Author(s): Anthony Doerr

Staff Picks- Read our reviews

The spectacular and heartbreaking new novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of All the Light We Cannot See. Cloud Cuckoo Land follows three storylines: Anna and Omeir, on opposite sides of the formidable city wall during the 1453 siege of Constantinople; teenage idealist Seymour and gentle octogenarian Zeno, in an attack on a public library in present day Idaho; and Konstance, on an interstellar ship bound for a distant exoplanet, decades from now. A single copy of an ancient text - the story of Aethon, who longs to be turned into a bird so that he can fly to the paradise of Cloud Cuckoo Land - provides solace, mystery and the most profound human connection to these five unforgettable characters. Like Marie-Laure and Werner in All the Light We Cannot See, Anna, Omeir, Zeno, Seymour and Konstance are dreamers and outsiders, struggling to survive and finding resourcefulness and hope in the midst of peril.

After reading Doerr’s first novel, “All the Light We Cannot See”, I was indeed expecting wonderful things from his next work; “Cloud Cuckoo Land” definitely did not disappoint. This book greatly exceeded my high expectations in so many ways that I was even prompted to write this gushing review, despite it being such a difficult book to summarize in any short form.

The origin for the story is actually “Birds”, an ancient Greek comedy written by the famous playwright Aristophanes. The classical roots of this book bring a real whimsical feel, while Doerr’s use of legitimate historical sources to gather information gives it real credibility and truly pays tribute to the story behind the story. The ancient tale of Aethon, an old shepherd who embarks on a journey to search for ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land’, is what binds the three main plot-lines of his story together; these three separate stories feature a farm boy and orphan girl from 15th century Constantinople, an Eco-warrior setting a bomb in a library in 2020, and a girl from the future who is part of an inter-generational space mission to search for a new planet. Each character’s journey, whether past, present, or future, is all effortlessly weaved together and brought to an epic conclusion that keep you guessing for weeks after the book is finished.

“Cloud Cuckoo Land” is a brilliantly thought-provoking and exceptionally well written piece of literature, one I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to anyone and everyone. This book is definitely in my top 3 reads for 2021!

ROSA