All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr – Audiobook Review

Read by Zach Appelman and just over sixteen hours of listening. All the Light We Cannot See is a story of WWII, the lead character a blind girl. If you have read The Book Thief, you’ll find this story similar. The story covers 1939 through the mid 40s. In parallel stories, there is also the tale of a Hitler youth boy with a talent for radio repair. Lives cross.

Many will be enchanted by this story. It’s pretty easy to be sympathetic regarding a blind child, seemingly abandoned by her father in WWII France. Heartbreaking to think about. The story begins in 1944, jumps back to 1939, then jumps forward again, jumps back. The events are well known to anyone schooled in WWII history, the French Resistance, Nazi aggression, and the overall terror of a war ravaged Europe. All is conveyed in fictional generalities that spin around a girl who experiences the war through every sense other than sight.

Narration by Appelman is adequate, not extraordinary. The writer is talented, prose often poetic. In my opinion, the story is longer than required, some scenes do not add to the story. Although I had no trouble finishing All the Light We Cannot See, I never did a re-wind if I missed a segment. Just kept moving forward. Given the fact that this story is a Best Seller, and has a few thousand 5 star reviews, I’m in the minority with my opinion that 1) the book is too long, 2) the story is chronologically difficult to follow, 3) the situations are sympathetic, but the characters unmoving and dry.

If you’re interested in WWII history, I’d skip the character driven novel and get into non-fiction, like Churchill.