Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

 

Cloud Cuckoo Land is an achingly beautiful story of characters across vast periods of time, from the fall of Constantinople to a future where Earth has been devastated by climate change, who are united in their love of a simple, whimsical tale from ancient Greece. Anna finds an ancient book in an abandoned monastery, and uses her rudimentary Greek to share the story with her sister. Zeno learns that the book, now reduced to 24 crumbling leaves, has been recently rediscovered; he sets out to translate the story and share it with the bored fifth graders stuck in the public library after school. Konstance, in isolation on a space ship, scribbles the fragments of the story her father used to tell her on scraps of sacks.

 

The parallels between the three stories are undeniable. Constantinople, the library, and the Argos are all under siege, and in each setting there is a sense that the world as the characters know it is ending. The future is terrifying in one way or another, but the ancient story, whether in told through a damaged book, translated and out-of-order leaves, or fragments of memory, comforts and guides the characters.

 

The tale in question is a farcical tale about Aethon, a shepherd who wants to be turned into a bird so he can fly to Cloud Cuckoo Land, a paradise in the sky where there is no want or suffering. A series of mishaps sees him turned into a donkey, a sea bass, and finally a crow; but although he finally arrives in paradise, he finds himself longing for the simple pleasures of his old life. We (nor most of the characters) never learn how the story ends, but it becomes apparent in the way the story affects each of them to stop fearing the future and instead choose the flawed world around them rather than a paradise -- promised riches, a far away city, Bishop's camp, Beta Oph2 -- that may not even exist. 

 

This is an important lesson for us; we cannot avoid the growing consequences of climate change by ignoring the problem entirely or pretending we can find another place to live. But we also cannot allow the situation to sink us into despair and hopelessness, or worse yet cause us to resort to violence. Nor does this lesson just apply to the environment. For Zeno, the battle is far more abstract; he is mired in a life of regret and missed opportunities, and must learn to finally act. 

 

I could talk about this book for ages, but I don't want to spoil it anymore than I have. Read it! It is a glorious paean to stories, libraries, and above all, hope.

 

The Cloisters by Katy Hays

 The Cloisters is a thriller set in the library of New York City's Cloisters museum (a beautiful place; I've been twice), amongst medievalists and researchers who are trying to piece together the occult history of tarot cards. Although it wasn't hard to figure out what was going on, it was a fun, interesting read. Normally I'd give it a quick blurb in one of my round-up posts, but underneath the murders and secrets lies an interesting discussion of fate and free will that inspired me to write more.

The two main characters, protagonist and antagonist, represent two sides of an age-old argument about how much control people have over their lives. Because of a tragedy in her past, the protagonist, Ann, has come to believe that unchangeable, unavoidable fate rules life; the antagonist, on the other hand, believes in free will, that people make their own fate. This is an interesting inversion of the usual dynamic in this sort of story; usually it's the hero who advocates for free will and the villain who couches his nefarious plans in the language of fate and inevitability.

The tragedy in Ann's background, which I won't spoil here, is what has caused her to believe a person has no control over one's life, but while her thought process is understandable, it's also deeply flawed. Yes, little, inconsequential choices made on a fateful day led to a terrible event, but it's a mistake to think that negative consequences invalidate the existence of those choices in the first place. Sometimes our choices will be bad, and sometimes they will lead to something bad through sheer luck or bad timing, but we still made those choices, and we will continue to make more (not least in how we choose to respond to tragedy!). 

This issue of fate versus free will obviously ties in to the use of tarot cards to predict the future, which is the McGuffin in this story (and I would have liked more about the tarot deck in question, despite not believing in them as divinatory devices), but it was interesting to see it play out in an unexpected way.

Bracelets, Bracelets, Bracelets!

 So glad my stitching obligations are done for now; I can play with beads!

I'm always looking for a way to use African "Christmas" beads, and Janice Parsons's Across Cultures bracelet was a good opportunity.

 

I used some red and green triangle beads to make some simple bracelets with knotting cord. Just in time for next Christmas.

And I finally got around to purchasing the leather cord ends I needed to finish a bracelet with these fun donut/ring beads. I love how they slide around.

Book Round-Up: Belated Christmas Edition

 A Surprise for Christmas and other Seasonal Mysteries, ed. by Martin Edwards: Another collection of Golden Age mysteries put out by the British Library. I don't know why Christmas and cozy mysteries go together, but they do.

