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All the Light We Cannot See

Anthony Doerr (Goodreads Author)

4.32 · Rating details · 710,473 Ratings · 61,914 Reviews

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Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, a New York Times Book Review Top Ten Book, National Book Award finalist, more than two and a half years on the New York Times bestseller list

From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the stunningly beautiful instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and ...more

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Hardcover, 531 pages

Published May 6th 2014 by Scribner (first published May 2014)

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May 30, 2014 LeeAnne rated it it was amazing

Shelves: france, literature, fav-fic, beautiful-vivid-imagery, character-study

All the Light We Cannot See
by Anthony Doerr

This book has the most hauntingly beautiful prose I've ever read. It's brimming with rich details that fill all five senses simultaneously. It's full of beautiful metaphors that paint gorgeous images. I didn't want this book to end, but I couldn't put it down.

"In August 1944 the historic walled city of Saint-Malo, the brightest jewel of the Emerald Coast of Brittany, France was almost destroyed by fire....Of the 865 buildings within the walls, only 18 ...more

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Dec 02, 2014 Emily May rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, modern-lit, 2015

“So how, children, does the brain, which lives without a spark of light, build for us a world full of light?”

I'm going to be honest - love for this book didn't hit me straight away. In fact, my first attempt to read it last year ended with me putting it aside and going to find something easier, lighter and less descriptive to read. I know - meh, what a quitter.

But this book is built on beautiful imagery. Both in the literal sense - the physical world of 1940s Paris/Germany - and the metaphoric “So how, children, does the brain, which lives without a spark of light, build for us a world full of light?”

I'm going to be honest - love for this book didn't hit me straight away. In fact, my first attempt to read it last year ended with me putting it aside and going to find something easier, lighter and less descriptive to read. I know - meh, what a quitter.

But this book is built on beautiful imagery. Both in the literal sense - the physical world of 1940s Paris/Germany - and the metaphorical. It's woven with scientific and philosophical references to light, to seeing and not seeing, and the differences between the two. It's a beautiful work of genius, but it does get a little dense at times; the prose bloated by details.

However, when we get into the meat of this WWII novel, it's also the harrowing story of a childhood torn apart by war. It's about Parisian Marie-Laure who has been blind since she was six years old, and a German orphan called Werner who finds himself at the centre of the Hitler Youth. Both of their stories are told with sensitivity and sympathy, each one forced down a path by their personal circumstances and by that destructive monster - war.

I think this is the kind of book you will never appreciate if you stop too soon - I learned that lesson. From the first to last page, there is a running theme of interconnectedness, of invisible lines running parallel to one another and sometimes, just sometimes, crossing in the strangest of ways. These two lives we are introduced to seem to be worlds apart, and yet they come together and influence one another. It was this, more than the predictably awful tale of war, that made me feel quite emotional.

All the Light We Cannot See is haunting. That's how I would describe it. From the chillingly beautiful prose, to the realization of what the title actually means: that underneath the surface of history, there is light - and stories - that have not been seen; that have gone untold. Scientifically, we only see a small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum; historically, we only see a small portion of the story.

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Oct 17, 2013 Melanie rated it it was amazing

I always thought, or imagined, that there were these invisible lines trembling in our wake, outlining our trajectories through life, throbbing with electric energy. Lines that sometimes cross one other, or follow in parallel ellipses without ever touching, or meet up for one brief moment and then part. A universe of lines crisscrossing in the void.

Anthony Doerr's astonishing new novel "All The Light We Cannot See" follows the complex arcs of two such invisible lines through the lives of Werner P I always thought, or imagined, that there were these invisible lines trembling in our wake, outlining our trajectories through life, throbbing with electric energy. Lines that sometimes cross one other, or follow in parallel ellipses without ever touching, or meet up for one brief moment and then part. A universe of lines crisscrossing in the void.

Anthony Doerr's astonishing new novel "All The Light We Cannot See" follows the complex arcs of two such invisible lines through the lives of Werner Pfennig, an orphan boy in pre-World War II Germany and Marie-Laure Leblanc, a blind girl living in Paris with her father. Through riveting flash forwards and flash backs, the novel charters the course of their lives as they struggle to find out wether it is possible to really own your life when it is swallowed by the black holes of history. One is driven by a deep love of science while the other is inhabited by the power of books. In the midst of the rise of German fascism and the birth of the French Resistance, how does youth manage to stay true to its essence?

