#cloud cuckoo land

[jareckiworld]

Hermann Reimer — Wolkenkuckucksheim (Cloud Cuckoo Land) [oil on canvas, 2020]

#Hermann Reimer #german art #contemporary painting #cloud cuckoo land

[smokefalls]

Why is it so hard to transcend the identities assigned to us when we were young?

Anthony Doerr, Cloud Cuckoo Land

#Anthony Doerr #Cloud Cuckoo Land #quote #fiction #2023 reads

[solanine-and-swords]

do you get it. do you even understand

cloud cuckoo land, anthony doerr // the raven king, maggie steifvater

#web weaving #the raven cycle #trc #ronan lynch #adam parrish #pynch #cloud cuckoo land #book analysis #the raven king #trk #ccl x trc #trc x ccl #mine

[hauntedhikingsociety]

it's been a while since i did a book review post but i'm not sure if i can be normal about this one boys

cloud cuckoo land by anthony doerr is a novel about the preservation of a (fictional) diogenes play of the same name. but it's actually a book about five of God's most autistic soldiers and the ways in which this play shapes their lives. but it's actually a book about how books and stories give our lives meaning in the face of unthinkable horrors. but it's actually about the hope that his niece will feel better.

this book says it's all worth it. even the shit parts. maybe especially the shit parts. it says if you can make it to the end of the story maybe something beautiful will be waiting for you there.

#i know this tells you nothing but like. you gotta read it #please read it #i need someone to go insane about this book with me #cloud cuckoo land #anthony doerr

[ijustreadthisbook]

Top Five Books I've Read (so far) In 2023:

5. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr (Audiobook): One of the more unique novels I've read in a while, this book bounces around in time and place slowly weaving each dispirate story together around the fictitious ancient greek story of Cloud Cuckoo Land. Each character is so well created, and the slow thrill of putting the pieces together was so satisfying. The ending made me stare at the wall for a few moments before I could come back to earth.

Read if you like: Ted Chiang short stories, The Birds by Aristophanes, Margaret Atwood sci-fi

4. Truth of the Divine by Lindsay Ellis (Physical book): The sequel to her debut novel, Axiom's End, this book takes the monster fucking story to a whole new level exploring the concepts of attraction, loyalty, love, and humanity. The world building is incredible, the main character doesn't have that awful trait that a lot of sci-fi audience inserts have where they cannot possibly make logical connections and answer questions themselves. Cora is smart, and Ellis assumes you are smart too. Plus the recreation of 2007 era America is fucking perfect.

Read if you like: Early 2000's nostalgia, Jeff VanderMeer books, Axiom's End, 90s alien movies like Contact, Independence Day, Aliens

3. The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegmund-Broka (Physical book): I've read a bunch of romance this year, and this was one of my absolute favorites. Certainly not the spiciest I've read, but the interplay between the two points of view creates a romantic, sexual, and professional tension that is so palpable and delicious. I loved the meta narrative of two people writing a book together about two people writing a book together, and the exploration of what making art together means and the intimacy required to do it. It's a little predictable, but that's what you want from a romance novel. This was a fun book with just enough stakes and just enough stress to make the payoff so worth it.

Read if you like: Emily Henry books, movies like You've Got Mail, Something's Gotta Give, Always Be My Maybe

2. The It Girl by Ruth Ware (audiobook): I love Ruth ware. I love her. I have read everything she has written so far and will read anything she puts out. I selected this one for my list because I love the setting of a close knit school campus, a shining bright young woman with a dark secret, and the real time unravelling of a murder mystery through the eyes of someone on the ground. This book explores the idea of how little we can know about the people we are closest to, and how easy it is to blind ourselves to the truth because of what we want to be true. It's a captivating read, easily finished in a day or two.

Read if you like: One by One by Ruth Ware, Gossip Girl, Jennifer's Body

1. The Secret History by Donna Tart (physical book): I cannot believe how long it took me to read this book. It was one of those books that kept getting recommended to me, but I was worried it was over hyped and would be awful. I tried to read it about two years ago and couldn't even get through the first chapter. And yet, somehow, I picked this book up and did not put it down for a week and a half. It's incredible. An absolute masterclass on Dark Academia, tension building, atmospheric storytelling, all the things I love the most about literature with all the modern trappings of an aesthetic I have also come to love. Rich kids in a private school testing the boundaries of privilege through the POV of an outsider desperate to be accepted is one of my favorite tropes and this book is the definition of how to do it right. It's dark, its academic, it's murdery, it's the 90s, it's excellent. I'll be reading this one again.