The Great Christmas Knit-Off by Alexandra Brown: It's your standard city-girl-whose-life-is-falling-apart-relocates-to-quirky-village tale. Done well, they can be fun and comforting, but this one was too slapstick for my tastes. Why do so many books (and movies) like this revel in humiliating the protagonist repeatedly, before she finally gets the man, new job, and new home? It did inspire me to crochet (not knit) a Christmas pudding, though:

 My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories, ed. by Stephanie Perkins: Some of these YA short stories were great (like Kelly Link's, one of my favorite authors, and Rainbow Rowell's). Some were ... not. For a genre that has a reputation for being inclusive and progressive, there were a whole lot of stereotypes.

Christmas with L.M. Montgomery and Christmas with Louisa May Alcott: These were adorable chapbooks collecting 2-3 short stories by the authors in question. I preferred the Montgomery stories, because they seemed intended for adults. Next year I want to pick up the others in the series -- Dickens, O'Henry, and Hans Christian Anderson.

I finished all of these before the end of the Christmas season, I swear.

Ornaments, Ornaments, Ornaments!

 Now that the cross stitch gifts have been finished and given, I've been able to make some things for myself.

Such as Wild Olive's adorable Emmet Otter ornament:

 Or this quotation from Elf -- one for me, one for a friend:

 I adore the yarn I used for these stars, and I'm making pompoms from it, too:

 And then there's the freebie from Love Embroidery magazine:

 Whew!

3 More Days ...

 It's time for Jo's annual Advent Blog Hop! I always enjoy participating, and seeing what stitchy goodness others have been up to.

Unfortunately, I haven't gotten much done this year. I've been cross-stitching my fingers off trying to finish this design for my video game-loving son, and of course I had to make it harder on myself by changing up a bunch of the motifs to match the games he plays (at least I had the sense to stitch it on white, rather than black fabric). I promise to show it off when it's done, though!

I also stitched the infamous Peeking Jesus for my brother, a Benedictine priest:

The only Christmas-themed stitching I've done is a cute advent calendar by Wandering Threads, given to me by a friend. I'm pretty far behind, though, because of the aforementioned cross stitching:

It's a fun design, though.

Jo has asked us to answer what we have for "afters" -- dessert. For us, it's Christmas cookies! The days of my baking dozens in a marathon session a few days before Christmas are long gone. Instead, every weekend of Advent I try to bake at least one batch of something, and stick them in the freezer until Christmas eve. Then I lay them on the sideboard in our dining room, and watch them disappear over a few days. If I have the wherewithal, I will also give some to our neighbors and mail some to a friend or two.

This year's selections: sparkly gingerbread, coquito lace cookies, stamped brown sugar shortbread, crushed peppermint-chocolate cookies, and if I have the time, chocolate-dipped triple coconut macaroons. 

I hope all of you have a sweet Christmas filled with peace and joy!

Book Round-up: Dark Academia Edition

 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark: The original Dark Academia, although not actually that dark. Spark's tale of a female teacher in 1930s Scotland who has a tendency to collect students she considers special in some way has spare prose, piercing insight, and all-too-human characters.

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz: a thriller (and satire of the publishing world) about a failed writer who uses his dead student's plot idea to make the bestseller list, only to have someone threaten to reveal everything. There was a huge clue that hinged on having read a certain literary novel, but figuring out the twist early on didn't lessen my enjoyment of watching it all unfold.

The Scholomance series by Naomi Novik: Novik's trilogy is set at a ludicrously dangerous wizarding school where only a quarter of the students actually survive through graduation. Galadriel is a prickly, overly verbose, but endearing character; "fated" to be the greatest maleficer ever, she is shunned by everyone, even as she steadfastly and grumpily refuses to take advantage of her dark powers or fellow students. I really appreciated how Novik does not just depict the casual cruelty of the Scholomance system while engineering a happy ending for a few characters, but instead shows those characters committing to righting wrongs for all students, present and future, and not giving up until they find a way to do so. In this way, it contrasts with The Absolute Book that was clear-eyed about the horrors of the Tithe but ultimately punted the issue. 

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl: Another re-read. Having now read Spark's novel, I can see the similarities -- a charismatic teacher encourages an almost cult-like devotion from the students she singles out. The difference -- the hidden connection between the teacher and the narrator -- provides an added complexity that ultimately results in murder. I love this book, and I find myself wanting a sequel just to reassure myself that Blue finds herself surrounded by good, honest people who care for her.