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A review by oomilyreads
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
5.0
Cloud Cuckoo Land written by Anthony Doerr, narrated by Marin Ireland & Simon Jones
A impressive & inventive literary fiction. Doerr’s well-crafted story transcends across different genres: historical fiction, contemporary, sci fi & fantasy. 5 different lives interwoven across 7 centuries that seem like separate stories but brilliantly tied together by the threads of history & an invented manuscript written by the real Greek philosopher Diogenes.
Each character is well developed from childhood into adulthood. Their stories complex & intricate, each surviving & searching for their own place in this world. In present day Idaho, 86yo Zeno Ninis is directing a play called Cloud Cuckoo Land for a cast of 5th graders. Below them in the library, 17yo Seymour is armed & planning an ecoterrorist attack. 500 years earlier in 1453 century Turkey & Greece, 13yo orphaned Anna lives within the walls of Constantinople (Greek Christian Empire) while Omeir, a cleft-lipped village boy & his beloved oxen are ordered to join the Ottoman forces (Turkish Islam Empire) in the siege of Constantinople. In the 22nd century, 14yo Konstance is trapped inside a vault with AI Sybil to keep her company traveling towards a new planet.
These disparate characters with different stories are like pieces of a puzzle & brought together cohesively linking them with the fictional ancient Greek story of Aethon in his pursuit for utopia city in the clouds. Their stories making me feel sadness, joy, compassion, love & ultimately contentment.
This is a love letter to storytellers, librarians & the stories they preserve & celebrate.
“A book is a resting place for the memories of people who have lived before. A way fo the memory to stay fixed after the soul has travelled on.”
Thank you @librofm @simon.audio for the audiobook & @dartfrogg @scribner for the physical book. Narrators @marinireland & Simon Jones are brilliant. Having both to read in tandem was fantastic as @anthonydoerrwriter 's masterpiece is meant to be immersive!
A impressive & inventive literary fiction. Doerr’s well-crafted story transcends across different genres: historical fiction, contemporary, sci fi & fantasy. 5 different lives interwoven across 7 centuries that seem like separate stories but brilliantly tied together by the threads of history & an invented manuscript written by the real Greek philosopher Diogenes.
Each character is well developed from childhood into adulthood. Their stories complex & intricate, each surviving & searching for their own place in this world. In present day Idaho, 86yo Zeno Ninis is directing a play called Cloud Cuckoo Land for a cast of 5th graders. Below them in the library, 17yo Seymour is armed & planning an ecoterrorist attack. 500 years earlier in 1453 century Turkey & Greece, 13yo orphaned Anna lives within the walls of Constantinople (Greek Christian Empire) while Omeir, a cleft-lipped village boy & his beloved oxen are ordered to join the Ottoman forces (Turkish Islam Empire) in the siege of Constantinople. In the 22nd century, 14yo Konstance is trapped inside a vault with AI Sybil to keep her company traveling towards a new planet.
These disparate characters with different stories are like pieces of a puzzle & brought together cohesively linking them with the fictional ancient Greek story of Aethon in his pursuit for utopia city in the clouds. Their stories making me feel sadness, joy, compassion, love & ultimately contentment.
This is a love letter to storytellers, librarians & the stories they preserve & celebrate.
“A book is a resting place for the memories of people who have lived before. A way fo the memory to stay fixed after the soul has travelled on.”
Thank you @librofm @simon.audio for the audiobook & @dartfrogg @scribner for the physical book. Narrators @marinireland & Simon Jones are brilliant. Having both to read in tandem was fantastic as @anthonydoerrwriter 's masterpiece is meant to be immersive!