"Cloud Cuckoo Land" by Anthony Doerr

I've written multiple times about my struggle to find the "right" books (for me) to read. I tend to scour literary reviews and awards lists, which has led me to a lot of fantastic literature but can also, at times, feel like a slog. In fact, I've abandoned three books already this year: No Gods, No Monsters; The War for Gloria; and Behold the Dreamers. It's frustrating to put 100+ pages into a book only to decide it's not worth more of my time.

I was reluctant to start Doerr's 600-page Cloud Cuckoo Land, especially because I wasn't especially moved by his well-reviewed All the Light We Cannot See (or, at least, that's my memory. There's no record of me reading it on this blog, which is weird). Thus, what a surprising pleasure it was to be completely sucked in by a beautiful story.

In the realm of high-brow literature, there's plenty to pick apart in Cloud Cuckoo Land. Things work out a little too well in the end, and its ode to the power of storytelling is a bit trite. Still, I love a good inter-weaving narrative, and I'll always be a sucker for fundamentally good characters struggling to survive in an indifferent world. Doerr tells several interlocking tales, from those set in the siege of Constantinople in the 1450s to modern day to a future spaceship. Its ultimate message is that reading--and the sharing of stories--matters. And I can't quibble with that.