A war story, a coming-of-age story, a philosophical fable, this is a novel that constantly oscillates between the moral uncertainties of life and the chiselled precision of the natural world that surrounds us. Between the political morass of war and the stupendous beauty of organisms, the ocean, the human brain.

The language is so fantastically precise - Anthony Doerr does things with verbs that make entire paragraphs sing - that the visual component of this book is quite astounding.

In the end, what this novel illuminates is the miraculous impact that seminal events have on the rest of our lives, whether it be the magic of radio broadcasts on the mysteries of science or the extraordinary adventures of Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea".

A deeply moving and enthralling work that echoes the power of early impressions on the building of a self, such as the philosopher Simon Critchley recently evoked so beautifully in a stunning essay published in The New York Times entitled "The Dangers of Certainty":
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/...

Masterful. ...more

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Jul 24, 2015 Rick Riordan rated it it was amazing

Adult fiction

This book is getting a lot of well-deserved attention for its unique story and its beautiful writing. It starts late in World War II, as the Allies begin shelling the French city of Saint-Malo to drive out the remaining Nazi troops. Our two main characters are Marie Laure, a blind French girl who fled here with her uncle from Paris, and Werner, a radio expert in the German army who is stuck in the city when the attack begins. We jump back and forth in time, and between the two char ...more

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May 06, 2014 Becky rated it it was ok

I'm sure this is going to mark me as a literary dud, but for all the brilliant reviews of this book? I couldn't really get into it.

The book revolves around Marie-Laure, a blind girl who lives with her father. Her father is the locksmith at the Paris Museum of Natural History, and Marie is raised wholly in the museum and at home. Marie has a semi-idyllic childhood until the Nazi's invade Paris and she and her father have to flee to another city, where a reclusive uncle lives. Unknown to Marie, he ...more

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Oct 20, 2013 Chrissie rated it it was ok

Shelves: hf, germany, france, audible, 2014-read, magic, kids, returned

Why write a review if I am such an atypical reader?

~~I will keep this brief since~~ I feel most readers will not react as I have, but isn’t it important that all views are voiced?

All readers must agree that the flipping back and forth between different time periods makes this book more confusing. I believe it must be said loudly and clearly that the current fascination with multiple threads and time shifts is only acceptable when they add something to the story, when employment of such improves the Why write a review if I am such an atypical reader?

~~I will keep this brief since~~ I feel most readers will not react as I have, but isn’t it important that all views are voiced?

All readers must agree that the flipping back and forth between different time periods makes this book more confusing. I believe it must be said loudly and clearly that the current fascination with multiple threads and time shifts is only acceptable when they add something to the story, when employment of such improves the story. In this book they do not improve the story. Perhaps jumping from one scene to another can increase suspense, but must one also flip back and forth in time? In addition, more and more books are made for audios, and this is not helpful when you cannot flip back to see where you are. Finally, time switches unnecessarily lengthen the novel.

Secondly, be aware when you choose this book that the book is not only about WW2 but also a diamond that some of the characters, quite a few in fact, believe has magical powers. Those who possess the stone will not die, but people around that person will come to misfortune. This is all stated in one of the very first chapters; it is not a spoiler. This aspect of the book turns the story into a mystery novel. Where is the gem? Who has it? The result is that you have a heavy dose of fantasy woven into a book of historical fiction. I have trouble with both fantasy and mystery novels. Maybe you love them. (I would have preferred that the diamond was woven into the story as one of the objects stolen by the Nazis.)

Let's look at how the book portrays WW2. It is set primarily in Brittany, France, and Germany and a little bit in Russia and Vienna. Its primary focus is about what warfare does to people, not the leaders, but normal people. I liked that you saw into the heads and felt the emotions of both Germans and French. Some of the Germans are evil but you also come to understand how living in those times shaped you. To stand up against the Nazi regime was almost impossible. There are some who try. These events are gripping. You also get the feel of life in Brittany versus Paris. They are not the same. I enjoyed the feel of the air, the wind in my face and the salty tang on my lips in St. Malo. I do wonder to what extent my appreciation of Brittany as a place is more due to my own time there or the author's writing. Am I remembering my own experiences, or am I seeing it from the words of the author? I am unsure about this.

In any case, I was very disturbed by the blend of fantasy with gripping WW2 events.

