Cloud Cuckoo Land

by Anthony Doerr

No cover — Anthony Doerr: Cloud Cuckoo Land (2021, HarperCollins Publishers Limited)

English language

Published May 7, 2021 by HarperCollins Publishers Limited.

ISBN:: 978-0-00-851290-3

View on OpenLibrary

(67 reviews)

17 editions

Ben reviewed Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

A tale about the roles we play in our lives and the goals we seek

5 stars

Probably one of my favorite books of all time.

This is a book that you need to be prepared to meet it where it's at. Don't go in with any preconceived notions, just let the words take you on a journey. Let your mind wander. Don't worry too much about the details - though if you do, you'll be rewarded as you piece together the puzzle of how it all connects.

It's a thoughtful, well-crafted tale of humanity, love, stories, hardship, and greed. The destructive consequences of pride. The love of human connection and storytelling. The question of what to make of yourself in the face of things gone wrong out of your control.

The beautiful thing about a fool is that he does not know when to give up. But after so much work, suffering, and failure... What's it all for?

vprokopets reviewed Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Зозулина земля за хмарами

4 stars

Спочатку нічого не зрозуміло, а потім як стає зрозуміло! Книга розповідає про декількох героїв, які пов'язані між собою. Декілька з них живуть в один і той же час, декілька — на тисячі років пізніше. Ми спостерігаємо, як одна старовинна історія стає для когось спасінням, для когось — ключом до загадки, для когось — магічним оберегом.

У кожному шматочку історії ти співчуваєш та переживаєш про кожну з дійових осіб. Тому після того, як я розібралась, що до чого, стало дуже цікаво читати, оповідь просто затягує тебе у вирій, є декілька несподіваних поворотів сюжету. Другу половину книги прочитала буквально за два дні, було дуже цікаво дізнатись, до чого призведе низка подій. Не впевнена, що можу прям горячо рекомендувати, але не шкодую, що зі мною трапилась ця книжка.

Wild Woila reviewed Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Elaborate but tenuous.

3 stars

(3 stars = I liked it)

Three time periods are braided together by an ancient Greek tale: 15th century Constantinople, the modern day, and a space-faring future. Elaborate but tenuous. On their own each story has potential, but together they don't quite make a whole. Like Cloud Atlas but less enthralling.

Reading time 7 days, 89 pages/day

#BookReview #Books #Bookstodon #BookWyrm #HistoricalFiction #SciFi

MrRaccoon13 reviewed Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Review of 'Cloud Cuckoo Land' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

Anthony Doerr does it again. I didn’t think he could write another book that I loved as much as I loved All The Lights We Cannot See, but he did. This book is fantastical, evocative, and emotional. Would recommend.

Olcia reviewed Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Review of 'Cloud Cuckoo Land' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I love this but it was heartbreaking

Kevin Scully reviewed Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Not your average history story

5 stars

Excellent book. A fabulous range of seemingly random threads all wonderfully joined together by the end. Romance, war, science fiction, history, small town family life, it's all here.

bondolo reviewed Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Review of 'Cloud Cuckoo Land' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Didn't really come together for me.

Kat Trigarszky reviewed Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Review of 'Cloud Cuckoo Land' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

This book had a slow start but my need to see how the seemingly disparate stories were woven together kept me going, and then around one-quarter of the way in, the stories picked up speed. From that point on, I loved this homage to books, libraries and their roles in our lives and I couldn’t put it down.

markm reviewed Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Review of 'Cloud Cuckoo Land' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Mr. Doerr has produced a simply written, but structurally complex novel with five protagonists who live in different times and places. All of the protagonists are marginalized somehow as children (e.g. deformity, homosexuality, hypersensitivity…). We follow them through time. Some will eventually interact (shades of All the Light We Cannot See), but all are linked by an ancient Greek story that the author has imagined (shades of Station Eleven). The events in the Greek story are echoed in the lives of the protagonists in the novel, and, I think, at least one message in the ancient story, that there’s no place like home, is echoed in the novel as a whole. Some of the philosophical notes seem platitudes, All times and all stories being one and the same in the end. or That’s what the gods do, they spin threads of ruin through the fabric of our lives, …

WorzelFG reviewed Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Review of 'Cloud Cuckoo Land' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I must firstly state that Cloud Atlas is one of my all time favourite books so there was going to be the risk of comparison from the beginning. But having read and been impressed by Doerr's "All the Light We Cannot See" I knew to trust a master storyteller and try to put comparisons to one side.
For maybe until half way through the book the storylines and characters weren't compelling and the comparison was deadly. How to compete with David Mitchell's satire, mystery and gothic horror/Science-fiction, but I should have trusted Anthony Doerr.
IT IS WORTH IT!
Characters deepen, storylines connect up and it is not at all predictable. By the end he took me somewhere else from the experience of Cloud Atlas, more optimistic even with the horrible realities, and fully winning it's place on my shelves not far from David Mitchell's works.

GG reviewed Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Review of 'Cloud Cuckoo Land' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

In a modern world where we can easily access almost any knowledge via the Internet, this novel is a reminder that written knowledge used to be rare, magical, and something one might risk their lives to protect. Stories and knowledge not written down eventually vanish along with everyone who knows them, which is what makes the written word so powerful. This story of a book that makes its way around the world and across the centuries, to touch the lives of dozens of people, is ultimately a love letter to books, wrapped into a series of compelling, interlocking stories of memorable characters. It was a joy to read and I would highly recommend it! I will add that it’s very long, and my pet peeve is novels that needed a better or more aggressive editor — but I feel this one earns its length. Try the audio book if it’s …

georgewhatup reviewed Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Review of 'Cloud Cuckoo Land' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

My rating isn't exclusively based on all the mentions of Greeks in this book but it didn't hurt.

pithypants reviewed Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Review of 'Cloud Cuckoo Land' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Doerr is a great writer. His prose is evocative and he creates characters that feel real. This book has five main seemingly disparate story lines that end up coming together, which I usually enjoy. The reason I'm only giving it 3 stars: it's somewhat unsatisfying. There are cool aspects to the story, but after 600 pages, I expect all the gaps to be filled. Instead, I walked away with a lot of questions which made me wonder if my audiobook was jumpy and skipped key sections. Having looked at the questions other readers ask, it seems the issue was the writing, not the audiobook.

Additionally, I'd be curious if there's any consensus among readers about which story lines were most compelling. I really enjoyed when the book focused on Konstance, Zeno and Seymour; I was bored and impatient when it focused on Anna and Omeir – and with the fable …