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nyfrea's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
link0505's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
depressedlaughter's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
the_mighty_finn17's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
namrata_jain's review against another edition
5.0
Really interesting read. I always enjoy multiples timelines weaving together to a grand finale, so this was a fun read. The characters were so relatable/real in this book.
Also, the fact that this book talks about how a book survived milleniums was dear to my heart.
It could've been a smaller book though - at multiple times I felt like the book was dragging.
Also, the fact that this book talks about how a book survived milleniums was dear to my heart.
It could've been a smaller book though - at multiple times I felt like the book was dragging.
ptstewart's review against another edition
4.0
This is long. And it’s good, yes—really and truly, it’s good—but it’s long. And similarly, it’s very engaging, but it’s slow. It is absolutely true that had I been reading the book instead of listening to it, I would have put it down and never looked back.
A complicated story spanning seven hundred years and five lives, Cloud Cuckoo Land tangles it all in a web so delicate and precise, the reader almost wants it to be more, to be grander, but that might take away from the subtlety of life that Doerr mimics here. We are all connected, however minimally, and we all cause ripples.
I will say, the message that seems to ring in the ears of each character near the end is, for my taste, muddled. The sentiment was there, the importance of going home, of finding yourself and accepting yourself and your life, accepting the complexity and nuance of the world, was there. For me, the delivery, perhaps in the case of Konstance more than the others, fell flat.
I would not classify this a page turner; the stories did not entangle enough for me until about the midway point. It should be noted that I am against the use of so many perspectives, and the only reason I believe it works here is because they are, primarily, entirely separate, which also causes the aforementioned lack of entanglement that slows my interest. The medieval characters are less interesting than the other three (though I had a soft spot for Omier, given his love for his animals), and I did find myself zoning out sometimes during long descriptions. However, the unfolding of certain complications and intricacies near the end drew me much farther in, and while I am the first to say that a good final third does not make a good book, the preceding two thirds were thoughtful and beautiful and well-constructed, filled with unique characters worth rooting for (or worth rooting against; caring one way or another is enough for me), and the implications of adventure (though maybe not the execution of adventure), and I’ll never argue with that.
A complicated story spanning seven hundred years and five lives, Cloud Cuckoo Land tangles it all in a web so delicate and precise, the reader almost wants it to be more, to be grander, but that might take away from the subtlety of life that Doerr mimics here. We are all connected, however minimally, and we all cause ripples.
I will say, the message that seems to ring in the ears of each character near the end is, for my taste, muddled. The sentiment was there, the importance of going home, of finding yourself and accepting yourself and your life, accepting the complexity and nuance of the world, was there. For me, the delivery, perhaps in the case of Konstance more than the others, fell flat.
I would not classify this a page turner; the stories did not entangle enough for me until about the midway point. It should be noted that I am against the use of so many perspectives, and the only reason I believe it works here is because they are, primarily, entirely separate, which also causes the aforementioned lack of entanglement that slows my interest. The medieval characters are less interesting than the other three (though I had a soft spot for Omier, given his love for his animals), and I did find myself zoning out sometimes during long descriptions. However, the unfolding of certain complications and intricacies near the end drew me much farther in, and while I am the first to say that a good final third does not make a good book, the preceding two thirds were thoughtful and beautiful and well-constructed, filled with unique characters worth rooting for (or worth rooting against; caring one way or another is enough for me), and the implications of adventure (though maybe not the execution of adventure), and I’ll never argue with that.