The events of WW2 are those portrayed in every book. If you have read about WW2 in numerous other books of fiction or non-fiction you will not get much new. Rape by Russians felt like the author had to include this simply so it could be to be togged off his checklist. I do think the book moves the reader on an emotional level. You get terribly angry and shocked, and this is achieved through the author's writing, his excellent prose.

And this is what saves the book – its prose. The descriptions of things and places, the particular grip of a hand, movement of a body and what characters say. Very good writing. Beautiful writing. Sometimes you laugh, sometimes you feel that wind on your skin or the touch of a shell against your fingertips or smile at the oh so recognizable words of a child. Children often see far more than adults, but they also talk in a clear, simple manner. What they say is to the point - could that diamond be thrown away? Of course not. As remarked by one of the French children, "Who is going to chuck into the Seine a stone worth several Eiffel Towers?" Even if the gem has dangerous powers!

People love reading about kids and one of them here is blind. Who wouldn't be moved by such!

The narration by Zach Appelman didn't add much, but neither did it terribly detract from the story. I appreciated how he read some lines with a beat, a rhythm which matched the cadence of the author's words. Pauses were well placed. French pronunciation was lacking.

Oh my, once I got going I told you what I felt. I believe this book will be popular, and many will like it, but it was just OK for me.
...more

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May 16, 2014 Maciek rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2014-releases, historical-fiction, world-war-2, read-in-2015, reviewed

This is a carefully constructed book which is bound to captivate a large audience and become very popular, and be blessed with many warm reviews - it was chosen by Goodreads members as the best historical fiction of 2014, and shortlisted for the National Book Award. There are multiple reasons for its success - but they are also the same reasons as to why I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would.

Anthony Doerr's All The Light We Cannot See follows the parallel lives of two protagonists - Marie This is a carefully constructed book which is bound to captivate a large audience and become very popular, and be blessed with many warm reviews - it was chosen by Goodreads members as the best historical fiction of 2014, and shortlisted for the National Book Award. There are multiple reasons for its success - but they are also the same reasons as to why I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would.

Anthony Doerr's All The Light We Cannot See follows the parallel lives of two protagonists - Marie-Laure, a French girl and daughter of a master locksmith at the Natural History Museum in Paris; the other character is Werner Pfenning, a German boy growing up in the mining town of Zollverein. Their lives are drawn against the brewing conflict, which will soon engulf not only France and Germany, but most of the world - the second World War.

Both Marie and Werner are sympathetic character for whom the reader can root for - the author has made sure of that. Marie-Laure goes literally blind in the first or second chapter, and spends the beginning of the book becoming used to her new condition (mostly the help of her father, who designs elaborate puzzles for her to solve). Werner grows up in an industrial town hit by the depression, amidst the rise of the brownshirts; his only real companion is his sister, Jutta, and his only solace the radio - which Werner knows how to operate and fix instinctively, and to which they both listen at night.

The Nazis eventually come to power and invade France, forcing Marie-Laure and her father to flee to the northern coastal town of Saint-Malo, an ancient walled city which provides picturesque setting for much of the book. In Germany, Werner's skill with the radio catches the eye of a Nazi official who sends him to the breeding ground for Nazi youth, where he will be trained to become a member of the military and eventually sent to the front. At the same time, a much older Nazi official searches all over France for an almost mythical diamond all over France, and is dedicated to finding it.

Doerr's chapters are short and readable, and often contain pleasant nuggets of prose which was obviously carefully thought-out. To maintain suspense, he switches both between perspectives and time periods: various parts of the book are set in different years, mostly non-chronologically, and are comprised of chapters alternating between different characters.

The trouble with the book is that it's not very compelling, surprising, or illuminating. With Doerr's outline for the story - three characters, three different viewpoints - we know that their stories will eventually collide, but when they finally do it happens in a quick, unsatisfying way. Doerr's characters lack moral complexity which would make them properly engaging - Marie Laure spends most of the book in hiding, which is understandable, but which also stops her from being forced to make important moral and ethical choices regarding her own survival. Werner is even more troubling - while he is troubled by brutality he witnesses at the Nazi school, he seems resigned to it. Werner neither openly embraces Nazism, nor condemns it - he's indifferent to the whole experience and role he plays. It's as if Doerr never gave Werner the opportunity to grow up, choosing instead to preserve the young boy, fascinated by radio - which goes contrary to what boys and children in general experience in any war, which instantly strips them of their childhoods forever. The subplot featuring Von Rumpel, the old Nazi who searches for the mystical diamond seems to be attached to the rest of the book for no reason except to move the plot forward - there's no complexity to his character at all, and develops exactly as expected.