Read if you like: A Separate Peace, Brideshead Revisited, Gentlemen and Players, The Talented Mr Ripley

#books and reading #my favorite books so far #the secret history #the it girl #truth of the divine #the roughest draft #cloud cuckoo land #anthony doerr #donna tart #lindsay ellis #ruth ware #emily wibberley #austin siegmund-broka #book recommendations #book review #book reviews #i just read this book

[litandlifequotes]

…the truth is infinitely more complicated, that we are beautiful even as we are all part of the problem, and that to be a part of the problem is to be human.

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

#anthony doerr #cloud cuckoo land #book #book quote #quote #words #reading #fiction

[aurorawest]

Reading update

Conned by Kim Fielding - 4.25/5 stars

Odder Still by DN Bryn - 3/5 stars

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig - 4/5 stars

Ended up enjoying this one a lot more than I thought I would. Definitely one of those philosophical-books-masquerading-as-fantasy books, but it was well written and the message resonated with me.

A Draught of Ash and Wine by Kristin Jacques - 3.75/5 stars

Draakenwood by Jordan L Hawk - 5/5 stars

This may have been the first in the series that I handed a 5 star rating to. Not that the rest of the series isn't really good, but this one stood out to me as being really REALLY good.

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr - 5/5 stars

Another one that I enjoyed WAY more than I thought I would. I normally don't go for books that do the whole characters-connected-through-time-by-the-same-story trope, but this one was very well done. The characters in the different time periods definitely played to things I love. The fact that it was unexpectedly queer was also such a nice surprise. This book is heavy going, and I wouldn't say it's exactly happy, but it's hopeful. A hyped book that was actually worth the hype.

Blyde and Pearce by Kim Fielding - 3.5/5 stars

Bring Me Home by Annabeth Albert - 3.75/5 stars

Jackdaw by KJ Charles - 5/5 stars

AHHHHHH omg omg. Oh this book. Ripped my heart out and stomped on it, then tenderly mended it. Ben and Jonah are one of the sweetest couples Charles has ever written. Maybe the sweetest? (considering there's a very dubcon-y sex scene at the beginning, this may seem like a strange thing to say, but really). I actually far and away preferred them to the main couple in the original Charm of Magpies trilogy. To be completely honest, I like all the Charm of Magpies World books better than the original trilogy, haha.

The Rest of the Story by Tal Bauer - 4.25/5 stars

Fool Hearts by Emmy Sanders - 3.75/5 stars

Shadows of the Lost by Maxym M Martineau - DNF at pg 60

Actually not a bad book at all, but it was too dependent on the author's previous series, which I didn't have any interest in reading.

The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro - DNF at pg 26

All the Right Notes by Dominic Lim - 5/5 stars

Lovely, funny book that had lots of music and cooking. It's told in a split time period structure which I thought worked really well.

Witch King by Martha Wells - 5/5 stars

I LOVED this book. I love Kai so so much. He's total blorbo material, so I'm honestly surprised this book isn't bigger on tumblr. The worldbuilding was immaculate, really interesting, and very refreshing in that it was very central Asia inspired. You don't see Fantasy Asian Steppe Cultures very much, so that was really cool. This is another one that is told with a split time period, and Wells did a really good job of tying the events of the past and the present chapters together thematically.

I really really really want a sequel.

And Then He Sang a Lullaby by Ani Kayode Somtochukwu - 4/5 stars

One of the reviews of this book said it had a very didactic ending, which I 100% agree with...but it was very well-written and worth a read. It takes place in Nigeria and is about two gay boys who eventually meet in college. It's not a happy book; don't be fooled by the blurb that makes it sound like a romance.

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley - 5/5 stars (reread)

You guys all know how I feel about Natasha Pulley.

The Master of Samar by Melissa Scott - 3.5/5 stars

Unnatural by Joanna Chambers - 5/5 stars

Fence: Disarmed by Sarah Rees Brennan - 5/5 stars

This book was so cute. Aiden and Harvard both finally pull their heads out of their asses. One of the unexpected joys of these novels is the relationship between Seiji and his father. It's really sweet.

I would fund Sarah Rees Brennan to continue writing Fence novels.

