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Cloud Cuckoo Land

Anthony Doerr

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Jul 23, 2022 Lisa Vegan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: dogs, z2022, books-about-books, goodreads-author, zz-5star, historical-fiction, speculative-fiction, bookclub, novel, 1-also-at-librarything

I read this for my read world book club. It is our September 2022 book selection. It’s a perfect discussion book and I would have loved to do this as a buddy read too.

I found it to be completely engrossing, It is long but it didn’t feel long. There are short chapters with alternating perspectives and for me the book was a page-turner.

Brilliantly written and constructed.

There were multiple time periods and multiple characters but even though I wasn’t sure how they were all connected I enjoyed I read this for my read world book club. It is our September 2022 book selection. It’s a perfect discussion book and I would have loved to do this as a buddy read too.

I found it to be completely engrossing, It is long but it didn’t feel long. There are short chapters with alternating perspectives and for me the book was a page-turner.

Brilliantly written and constructed.

There were multiple time periods and multiple characters but even though I wasn’t sure how they were all connected I enjoyed every part. As I read I had some correct guesses and some times when I didn’t even know what connection to guess.

This is both historical fiction and speculative fiction.

As I read I looked up information about the Fall of Constantinople.

Wow! I loved this all the way through and then I got to a part toward the end of chapter 18 and Wow! Wow! Wow! The book felt nearly perfect to me until the second to last chapter. In the second to last chapter (view spoiler) In the last chapter (view spoiler)

Konstance, Zeno, Seymour, Anna, and Omeir, and many supporting characters including both humans and animals. I liked all their stories, though most of the time some more than others. I’m glad that Konstance’s sections both started and ended the book. The story within the story was not my favorite part on its own but I enjoyed it in its various contexts. I loved how each story weaved together and got connected. Many different places too: The Argos, Idaho (Lakeport, the Lakeport Public Library, a correctional facility, Boise), Constantinople, Korea, roads to Edrine, Constantinople, etc., the Rhodope Mountains of Bulgaria, and Qaanaaq. The story is brilliantly constructed. The characters and their relationships are interesting and memorable.

I appreciated how the topical issue of climate change has a central role in this book.

There is an Author’s Note and a Reading Group Guide in the back of the book.

4-1/2 stars ...more

19 likes · Like · see review

Dec 29, 2022 Melinda Worfolk rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2020-2024, fiction, speculative-fiction

This was a page turner end I enjoyed it. It’s ambitious, but I think for the most part the author succeeds in what he sets out to do. It’s a tribute to storytelling and storytellers, and I enjoyed being told a story. Well, several stories, all intertwined. I had a real soft spot for Omeir, Anna and Zeno, but in the end all the characters interested me.

3 likes · Like · see review

May 27, 2022 Michelle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-about-books, sci-fi, lendable-ebook, book_club_irl, lit_fic, historical-fiction, ebook, war_is_hell

A friend recently asked me what I was reading for book club, and I told her, "well, there's this ancient greek fantasy tale about a guy who gets transformed into a fish and a bird and sees the whole world, and that's a framing story for multiple characters whose tales get braided together by the end... um, it's very literary."

And that's both true and utterly not what the book is about. The blurb up top, which describes those separate characters and their varied lives - a girl in Constantinople ...more

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Jun 03, 2022 martha rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-star-favs, audiobook, year-2022, speculative-fiction, popsugar-2022

Oh! This counts for Popsugar 2022 prompt 7: A Book with an Onomatopoeia in its Title

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Dec 01, 2021 junia rated it liked it

Okay, so objectively, this is a Really well-written book. Expect nothing less from Doerr who can weave multiple narratives expertly.

I think because I trusted the author, I kept going. How did these seemingly disparate narratives connect?

Also the classics person in her really appreciated the nod to Apuleius and just the timeless mythology of the drive towards knowing all and what happens when you do.

At the same time. It was just... not the most enjoyable and I felt like I had to WORK through it b ...more

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Feb 08, 2023 Marigold rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-fiction, five-stars, fiction-2020-2030, books-about-books-reading-writing, climate-change-fiction, adventure

I can't begin to explain how much I loved this novel or why! It may be the perfect book for me. Part historical fiction, part speculative fiction, this fabulous feat of adventure and story telling moves between different timelines and character perspectives, and is tied together by a "story within a story" - the inner story being its own fabulous adventure written in ancient Greece, preserved, translated and passed on across countries and centuries. It's also a tribute to books, libraries and th ...more

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