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Words. Words. Words. We’re so ready to talk to you about words! Specifically the words of Deanna Raybourn as we continue reading and discussing her Veronica Speedwell Mystery Series of books at Virtual Book Club! Join Heart.Wants.Books. By registering here as we gather on Friday, December 9th at 7:30pm CDT to dissect book number three, A Treacherous Curse. Nikki will probably be re-reading books 1 and 2 on audio before we discuss book 3 and Ashley plans on going into book 3 without a re-read. However neither of us recommends starting this series with the title we’re discussing. Spoilers will abound! So, get reading!

This may come as a shock to you, darling readers, but Cloud Cuckoo Land is the first Anthony Doerr book I have read. A surprising admission for you, I am sure, since you all know I read oh so many books and All The Light We Can Not See has been such a bestseller – 200 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, won the Pulitzer Prize in 2015 – among numerous other awards and accolades, and is being released as a limited series by Netflix in the near future. Not only is Doerr a novelist, he has written a memoir – Four Seasons in Rome, and his short stories have been published in multiple anthologies and have won O. Henry awards for short fiction. His works have been published into 40 different languages, and if you want more specific information, I suggest you read the biography on his website. He lives with his family in Boise, Idaho.

In the 637 pages there unfolds three timelines and five points of view all centered around an ancient Greek novel, Cloud Cuckoo Land, that has been read, enjoyed, preserved, and translated repeatedly over hundreds of years. Doerr’s story is about… stories. The way they are told to us, either orally or through written or printed words. How we communicate to each other about the story – the story passing through each of our memories and experiences where we glean our own interpretation. Or the shared experience of listening to the story with a loved one for the first time, and how sometimes the reason the story exists in the first place was to ensnare the imagination into leaving reality for just a short period of time. How the power of story can save us, and how one story changes the lives of everyone it touches over the course of centuries can in itself become a story.

The most telling thing about this book, however, is that it is dedicated to librarians: then, now, and in the years to come. They are the preservationists of freedom of thought and expression as well as bastions of kindness and tolerance in a world that doesn’t seem to value those things. More importantly it’s a world that doesn’t seem to want those values to be found together in the same place or in the same persons – a kind, caring, tolerant person who also values freedom of thought and expression for everyone else? Eureka, a truly good human being, is a librarian!  

I am giving Cloud Cuckoo Land a 4.5 star review, rounded up to five. I probably won’t re-read it, but I’m certainly going to read Doerr’s other works and recommend them to everyone I know who loves stories and how they find themselves to us – usually through a kind, tolerant librarian. This book certainly made me think about stories, about technology, about climate change, but mostly about the way we treat each other as humans and how stories can bring even the most disparate persons together.

What piece of fiction has connected you to another person in a surprising way?

~Ashley

P.S. Go Hug A Librarian.

As some of you may recall, this is not my first, but my third title to read by Anthony Doerr.  I first read All The Light We Can Not See which is where I fell in love with Doerr’s writing and storytelling, and also developed immense side eye for the way he structured the novel combined with the (lack of sufficient) labeling of the chapters. Read: I had to go back to the table of contents during almost every chapter transition to figure out where we were in the timeline compared to the last chapter, and yes, I’m still bitter.  I’ve also read, and adored, his memoir Four Seasons in Rome, which thank goodness is linear.  I’m definitely here for reading the rest of Doerr’s backlist and anything else he wants to gift us in the future, just know it could require more brain cells than you have during tech week of your child’s play. (Just me, it’s fine.)

Just as I expected, I adored Cloud Cuckoo Land!  Yes, it’s a 600+ page book, but not a one of those pages, paragraphs, or sentences is a waste.  Ashley already told you about the story, but I want to add that those three timelines she mentioned cover range from the 1400s to the 2400s, and they’re all very well labeled, somewhat linear, and very connected.  Despite the linear nature of the story, Doerr pretty bluntly tells you the ending well before you get there, if you only notice, and for this anxious reader who sometimes needs a reminder that not all books adhere to a formula, it was the best!  There were characters to root for, lots of plot to move them along for readers who just keep reading.  Yes, I’m confessing that about 10% in I was wondering what in the world was going on, then at about 15% it clicked and the rest of the book was just a fantastic ride!  

I’m also giving Cloud Cuckoo Land a 4.5 star review, rounded up to five.  I was delighted by the linear timeline, and am even more excited to see what adventure Doerr brings us next!  If you’re intimidated by structure or length in a novel, perhaps pick up the memoir first to immerse yourself in Doerr’s picturesque, gorgeous writing, and then see where it leads you.

What’s a novel that confused you until you connected the dots?

~Nikki

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