Cloud Cuckoo Land

★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10

1152 pages

What’s it about?

This novel centers around an ancient story written by Diogenes. The ancient text is about a bird, named Antheon, who wants to fly to Cloud Cuckoo Land. The story was supposedly written to cheer up Diogenes's sick niece. In this story, the ancient text has been handed down in multiple ways throughout the years. Anthony Doerr cleverly weaves this old story into three separate plotlines (past, present, and future) to make up this novel.

What did it make me think about?

The power of stories to share different truths. “A text- a book- is a resting place for the memories of people who have lived before. A way for the memory to stay fixed after the soul has traveled on.”

Should I read it?

All the Light You Cannot See by Anthony Doerr is one of my favorite books. So I have been looking forward to this one. However, it was long (and slightly daunting) so it took me a while to get there. I saved it for a long trip on a plane knowing I would have no other options. And am I glad…. this was a good one! Having said that- this book will not appeal to every reader. The disparate stories and characters are initially so different it is hard to keep the thread. If you push through you will be rewarded. If you enjoyed The Overstory by Richard Powers, then I think you will also enjoy this novel. This would be a great book club choice.

A passage I marked

“ But as he reconstructs Zeno’s translation, he realizes that the truth is infinitely more complicated, that we are all beautiful even as we are all part of the problem, and that to be part of the problem is to be human.”