Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

9 reviews

puntifexmaximus's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic, War, and Xenophobia

Minor: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Rape, Alcohol, Body shaming, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Death, Death of parent, and Islamophobia

friendly_neighborhood_grandma's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

I listened to this as an audiobook. It is the kind of book the I loved the more further i got in the book. it is very unique and interesting in it's structure. I would recommend to people who like historical fiction, future past and "present" masterfully intertwined. it is a nice read

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Ableism, Colonisation, Misogyny, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, War, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Self harm, and Miscarriage

lesliej_pdx's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Confinement, Violence, War, Gun violence, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Homophobia

miller8d's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Changed my relationship to books and reading. One of the best books I have ever read. I highlighted so many passages that the Kindle highlight collection was literally 26 pages long.

Cried several times both out of happiness and sadness. Beautifully captures the actual sensations of love and loss and grief, and the gorgeous nature of children and animals and family, queer love and neurodivergent pain, and so much more. Refreshing poetry and ridiculously beautiful world-building in such intricate historical contexts. Addressed so many different issues and experiences with such flair and emotion. Delivers anarchist / anti-establishment / leftist values from the optimistic perspective that to be human is to be a part of the problem, and yet, we must love one another and love the Earth in order to power through the pain of life in order to radically experience the love, because that’s why we are here.

 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Trafficking, Xenophobia, Racism, Physical abuse, Genocide, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Homophobia, Sexism, Abandonment, War, Slavery, Gun violence, Colonisation, Mass/school shootings, Violence, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Mental illness, Child death, Child abuse, Suicide, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Grief, Medical trauma, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Racial slurs, Bullying, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, and Animal cruelty

I am very sensitive and I LOVED this book and found it deeply emotionally uplifting despite these very severe content warnings

orchidlilly's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

 Really, truly, spectacular. This is such a beautiful interwoven story spun across multiple lifetimes. It was delightful to see how each life connected with the other. Each character feels tangible and real, they all have so much depth and personality. Each plot-line is gripping and it is impossible to not feel for the characters. Seymour especially, I think, is beautifully written. His mental illness is incredibly accurately done, and he is never once demonized for it. Each character, despite their actions, kind or otherwise, is written and treated with respect and empathy. It's such a beautiful tale of humanity and kindness and struggle, and all of it is portrayed with such well researched nuance and intelligence. Definitely one of the best books if you want to feel something that is neither fully happy nor sad, but a cathartic combination of both. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, Violence, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Abandonment, Cursing, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racial slurs, Body shaming, Death of parent, War, Gun violence, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Religious bigotry, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Torture

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Islamophobia, Pedophilia, Classism, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Slavery, Alcohol, Dementia, Drug use, and Excrement

kristinj1's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Honestly, I am not exactly sure how to review this book. It's incredibly intricate, incredibly well written with a very strong eye toward character development. It's a really unique construction of a story, I think that the premise of the book itself is very fascinating. I definitely felt a strong connection to the story, which is actually pretty interesting because I don't think I can say that I had a strong connection to any of the characters. Not that they were written poorly or they were unbelievable, I just had the chance to move between them so often in service of the larger story. I also still really wish there had been more of a fine point on the ending, like what actually is happening on earth? Especially the story with the spaceship.

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Grief, Blood, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexism, Animal death, Classism, and Death of parent

danaaliyalevinson's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I really enjoyed this book. I will say, it had a slow start, and it took me a good 100 pages or maybe a little more to feel drawn in. But once it had me it had me. I tend to like stories that are a bit more character driven, whereas this book was definitely more driven by plot. However, I like to rate on author’s intent rather than my personal preferences.

An interwoven tale of various people taking place over the course of 700 years, the one thing connecting them is a book, surviving against the odds through the ages. In many ways an ode to storytelling itself, I found especially the back half to be deeply moving and effective at showing us how stories shape the trajectories of our lives.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Mental illness, Violence, War, Classism, Confinement, Death, Dementia, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, and Panic attacks/disorders

youreawizardjerry's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

SO engaging and entertaining! A journey that keeps you guessing and invested. Tension-building in this thang was masterful, but the beats intended to be most dramatic/tense/climactic did not have that satisfying punch I expected them to (Nay, needed them to!). Also unfortunately, the ending didn't hit for me at all :( I still had an enjoyable time with it, but can't say I loved it after finishing. Still, strong writing + fun ride keeps it in the 4 stars for me^^

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, and Gun violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Racial slurs, and Vomit

leahrosiee's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is a story about amazement, literacy, time, and memory. Five characters show how stories are passed along through time. How a book, in their case the story of Cloud Cuckoo Land, can hold someone together through all the shit life is putting them through and connect them to people they will never know across the world and throughout time. 
Each character has so much in common despite such vastly different circumstances. 

I found myself more drawn to certain storylines than others, which made it a little slow. Anthony Doerr really said “I could go into heavy detail, and I will, I will go into heavy detail”. I cannot tell you how many pages were dedicated to two of the characters waiting for a war to begin. 
Despite that, there is no denying how expertly the author weaves stories together and what an incredible book this is. 
So …. I don’t know what to think. But I think I love it. 

Side note: if you aren’t already outraged by how little our society values librarians, this book will help solidify that for you, I promise.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Violence, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Slavery, War, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, and Confinement

Moderate: Animal death, Alcohol, Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Murder