Cloud Cuckoo Land: the new novel and Sunday Times bestseller from the author of All the Light We Cannot See
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THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AND NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
‘A dazzling epic of love, war and the joy of books’ Guardian
‘There is magic in this place … You just have to sit and breathe and wait and it will find you’
Fifteenth-century Constantinople. Present day Idaho. The future, and humanity’s last hope.
Across time and space, five young dreamers are bound by a single ancient text. Together, they tell a story of a world in peril; of the power of words, of resilience, and of hope against all odds.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of All the Light We Cannot See returns with a heart-breaking, magnificent epic of human connection and a love letter to storytelling itself.
‘Wonderment and despair, love and destruction and hope – all find their place in its sumptuously plotted pages’ Observer
‘Ingenious, hopeful and totally absorbing’ Financial Times
‘This engagingly written, big-hearted book is a must-read’ Daily Mirror
Anthony Doerr’s book ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land’ was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 27-09-2021.
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Additional information
| Publisher | 1st edition (29 Sept. 2022), Fourth Estate |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 592 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0008478678 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0008478674 |
| Dimensions | 12.9 x 3.6 x 19.8 cm |
by Amazon Customer
This book was recommended to me because I loved ‘All the Light We Can Not See’, and I love Cloud Cuckoo land even more. It’s so beautifully and skillfully researched and written. There are several stories in the story, all interwoven together. It all flows together – it’s difficult to find a better word – beautifully. I think everyone should read this book and I’ll happily go on and on and on about it now. Many thanks to the author and his team.
by Amazon Customer
Excellent literary novel. Reminds me of the Cloud Atlas. Page turning story telling gripping and easy to read. Loved it.
by Miss R Howes
I just came across this by accident and I’m so glad I did. It’s written as a series of interlocking stories and when I reached the end of a chapter and the next chapter was about a different set of characters I thought “ oh no I want to know what happens here” but…3 lines in I was gripped by the next bit. Such a clever book and a gentle read. Highly recommended.
by Dr. I.
One of the best book I’ve ever read! Utterly touching and how the different stories are woven into each other is absolutely brilliant!
by Kindle Customer
A truly stunning read that at the outset seems too fantastical to believe, but believe, immerse yourself in this truly astonishing tale with its mesmerising prose and plot.
Links so tenuous become solid and it all makes sense in the end.
The most original work I think I have ever read. Simply brilliant.
by Louise Gulliver
This is a book about what it is to be human. To live, suffer, survive, embrace, overcome. Warts and all! Could be one of my favourite books ever
So well thought out, allegorical and dare I say ‘current’
by Steph O
Found it hard going to start with but as the chapters got longer and the characters developed I got more invested. Really interesting concept and it makes you think
by Siltone
Having been blown away with All The Light We Cannot See (possibly my favourite novel of all time) I experienced a degree of trepidation when it came to the thought of reading Mr Doerr’s next publication, Cloud Cuckoo Land. When I checked out the synopsis I couldn’t help but think that this new book was so very different to the author’s previous Pulitzer Prize winning novel. I was therefore worried that I may not connect with it as I did with ATLWCS. Adding to my hesitancy was the fact that although I had read so many glowing reviews from readers who had absolutely loved CCL, I couldn’t help but also notice the minority who commented that they’d loved All The Light …but who were not impressed by this new offering. So, it’s quite understandable if you are harbouring the same kind of reservations as I was, but I can assure you, if you do just a little bit of simple research beforehand, you’ll come to appreciate (like I did) the work and imagination that went into creating this magnificent body of fiction. In other words, don’t approach this book cold, have a broad inkling of what it’s about first. By ‘research’ I mean that it’s best to listen to the author explain his motives, inspirations, and reasons for writing Cloud Cuckoo Land, and why he structured the novel in the way that he did. To this end, I can highly recommend a ‘spoiler free’ interview with the writer himself which can be be found via: QBD Book Club: Cloud Cuckoo Land with Anthony Doerr (Youtube). That video is well worth the thirty minutes it takes to watch, you’ll definitely gain a deeper understanding of Cloud Cuckoo Land, and that will better prepare you for what I consider to be a fantastic read.
Essentially, there are five principle characters in the book who live in three separate time periods (15th century Constantinople, the present-day, and the far future). The novel is written in short chapters, which jump backwards and forwards between those characters and the time periods they live in. I consider Mr Doerr nothing short of a class act, so he manages this process without ‘losing’ the reader. By the way, these amazing characters do have a ‘connection’ which is explored and revealed as the story progresses, and this ‘interconnectedness’ is an important element within the novel. Cloud Cuckoo Land also makes many references to the importance of preserving, telling and reading stories so, not surprisingly, Anthony Doerr dedicates this novel to librarians.
All I can add is that the story-telling in this book is exquisite and flows beautifully. It’s a novel that really did have me firmly within its grasp from the very first page, and contained many passages which brought me so much joy. It’s for those reasons that I want to spread the word to people who, like me, appreciate the power that stories can hold, and how really good books can keep you spellbound until you reach the very end, hand on heart, Cloud Cuckoo Land is such a book.
I just hope my review has enticed you to beg, steal or borrow a copy of Cloud Cuckoo Land ASAP, hunker down in your favourite reading place with it, then proceed to slowly savour every chapter of this marvellous novel – and I sincerely hope you enjoy it every bit as much as I did. I shall conclude my review with one of my favourite quotes ‘A room without books is like a body without a soul.’
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