I read mostly 19th and 20th-century historical fiction. But recently, I found myself reading a book I would normally not have picked up: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. It was published in 2021 and is the next novel by the author of All the Light We Cannot See (2014).
I first heard of this novel when I was asked to be the last-minute substitute host of a book club where it would be discussed. Because the meeting was just five days away, and the book 600 pages long, I downloaded the audio version - and managed to finish it on the morning of the meeting.
Perhaps because I'm not so interested in fiction that's set in the very distant past or in the future, I found it a bit difficult to follow the various story lines. But the discussion at the book-club meeting gave me more insight. People had different opinions and interpretations, depending on whether they read a print, electronic, or audio version of the book. For example, there's a single narrator in the audio version, which I found made the frequent switch between stories rather confusing. Chris, who had read the print version, said she was able to keep the various stories straight in her mind, taking breaks at the end of each story line.
If I had looked up some of the historical references, it probably would have made things clearer to me. I did later read about Diogenes and learned that he had been a real person, but that his manuscript, which is core to the novel, is fictional. I also learned that a "cloud cuckoo lander" is someone who often does things that make sense only to themselves, even though they are frequently clever things. Viewing the characters through this lens has indeed piqued my interest. Perhaps I will revisit this book. And when I do, I'll read the print version, slowly.
Anthony Doerr's German translator, Werner Löcher-Lawrence, writes:
The novel reaches from the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century into a possible, not-so-faraway future. Two young people struggle to survive the siege and fall of Constantinople; a boy in today's America thinks he has to become an eco-warrior to save the world; and the journey of a spaceship trying to cross galaxies finds an unexpected end.
The different time layers are interwoven by an old manuscript, which fascinates our protagonists in different ways - but the connections between them go much further: It's the everlasting human struggle to survive, to find one's place in history, and to overcome fear and loneliness. It was a joy to translate this and switch between eras. It's well written, intelligent, brimming with ideas, moving, and deeply insightful. I like books that keep surprising me till the end.