This book is so many things it is difficult to create a succinct summary. Multiple storylines wrap around a core -- a lost Greek book about an unhappy man who leaves his home to find Utopia. The tale is told through many eyes and many time periods. Young people in Constantinople near the end of the Ottoman reign, a soldier in the Korean War seeks to find meaning, an old man directs children in a play about the Greek story, an unhappy young man's life spools out to the point where he is intent on doing harm, a young girl pursues a mission in a space station ... alone except for a slightly judgy computer. There are flashbacks and flashforwards and careful reading is needed to keep track of it all, lest you be lost. All that said, the story is both literary and accessible. It is also sweet, sad, funny and touching. Despite the major events unfolding this feels like a quiet story, a personal tale. Doerr is kind of brilliant in the way he weaves symbolism and myth into each of the narratives. It's subtle and sometimes you don't see it until everything is laid out. Chapters are short, pacing is good and I tore through it in days. Bravo. A terrific addition to Mr. Doerr's impressive catalog.
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