nyt book review cloud cuckoo land

Reading Ladies

Cloud cuckoo land [book review].

September 27, 2021

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Genre/Categories/Settings: Myth/Historical Fiction/Science Fiction/Contemporary/Literary Fiction mashup, Books About Books, Libraries/Librarians, Constantinople, Idaho, Spaceship

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links

My Summary:

Thanks #NetGalley @ScribnerBooks for a complimentary eARC of #CloudCuckooLand upon my request. All opinions are my own.

Some books are daunting to summarize and review. This is one. I apologize for the longer-than-usual summary.

Cloud Cuckoo Land is four stories in one. The stories involve three different time periods and genres and one myth (a story within a story).

One story is set in the 1400s in Constantinople. There are two main characters. One is a poor thirteen-year-old orphan girl who lives and works with other women who embroider the robes of priests. Anna is curious and exhibits an insatiable desire to learn to read. She discovers the ancient manuscript of the story of Aethon who wants to be turned into a bird. The other main character is Omeir, a village boy who lives outside the walls of Constantinople. He has a cleft palate and is an oxen whisperer. One day he is forced to join an invading army and sets out with the soldiers toward Constantinople. His path will cross with Anna’s.

Another story is set five hundred years later in a library in Idaho. In this contemporary story, Zeno is eighty something and volunteers at the library and right now he’s helping children rehearse for a play adaptation of the ancient story of Aethon. He will cross paths with a troubled teenager, Seymour, who has planted a bomb in the library shelves as a statement about the environment and the endangerment of Owls.

The third story is set in the future and is about young Konstance who is on a spaceship called the Aros. Her favorite story is one her father has told and retold about Atheon.

The fourth story is a myth about Aethon and his fascination with the city in the clouds and his quest to be turned into a bird.

The @PulitzerPrizes author of Cloud Cuckoo Land hops between the stories and time periods with great finesse and frequency.

My Thoughts:

“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.”

T ake Notes: My advice is take notes while reading! Once you are acclimated, the individual stories are engaging and distinct from one another.

Writing: The writing is beautiful and filled with vivid details and powerful imagery and is masterful in its structure and themes. Every sentence is expertly crafted. At 637 pages, Cloud Cuckoo Land is engaging, thoughtfully written, easily read, and yet ambitious. Readers need to be prepared for a great deal of hopping around between storylines, characters, and time periods. This is the challenging and ambitious aspect of the read. But trust the author and you will find your reading rhythm. Although there is a strong theme of hope, the stories are tinged with sadness, tragedy, and despair. Readers who love a twist will be pleased with one of the stories. I have no doubt that this book will be nominated for major awards. It’s brilliant from a writer’s point of view, and I especially loved the personification. I need to note that if you loved All the Light We Cannot See , this book is significantly different.

I Wish: Two of the three stories have satisfactory conclusions. I wish the third story of Konstance on the spaceship had a more satisfactory ending. I read it twice and was left hoping for more. Although it was a good story, it was more open-ended than the others and I have questions.

Connecting Themes : There are themes that connect all the content: love of stories, books, libraries, and storytelling, the importance of libraries, preservation of knowledge and thought, writing in the past that affects the future, and the importance of HOPE. In addition, each individual story has its own thoughtful themes. The author packs many substantial themes into these stories as well as some significant symbolism. At times I felt like I should be reading it as part of a class or at least with the benefit of a set of SparkNotes to aide my comprehension. I fear some of it went over my head.

Recommended: I’m recommending Cloud Cuckoo Land for readers who like a challenging and ambitious read, for fans of Anthony Doerr ( All the Light We Cannot See ), and for book clubs whose readers might enjoy reading this from a literary perspective.

Content Considerations: tragedy, poverty, physical deformity, death of a sister, bomb violence

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

Cloud Cuckoo Land Information Here

Meet the Author of Cloud Cuckoo Land, Anthony Doerr

Anthony Doerr was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Doerr lives in Boise, Idaho . Most notably, Doerr is the author of “All the Light We Cannot See,” the 2015 Pulitzer Prize winner. All the Light We Cannot See has recently been adapted for the screen by Netflix.

Is Cloud Cuckoo Land on your TBR?

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39 comments.

Looking forward to reading this

I hope you enjoy it Karen!

Wow sounds like quite a read Carol!

I’m just seeing your comment….weird WP…..it’s a memorable read for sure Nicki!

Beautiful review, Carol💜 I hadn’t made up my mind about this book until now. Off to add it to my shelf.

Thanks Jonetta! I think it’s TBR worthy and definitely worth a try! He’s such a great writer!

This is on my TBR and I was even sent a copy from the publishers but I’ve been holding off because of it’s length. Your review has definitely motivated me to start reading this soon@

Yes it’s an ambitious read! (Taking notes will help in the beginning) Enjoy!

Great review! I just put this on my TBR. It sounds so good.

Thanks! Hope you enjoy it!

In answer to your QOTD Carol….It is now!

Great review! This book certainly gives us a whole lot to think about, doesn’t it? I’m not sure I totally agree that the futuristic part didn’t have a conclusion, though. However, I’m not sure what he was trying to say with that story, so I get why you felt it was somewhat inconclusive.

Thanks Davida! Yes…Konstance story had a conclusion but it was a little obscure and a bit unsatisfactory which left me with lots of questions! I like your thinking here that it was unclear what he was trying to say.

[…] favorite reads of the month are Cloud Cuckoo Land (for its ambitious, creative, and complex story telling) and The Day the World Came to Town (for […]

I am seeing this everywhere! Great review.

Thanks! It’s an eye catching title! 😂

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Thanks Nicki! 🙌😍

[…] have backstories is tiresome. A recent example of a book that is too long (in my opinion) is Cloud Cuckoo Land. I feel like Zeno’s backstory involving the Korean War could have been severely shortened. In […]

[…] Genre: historical fiction/science fiction/contemporary fiction mashup. I’m curious about this new release by the author of All the Light We Cannot See. ***UPDATE: 4.5 Stars. A beautifully written, challenging, and complex read. My review of Cloud Cuckoo Land here. […]

This is a gorgeous cover!

Excellent review Carol. Not sure if this is for me or not. I don’t do well if there are a lot of characters or if there is a lot of hopping around. So glad you enjoyed it so much and that although challenging, it all came together for you.

Thank you Carla! I was unsure at first..but it all came together. It helps to take notes. And I think the hopping around would be difficult on audio. Print probably better for this one.

I would definitely not try this one on audio.

[…] after reading Cloud Cuckoo Land (650+ pages) by Anthony Doerr (which should have counted as three books!), I read three quick […]

I am reading it now. I don’t want to scare anyone off. It reminds me of some of those strange movies from the 60’s. Someone on acid. Too many things going on, too many characters, and timelines, and disjointed. But, I love the writing and I’m going to pursue for the challenge. I haven’t read The Lights We Can’t See. But, I hear that’s pretty awesome.

It’s an ambitious read! It starts to come together more and more…or maybe I just became better acclimated! It’s certainly unique!

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Hi, Carol – Thank you for this timely review. I loved All the Light We Cannot See and a friend recently recommended Cloud Cuckoo Land. I greatly appreciate your thoughts on this.

Doerr is amazing! Have you watched the Netflix adaptation of All the Light?

No, I haven’t seen it but my husband has. Some friends who have read the book found the movie much more violent which has given me pause.

Yes, I was a bit surprised by the violence and sadness. I’m sure it’s well made but I didn’t love it. Although the ending is more satisfying than the book.