This post contains affiliate links. One of my top five favorite books I’ve read in my lifetime is Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See. I have read that book twice and will happily reread it. So, when I heard that Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr was out, I requested it at the library and waited, and waited, and waited. Finally, my husband bought it for my birthday, and I excitedly started reading. I finished that book months ago, but I haven’t written the review until now because I have mixed feelings about it.
About Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
Like All the Light We Cannot See, Cloud Cuckoo Land is told through multiple points of view, and in the end, the characters’ stories connect. Unfortunately, Doerr tells this story across three different time periods, making the book hard to follow.
First, there is Zeno and Seymour, both of whom live in Idaho. Their stories are set in modern times. Their peers and community had shunned both men; however, how they respond to such adversity is vastly different.
Then, there is Anna and Omeir who live in Constantinople in the 1400s. Both will experience an epic battle.
Rounding out the three different time periods is Konstance who lives in the future. She has lived on a spaceship her entire life and knows nothing of the world the rest of us live in.
My Thoughts on the Book
I really, really wanted to love this book as much as All the Light We Cannot See, but I did not. Often, this book was confusing and disjointed because there are so many people to follow telling their stories and the stories span across hundreds of years.
In the end, the stories all did come together, but that happened at the last minute, and it was not as satisfying as it was in All the Light We Cannot See. Perhaps I’m judging this book more harshly because I am comparing it to one of my all-time favorite books. Ultimately, I feel like I should read this book again and see if there’s something I missed because the book was not what I expected.
I give Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr 4 out 5 stars on the Mom’s Plans’ scale.
Read More
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (A Book Review)
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (A Book Review)
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