story about children on the cusp of adulthood in worlds in peril, who find resilience, hope, and a book.

In the 15th century, an orphan named Anna lives inside the formidable walls of Constantinople. She learns to read, and in this ancient city, famous for its libraries, she finds what might be the last copy of a centuries-old book, the story of Aethon, who longs to be turned into a bird so that he can fly to a utopian paradise in the sky. Outside the walls is Omeir, a village boy, conscripted with his beloved oxen into the army that will lay siege to the city. His path and Anna’s will cross.

In the present day, in a library in Idaho, octogenarian Zeno rehearses children in a play adaptation of Aethon’s story, preserved against all odds through centuries. Tucked among the library shelves is a bomb, planted by a troubled, idealistic teenager, Seymour. This is another siege.

And in a not-so-distant future, on the interstellar ship Argos, Konstance is alone in a vault, copying on scraps of sacking the story of Aethon, told to her by her father.

Anna, Omeir, Seymour, Zeno, and Konstance are dreamers and outsiders whose lives are gloriously intertwined. Doerr’s dazzling imagination transports us to worlds so dramatic and immersive that we forget, for a time, our own.

Slow build up in the begining but in the end it was so worth it! This book is told from multiple perspectives at different points in time and it was really interesting to see how they all were connected to each other in the end.

If you enjoy reading historical fiction, I'd highly recommend this book!

I didn't even know this book existed before the beginning of October, when I unexpectedly received the audiobook. And because I'm a extreme mood reader, I forgot about all the arcs I've yet to read and my library borrows and picked this up, despite feeling that I might not like this.

And my instinct wasn't wrong. The author's writing is undoubtedly very beautiful and metaphorical but also too descriptive and wordy, and if I wasn't listening to the two narrators do an excellent job in the audiobook, I don't think I would have been able to finish the book. It's also very ambitious - spanning multiple genres like historical fiction, contemporary as well as speculative fiction/ sci-fi; while also telling a story that spans across centuries. To add to this complexity are five POVs, multiple timelines, and another subplot which connects all the storylines while also rendering the name for this book. I can't deny that I do enjoy multiple POVs because I'm a fan of ensemble casts, but the cast in this one are separated by time and they are very individualistic plotlines. And with the chapters being very short, we never get enough time at once to spend with one character and empathize with them. Not all are interesting either.

I think I loved Zeno and Konstance the most, with Zeno being my favorite with his penchant for surviving all obstacles in his life and finding joy in little things. I just kept wishing that he could see the results of his translation and how many hearts he touched, and maybe had found someone he loved and loved him back. Konstance is fascinating and I was impressed by her resourcefulness and resolve to find the truth, but one of the main twists of her plotline never got resolved and I'm still salty about it. While Anna and Omeir are the main catalysts behind how all these characters' stories intersect, I found their parts pretty boring because they both are just waiting for the war to happen and ultimately nothing comes out of it. I probably felt more emotional about Omeir's oxen Tree and Moonlight. And finally Seymour - he probably has the best character arc of everyone and we see so many facets of him, but I can't say I was too engaged with his story knowing what he was gonna do. And I also found the choice to make the only neurodivergent character in the book an antagonist very telling, especially when it didn't need to be so.

Ultimately, despite the multiple genres and centuries and characters, this is a story about books and stories and the connections they create. It's an ode to the love of books, the power of literature in helping us survive, the joy of finding words which were once considered lost, and the importance of translating antiquated works. But this was not enough for me to love the book because the writing wasn't for me. But if you are a fan of the author's previous works, you might enjoy it a lot more.

“Sometimes the things we think are lost are only hidden, waiting to be rediscovered.”

No other word to describe this but simply, wow. A beautiful story about the power of stories, the power of connection, and strength that can be found in our darkest hour. I haven't felt this moved by a story since One Hundred Years of Solitude, and it'll be a couple of days until I can digest it, but this is a simply can't miss story.

DNF at 71%
to keep it short- i think this is a good book but not in audiobook form.
I'll come back to this book in the future but right now i just can't do it, especially in audiobook form