The Archive Undying - 2/5 stars

#the midnight library #matt haig #cloud cuckoo land #anthony doerr #draakenwood #jordan l hawk #jackdaw #kj charles #all the right notes #dominic lim #witch king #martha wells #and then he sang a lullaby #Ani Kayode Somtochukwu #fence #fence disarmed #sarah rees brennan #reading tag

[taumoeba]

imagine reading this quote and not losing it

[excerpt from Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr that reads: "By age seventeen he'd convinced himself that every human he saw was a parasite, captive to the dictates of consumption. But as he reconstructs Zeno's translation, he realizes that the truth is infinitely more complicated, that we are all beautiful even as we are all part of the problem, and that to be a part of the problem is to be human."]

#blah blah blah #quote #cloud cuckoo land #i cant believe i never posted about this book i think it was one of my top 3 of 2022 #maybe top 1 tbh

[stpauligirl]

I finished reading Cloud Cuckoo Land and LOVED IT. Thank you @winterrose527 for the recommendation!

Some favorite quotes:

“we are all beautiful even as we are all part of the problem, and that to be a part of the problem is to be human”

“Why is it so hard to transcend the identities assigned to us when we were young?”

“Why can’t healing happen as quickly as wounding? You twist an ankle, break a bone- you can be hurt in a heartbeat. Hour by hour, week by week, year by year, the cells in your body labor to remake themselves the way they were the instant before your injury. But even then you’re never the same: not quite.”

“There are many people in this world,” Himerius says, “who do not care to what purposes their engines are put. So long as they are paid.”

#cloud cuckoo land #book recommendations

[analogbooks]

A text–a book–is a resting place for the memories of people who have lived before.

– Anthony Doerr, Cloud Cuckoo Land

#quotes #books and libraries #reading #books #book quotes #library #cloud cuckoo land #anthony doerr #books & libraries #philosophy

[stochasm]

impressive how cloud cuckoo land appears to have been written to make me cry all the time

#cloud cuckoo land #Anthony doerr

[loyhargil]

#doctor who #classic doctor who #dwedit #the first doctor #my boi one #susan foreman #barbara wright #ian chesterton #edge of destruction #an unearthly child #anthony doerr #cloud cuckoo land #kate atkinson #a god in ruins #literature edit #doctor who edit #fan edit #book quotations

[mssboo]

all-time favourite literature characters (2/?)

↳ omeir (cloud cuckoo land)

“grandfather, omeir thinks, already i have seen things i did not know how to dream.”

#cloud cuckoo land #litcharacters #literature characters #book quotes #anthony doerr #bookblr #books & libraries #literature #historical fiction #cleft palate #omeir cloud cuckoo land

[jennamacaroni]

Hope is the pillar that holds up the world.

Anthony Doerr, "Cloud Cuckoo Land"

#anthony doerr #quotes #what i'm reading #cloud cuckoo land

[smokefalls]

Each morning comes along and you assume it will be similar enough to the previous one—that you will be safe, that your family will be alive, that you will be together, that life will remain mostly as it was. Then a moment arrives and everything changes.

Anthony Doerr, Cloud Cuckoo Land

#Anthony Doerr #Cloud Cuckoo Land #quote #fiction #2023 reads

[readingaway]

Danielle Babbles About Books - Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

What made you want to read it? - I loved All the Light We Cannot See (though I'd like to note that I didn't enjoy Doerr's short story collections, they were unremarkable.) And I once went to an event at the library where Doerr was one of the authors speaking and he read out of the draft for this. Mostly, though I wanted to read this because I liked the blurb.

What format did you read it in? - Audiobook

What parts or elements stood out to you most? - The layers to the story, the breadth, and how these disparate stories eventually coalesce.

Some thoughts - It's been... a couple years almost since I read this so my thoughts aren't particularly clear. I am a sucker for stories about human connection (though I am quite picky about these stories as well) so this, of course, appealed to me strongly on that front. I liked the blend of historical, contemporary, and sci fi genres and the tracing/ weaving of this frame narrative throughout. I loved the protagonists.

There's also the part about radicalization and neurodivergence (specifically autism) and how isolated and marginalized people, especially youth, are so easily preyed upon by radical groups (as well as cults and other extreme groups). I think this part of the story was very well done and compassionate, and offers many opportunities for the audience to think (and feel). though back when the book had recently come out I saw quite a few reviewers who were deeply upset by this.

I also noticed the owl thing continues. It's pretty hard to miss.

#cloud cuckoo land #anthony doerr #danielle babbles about books #book reviews #my reviews #booklr