85 pages 2 hours read

Anthony Doerr

Cloud Cuckoo Land

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

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Chapters 10-14

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 10 Summary: “The Gull”

Folio K

A giant goddess who looks like a seagull descends from the sky above donkey-Aethon. She mocks him for asking her to turn him into a bird so he can find Cloud Cuckoo Land, telling him that no such place exists. Aethon thinks she is trying to trick him. He asks her for a rose to undo the spell, but instead she commands him to eat a pile of frozen seaweed. Aethon transforms again, this time into a fish.

Zeno and Seymour: Lakeport Public Library; Lakeport, ID; February 20, 2020; 5:27 pm

Still barricaded, Seymour watches police assemble outside. Sharif is wounded at the bottom of the stairs. Seymour uses his non-detonator phone to call Bishop, a radical internet persona whose “army” aims to combat climate change. Bishop and his affiliates have claimed that they will help Seymour if he needs it, but when Seymour dials the number, the line rings then disconnects. He is uncertain if he has gotten in contact with Bishop or not and resolves to wait, trying to stall for more time.

Upstairs, Zeno worries about the children and their safety. He tries to act normal as the children continue their rehearsal, but when he tells them to be quiet and to leave the lights off, they ask why.

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By Anthony Doerr