This is a book which looks as if it was designed to be read by younger readers - it's colorful setting, short chapters, switching points of narration will satisfy those with short attention spans, who require their story to be told quickly, engagingly, and not too demanding. I think all swearwords used in the book can be counted on the fingers of one hand; its language is very mellow and mild on obscenities. For a novel set during World War 2, it is a surprisingly tame book - murder and death cannot be escaped, but is downplayed as much as possible. One horrible instance of violence - which could have very well changed a character's perception on things - occurs essentially off screen, lowering possible impact it could have had on said character. This is World War 2, PG-13.

All The Light We Cannot See is a carefully crafted and constructed book, which for me remains its greatest flaw - I could never stop seeing the author's own hand behind the scenes, which made characters act out events in certain way, obviously planned well ahead. It's a fantasy world populated with unreal people, who engage in a fantasy war - and is bound to appeal to hundreds of readers, because this is what they want and appreciate. Popular for one season or two, but unlikely to be remembered in a decade or more. ...more

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Mar 18, 2014 Jenna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-stars-baby, arc, favorites, historical-fiction, netgalley, to-review

It has been awhile since I have found a book that I wanted to read slowly so that I could soak in every detail in hopes that the last page seems to never come.

When reading the synopsis of this novel, I never imagined that I would feel so connected to a book where one of the main characters is blind and the other a brilliant young German orphan who was chosen to attend a brutal military academy under Hitler's power using his innate engineering skills.

This novel was so much more than the above st It has been awhile since I have found a book that I wanted to read slowly so that I could soak in every detail in hopes that the last page seems to never come.

When reading the synopsis of this novel, I never imagined that I would feel so connected to a book where one of the main characters is blind and the other a brilliant young German orphan who was chosen to attend a brutal military academy under Hitler's power using his innate engineering skills.

This novel was so much more than the above states. The idiosyncrasies of each individual character are so well defined and expressed in such ways that come across the page almost lyrically. I was invited into the pages and could not only imagine the atmosphere, but all of my senses were collectively enticed from the very first page until the last.

I was so amazed with the way that the author was able to heighten all my senses in a way that I felt like I knew what it was like to be blind. In most well-written books you get of a sense of what the characters look like and follow them throughout the book almost as if you are on a voyage, but with this novel, I could imagine what it was like to be in Marie-Laure's shoes. The descriptives were so beautifully intricate that I could imagine the atmosphere through touch and sound. It was amazing, really.

There were so many different aspects of the book that are lived out in separate moments and in different countries that find a way to unite in the end. What impressed me most was that I could have never predicted the outcome. It was as though all cliches were off the table and real life was set in motion. Life outside of books can be very messy and the author stayed true to life but in a magical and symbolic way.

I have said in other reviews that just when I think that I have read my last book centered around the Second World War, another seems to pop up. I should emphasize that this book created an image of war in a way that I have never imagined before. I truly got a sense of what it must have been like for children who lived a happy life and then suddenly were on curfew and barely had food to eat. It also showed the side of young children who are basically brainwashed by Nazi leaders and made into animals who seem to make choices that they normally wouldn't in order to survive. And by survive, I mean dodging severe abuse by their own colleagues.

This book may haunt me for some time. I can't express enough how beautifully written the pages are. I highly recommend this read as it is my favorite so far for 2014.

I received this book through NetGalley ...more

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Oct 18, 2016 Michael Finocchiaro rated it did not like it

Shelves: pulitzer-fiction, american-21st-c, fiction, novels

Honestly, wtf? I mean, we all know the blind person trope (Daredevil, etc) and the lovable Nazi trope (Hiroshima Mon Amour) and the mystical object searched for by evil Nazis trope (Indiana Jones), so why throw all of these together? The book was readable but no more so than a pulp fiction thriller. Honestly, I don't see this as being Pulitzer quality. The characters were ok, the narration interesting, but a masterpiece? The best US fiction in 2015? Perhaps not. And please don't accuse me of bei ...more

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Mar 07, 2017 Jim Fonseca rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-books

This is a great book. Its very high ratings (4.3; half of the ratings are "5's") renews my faith that GR ratings count for something. With almost 50,000 reviews on GR I don’t feel there is a lot for me to add but here’s a brief summary of the plot and I’ll give a few examples of the great literary writing.

