Pure magic.
Cloud Cuckoo Land is the intertwined stories of Anna, Omeir, Seymour, Zeno, and Konstance. They live in different times but are connected by a lost book about a man who dreams of a world beyond his imagination. He becomes a donkey, a fish, and eventually a bird. It’s a glorious fairy tale about love and finding true knowledge. I loved every part of it.
Konstance lives in the future. She’s in a time capsule travelling through space. Anna lives in the 15th century Constantinople, just before it’s about to be conquered. Omeir is part of the invading army. And Zeno and Seymour cross paths in a library in Idaho. Their stories merge in the same way that very different lives come together in All the Light We Cannot See.
Favourite moment: Anna convinces Licinius to be her tutor by reciting one of his lectures back to him.
Two weeks later she is coming back from the market, going out of her way to pass the rooming house, when she spies the goitrous tutor sitting in the sun like a potted plant. She sets down her basket of onions and with a finger in the dust writes,
Ωκεανσς
Around it she draws a circle.
“Eldest son of Sky and Earth. Here the known. Here the unknown.”
The man strains his head to one side and swivels his gaze to her, as though seeing her for the first time, and the wet in his eyes catches the light.
His name is Licinius.
Anna, page 3=48
Licinius teaches her the stories of Homer’s Odyssey, Greek grammar, and how to read.
This read is perfect for fans of Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See. Imagine Klara and the Sun meets Piranesi.
Find a Cloud Cuckoo Land at AnthonyDoerr.com