Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Amy  

historical fiction, contemporary fiction, science fiction, fantasy

Cloud Cuckoo Land is actually multiple stories. It details five separate main characters living in three different points in time. Konstance is a girl living in the future on a spaceship as it heads for a planet determined to be suitable for human habitation. Zeno is an old man living in present day Idaho, who finds himself in the midst of an act of violence by a disturbed teenager, Seymour, in a library. In the 15^th century, Anna is an orphan in Constantinople and Omeir is taken from his Turkish home to join the Ottoman Empire’s army in its battle for Greece.

Typically, when reading a novel that I selected based on the fact that I’ve enjoyed other novels by the author, I don’t pay much attention to the book summary description from the publisher before reading it because I prefer to be surprised.  After 8 minutes of the audiobook, however, I was really confused and felt the need to refer to the description. That summary helped a lot. Then, I restarted the audiobook from the beginning and was much less confused.  This novel is really four separate stories: one of which is in a future world (sci-fi), one of which is in an ancient world (historical fiction), one in the current world (contemporary fiction), and one in a fantasy world. Each of the three realistic tales includes the same ancient fantasy story from Greco-Roman times called Cloud Cuckoo Land.

This novel was fascinating. As with All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr tells beautiful tales with some sections that are harsh and difficult to read within a broader hopeful story arc. And, in this novel, he even added humor via the very silly ancient story of Cloud Cuckoo Land! The novel ranged from light and fanciful to deathly serious. The characters were very well drawn and I grew concerned and hopeful for all of them. Plus, I wanted to know if the three main storylines would intersect beyond the Cloud Cuckoo Land link since they were, after all, in the same novel.

There are common themes throughout the various characters’ tales: travel, nesting (in a few senses of that word), man’s impact on nature, nature’s impact on man, siblings, libraries, librarians, children, disease/disfigurement, attacks, death, deceit, education, discovery, adventure, survival, trees, and birds.

The way Doerr managed to weave these very different tales together into one novel was really stunning. I also loved the artistry he created in this novel, especially with the dedication of this novel to his niece. (It makes me wonder if there really is a niece.) In the end, the messages within and the moral of the novel was  heartwarming. It was a very well-written novel and I enjoyed it a lot.

There were two audiobook narrators. Marin Ireland was the main narrator while Simon Jones read the Cloud Cuckoo Land sections. Marin did a terrific job like she usually does, with a variety of voices and terrific voice acting. I give her an A. Simon was hilarious and perfectly cast for this role. I give him an A as well.