It’s just before the Nazi invasion and occupation of Paris. A young blind girl relies on her father for everything and she is his world as well. He spends all his time making her a wooden model ...more

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Jun 11, 2016 Catriona (LittleBookOwl) rated it really liked it

This book was so beautiful and haunting. I fell in love with so many of the characters, and loved how their lives were weaved together. Knowing the time period this was set in, I knew the ending would hurt. And it did, though I didn't shed as many tears as I expected.
The writing was incredible, the descriptions so vivid. It did a superb job of showing the reader how the characters felt through their actions, rather than telling. Whilst the short chapters (on average 1.5 pages) helped to make thi ...more

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Jun 28, 2014 Will Byrnes rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-of-the-year-2014, all-time-favorites-fiction, fiction

4/20/15 - PULITZER WINNER for 2014

The brain is locked in total darkness of course, children, says the voice. It floats in a clear liquid inside the skull, never in the light. And yet the world it constructs in the mind is full of light. It brims with color and movement. So how, children, does the brain, which lives without a spark of light, build for us a world full of light?

Marie Laure LeBlanc is a teen who had gone blind at age 6. She and her father, Daniel, fled Paris ahead of the German ...more

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Jan 11, 2014 Dem rated it liked it

Recommends it for: book club read

Shelves: ww2

I enjoyed this novel by Anthony Doerr and yet when I was nearing the end I couldn't help feel a a sense of relief to have finished the book.

I enjoy historical fiction and really looked forward to this novel by Anthony Doerr as it was set in a time frame that that really interests me. Because I read quite a lot of novels set around World War Two I love the fact that the author took a a slightly different path with his storytelling and that is what drew me to this novel.

I loved the characters of M ...more

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Dec 11, 2013 Angela M rated it it was amazing

What I loved most about this book was all the light that I did see. There is so much here that captivated me - from the beautiful writing to the strong, caring characters to the loving relationships and the way people touched each other's lives during the trying times of WW II.

Parallel stories are told in alternating chapters of Marie Laure, a teenage French girl who has been blind since the age of six and Werner, an intelligent, perceptive and sensitive German orphan who learns to fix radios an What I loved most about this book was all the light that I did see. There is so much here that captivated me - from the beautiful writing to the strong, caring characters to the loving relationships and the way people touched each other's lives during the trying times of WW II.

Parallel stories are told in alternating chapters of Marie Laure, a teenage French girl who has been blind since the age of six and Werner, an intelligent, perceptive and sensitive German orphan who learns to fix radios and becomes noticed by the German army. Each of their stories will move you in their own right, but especially when their paths cross.

Through the lovely descriptive language we know that Marie Laure sees what she cannot see because he father lovingly carves a model of the neighborhood so she can tell where buildings and streets are and she knows by the number of steps and which way to turn. This loving, nurturing and often times touching relationship between Marie Laure and her fathers will melt your heart. He teaches her Braille, buys her books in Braille and gives her lovely little surprise boxes opened by solving a puzzle or trick opening to discover the hidden gift .

Werner and his orphan sister Jutta have a special relationship , as well, and the letters they exchange are at once heartbreaking an heartwarming, even though it appears that Jutta has a hard time forgiving Werner for what he does to the radio.

Doerr has created and developed characters that you care about as soon as you meet them. I loved “The Old Ladies Resistance Club”, led by Madame Manec, housekeeper, friend and caretaker to Ettiene , Marie's great uncle. The relationships that develop between Madame Manec and Marie Laure and between Uncle Ettiene and Marie Laure are nothing short of beautiful. The role that these people, including Marie Laure, play in the resistance is so courageous.

Some bad things and some very sad things happened but after all this was war. But I loved the connections of people in the end and the ultimately uplifting feeling of hope - another light in this book .

I highly recommend it .
...more

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Oct 05, 2016 Candace rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: listened-to-audio-version, read-listened-with-my-kids, historical

So, I know I should be oohing and ahhing over this book, but it just wasn't for me. This is definitely one of those "it's not you, it's me" moments. I can see why many people have given such glowing reviews, but I found it to be unbearably dull and slow-moving. I never felt a strong connection with either of the main characters or the story itself. I'm just glad that it ended.

