My favourite thing about being in a bookclub is reading books you probably wouldn't have otherwise read. I am a bit obsessed with finding new books. Lately I've cooled it a bit because my literal "to read" shelf is getting too full. My goodreads "to read" shelf is also very full but does not pose real-life problems such as my cat knocking all of the books on the floor or my partner not being pleased with books lying around all over the house. I mean they lie all around the house anyway no matter what the "to read" shelf looks like but I'm trying to not look like a full blown hoarder....
Anyway, bookclubs are great for finding new reads. So far I have not had a book that I really struggled with getting through, though one of my book club members really does push my limits when it comes to trying new things. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr is definitely one of those books. It's long (have I told you about my 550+ page phobia...?), there is some utopia/futuristic/sci-fi stuff going on, there's lots of time jumping, actually lots is a drastic understatement. This book is time jumping. That's literally what it is. One minute we are in space in the... somewhat distant future(?) then we are in Constantinople, then we are in 2020, then we are reading an ancient greek myth... This sounds like NOT the right book for me. As I say to my grade 3s a good fit book is one that is a good length, has mostly words you know with some hard words, is about something you're interested in and you can answer questions about what you read. This book is slightly too long for me, has some greek and some sci-fi words, had a little bit of a hostage situation and western civ history but was otherwise not really something I'm interested in and if you ask me any really tough questions about what happened I most likely won't know the answer. That being said, I'm still glad I read it, and this book is extremely well written.
Anthony Doerr also wrote All the Light We Cannot See which I also read and I also didn't love but was still glad I read it. For those of you wondering why I don't give star reviews on my blog, I really hate assigning numbers to books. In my opinion, if an author works really hard and writes something very intelligent, somewhat interesting and it just didn't happen to be the perfect book for me, I have a hard time giving it a bad score. Thus, I will not do that on this blog. Both of Doerr's books were exceedingly well written, slightly too long for me, and are at the top of reading lists and (will) win prizes. My point is, they are good books, people who like reading critically acclaimed books should read them. You will learn things, you will engage your mind, you will be stunned by the artistry and thought process this genius writer has managed to create. But if you're anything like me, they wont be your favourite book.
Cloud Cuckoo Land is essentially about a story that was written in ancient Greece and passed on to others in pieces over time. There are several sections to the book, that time jump, but have some themes woven throughout, such as loneliness and a drive to learn more and make a difference. The main stories revolve around: 1) Anna and Omeir living in the 1400s near and in Constantinople. Both are sort of orphans, who face difficult challenges in their young lives and are caught up in the chaos that is the world at this time. Anna also searches for and learns to read writing, which is part of the woven thread of the story. 2) Konstance who lives on a space ship that is essentially a noahs arc/mars mission where people have signed up to start a new civilization on a plant far away that none of them will actually live to see. Technology similar to siri, google earth and VR are essential in this part of the story, and Konstance learns that you might say you can find anything (on the internet) but can you really learn EVERYTHING? 3) Seymore, a child/teen with autism who is distraught when a condo company destroys the forest near his house and kills his friend an owl. 4) Zeno an elderly man who is directing a play created by 5th graders at a library that is called Cloud Cuckoo Land. Zeno's whole live is covered throughout the story and includes war (and a gay lover lost in war), and a desire to piece together a codex of ancient greek myth called Cloud Cuckoo Land. 5) each chapter starts with a section of the codex/greek myth that Anna, Zeno and eventually Konstance and Seymore, are all working together, hundreds/thousands of years apart, to try to piece together.
My book club all feel that this is a book that might need more than one reading. If you decide to give this one a go, take your time but also read it when you don't have other things going on. You might get confused. You might need to re-read a section. Rest assured that it will all come together eventually and will be worth it. But this is not a quick and easy read. Cloud Cuckoo Land is to literary fiction as Documentary is to Reality TV, they may be similar but one you might be able to veg to, while the other requires reflection and understanding. It is a work of art.
