Joan Mackenzie: Cloud Cuckoo Land and Bewilderment

The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

Cloud Cuckoo Land is the new book by Anthony Doerr, who wrote the fabulous All The Light We Cannot See which I think is one of the very best books of the last decade. It begins with the English translation of a long-lost book from Ancient Greece. It then transcends time and space, moving from Constantinople in the 15th century all the way through to 2146 with a narrative that somehow, inexplicably, links the timeframes, even taking in an ecoterrorist attack along the way. The guy is a genius.
Bewilderment by Richard Powers. This was on the Booker shortlist for this year (though sadly didn’t win) and it’s amazing. It’s the story of a father and his son who is clearly autistic, or something similar. The father is an astrobiologist and together they explore outer space looking for new planets, go hiking in the woods amongst nature, and mourn the loss of their wife and mother. When Theo, the Dad is offered an experimental treatment to try and help with the son’s behavioural issues it works amazingly well, but then he decides to try and take it one step further. It’s a book full of science and nature and the extraordinary bond between a boy and his Dad and I loved it.
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