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Dec 11, 2013 Diane S ☔ rated it it was amazing

For me, this was a very special read. I feel like I have been on a long gut-wrenching journey, and in a way I have, traveling with two young children, one in Berlin and one in Paris and follow them as they grow-up. There are poignant moments, downright sad moments, moments that made me smile and moments that made me so very angry. Werner in Berlin is a curious child, a child with the talent for putting things together, like radios, he and his sister Jutta live in an orphanage. Marie-Laure, a bli For me, this was a very special read. I feel like I have been on a long gut-wrenching journey, and in a way I have, traveling with two young children, one in Berlin and one in Paris and follow them as they grow-up. There are poignant moments, downright sad moments, moments that made me smile and moments that made me so very angry. Werner in Berlin is a curious child, a child with the talent for putting things together, like radios, he and his sister Jutta live in an orphanage. Marie-Laure, a blind girl and her father live in Paris, her father is the keeper of the keys for a prestigious museum. It is the radio that will connect these two lives long before they actually meet.

The descriptions are wonderful, very detailed as they are made for a blind girl, to enable her to envision the many things described. The novel travels, back and forth, times when they were young, times when they are a bit older and Marie-Laure finds herself and her father in St, Malo at the home her eccentric uncle, who is another amazing character Werner finds himself chosen for a school, and we travel along with him as we learn the many young men in the Nazi party were trained to be cold blooded killers.

How far would you go along with the prevailing threats and times, how would you react when confronted with an injustice? One young man pays heavily for his supposed weakness of character. How long can one pretend everything is fine, trying to keep eyes closed so one cannot see?

So it is radios, little built towns and houses, built by Marie-Laure's father so she can get around wherever she lives. It is keys, the French resistance, the United States Air Force bombing of St. Malo, of imprisonments and yes love. Moral questions and a great character study.

It even follows a few characters after the war in Berlin, which is where this quote comes in, "Does any goodness linger in this last derelict stronghold? A little." The story than picks ups twennty years later. I read this as slow as I could, I really did not want it to end.

ARC from publisher ...more

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Jun 02, 2014 Raeleen Lemay rated it really liked it

Shelves: own

oK.

When I started this book, I noticed some similarities to The Book Thief, and although they quickly fell to the wayside, I couldn't help but compare this book to The Book Thief the entire time I was reading it. And since The Book Thief is my favorite book of all time, it kind of took away some of the enjoyment for me while reading this.

The plot and the characters ended up being quite different (which was great), but I just found that the pacing was a bit off for me. It was a bit too slow for m ...more

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Apr 15, 2015 Steve rated it it was amazing

A book topping the charts for weeks and weeks hardly needs my help, but I’m going to do this one the favor of a recommendation anyway. For efficiency’s sake, I’ll be addressing categories of friends en masse.

To those who like big-boughed characters (i.e., more than just stick figures): You get two compelling souls with this one: Marie-Laure, the valiant and inquisitive French girl who went blind at age six, and Werner, the tow-headed German orphan who had a knack for gadgets and science. Set in ...more

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Jun 30, 2016 Matthew rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016, audio, library, historical-fiction, young-adult

I think that my opinion of this book does not match the general opinion.

I was pretty bored throughout and my mind kept wandering. I kept waiting for a big payoff, plot twist, that would bring my attention crashing back. I thought there might be some grand resolution beyond the symbolism and poetry of the writing, and there really didn't seem to be. Maybe I missed it while my mind was wandering.

Two other things - I have been encountering these a lot lately:

- WWII is now definitely entrenched as a ...more

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Jun 01, 2014 Marialyce rated it it was ok

This is a case of where I am going to hate myself for again feeling a book that has received a multitude of five star ratings feel short for me. It was not that I disliked it, but I found it to be jumpy and often disjointed. I am not a fan of the current trend of devoting one chapter to one character and the next to another and flipping back and forth. To my way of reading and thinking, it doesn't allow the reader (me) to gather depth of a character. It makes me overly anxious to sally forth try ...more

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Dec 20, 2016 David - proud Gleeman in Branwen's adventuring party rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-reads, drama, mariah-makes-the-world-better, read-by-kindlelight, group-reads, this-book-made-me-feel-stuff, georgia-would-be-proud

"Book - you have the right to a speedy trial" - review

THE DEFENSE
- The story is both heart-warming and heart-breaking at times. Anyone looking for a good cry (or an ugly cry, or a proud cry, or, well, any kind of cry, really), this is the book for you!

