Cloud Cuckoo Land

Normcore narrative fiction ...and I unapologetically loved it!

I get it. At 600 page, a half dozen protagonists, and three different eras telling a pastoral epic, eco-literary treatise and sci-fi exploration this should feel overindulgent. I worried that it was evidence of a literary giant at the height of his influence eschewing the mitigating influence of a sharp editor and allowed to just ramble on. But I was fully here for it.

It goes without saying that it's been a year and I'm frankly exhausted. So I'm just perfectly primed for this bit of storytelling magic concocted to tuck us in at night. Anthony Doerr knows that when it comes to stories “if it's told well enough, for as long as the story lasts, you get to slip the trap.”

I'm here for the harelipped Omeir's deep understanding of his beloved oxen Tree and Moonlight. I feel that primal, earthy connection Seymour Stuhlman has staring into the eyes of the great grey owl he names Trustyfriend. I co-sign on the power of libraries and the enduring strength of a good story. I'm even down with the “dull-witted, mutton-headed lamebrain” Aethon dreaming of a city in the sky.

This is a bedtime story for adults. At 600 pages I would have happily read 600 more. I was content to just follow along as Doer unspooled this meandering narrative. I'm Fred Savage being read to by Peter Falk in the Princess Bride. This is uncomplicated and cozy and exactly the book I needed to read at the right time. Pure magic.