- Both lead characters are extremely likable and sympathetic.

- The book does a brilliant job portraying the bleakness and tragedy of war and the many different ways it can affect people's lives.

- Werner's story is particularly effective. Wat ...more

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May 19, 2014 Diane rated it it was amazing

Shelves: brunch-club, war, historical-fiction, favorites, holocaust

Is this the best World War II novel I've ever read? Possibly. It's definitely at the top of the list.*

Once again, I'm a little late to this book party, but I'm glad I made an appearance. So many readers had loved this book (and now that I've read it, I can see why it's such a favorite), but I kept putting it off because I've grown weary of WWII stories. Seriously, there is so much published about that period that it's overwhelming to sift through all the titles.**

But there are several things ab ...more

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Dec 07, 2014 Nataliya rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2015-reads, recommended-by-my-colleagues, war-s-inhuman-face

"Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever."

It's a story of childhood interrupted by war. Two children - a blind French girl Marie-Laure LeBlanc and a German orphan Werner Pfennig - caught against their will in the unrelenting forces of cruel madness and destruction of World War II, dragged along in the senseless current of history that does not care about the fates or ordinary people. This is a story of their lives until the brief moment in which they collide, to ...more

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Jun 06, 2018 Adina rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, europe, north-america, pulitzer-winners, book-club

How do I review a novel that most of my friends loved but left me mainly indifferent. Again, I have a case when I feel guilty for not liking a book more and trying to figure out what is wrong with me. Since that failed I will try my luck explaining what this novel did or didn’t do for me.

Firstly, the writing. It is beautiful, intricate, full of elegant, well thought sentences. However, they let me untouched. I don’t know why but I did not feel anything when reading those polished words. Maybe, ...more

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Feb 12, 2015 Candi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, favorites

Brilliant and breathtaking, Anthony Doerr’s WW2 novel is one that will stay with me for a very long time. This is so much more than just a wartime account; it is a heartfelt story which illuminates the human element during these horrific times. The characterizations are superb and I loved the way the stories of Marie-Laure, the blind French girl living in German-occupied Saint-Malo, and Werner, the bright German orphan and recruit to Hitler’s Youth academy, are interlaced. The story alternates b Brilliant and breathtaking, Anthony Doerr’s WW2 novel is one that will stay with me for a very long time. This is so much more than just a wartime account; it is a heartfelt story which illuminates the human element during these horrific times. The characterizations are superb and I loved the way the stories of Marie-Laure, the blind French girl living in German-occupied Saint-Malo, and Werner, the bright German orphan and recruit to Hitler’s Youth academy, are interlaced. The story alternates between time periods and for me this technique increased the level of suspense, especially as the story progressed.

The descriptive passages highlighting the quality of light as well as the emphasis on the senses of hearing, smell, touch and taste were wonderful. Some of my favorite descriptions derived from Marie-Laure’s feelings of what it was like to be a non-sighted person. “To shut your eyes is to guess nothing of blindness. Beneath your world of skies and faces and buildings exists a rawer and older world, a place where surface planes disintegrate and sounds ribbon in shoals through the air. Marie-Laure can sit in an attic high above the street and hear lilies rustling in marshes two miles away… she hears the tamarinds shiver and the jays shriek and the dune grass burn… she hears the bones of dead whales stir five leagues below, their marrow offering a century of food for cities of creatures who live their whole lives and never once see a photon sent from the sun.”

There are an abundance of characters and these are very well developed by Anthony Doerr. Some we can clearly love, some we hate, and some we may find to be walking a nebulous line between good and evil. We witness the joy of childhood, the corruption of innocence, the strength and bonds of love, the gift of standing up for your beliefs and making a difference even in the smallest of ways, and the ultimate power of redemption. The love of a father: “His love for his daughter will outstrip the limits of his body.” The strength of an untarnished spirit full of humanity and a love for birds: “Hardly a couple of ounces of feathers and bones. But that bird can fly to Africa and back. Powered by bugs and worms and desire.” The feelings of confusion and guilt: “He is being loyal. He is being what everybody agrees is good. And yet every time he wakes and buttons his tunic, he feels he is betraying something.”

A novel about WW2 is still one which horrifies us with atrocious acts and saddens us with loss and destruction; we can never forget this part of mankind’s history. There is also a magical feel to this book with the story of a valuable, presumably cursed stone called the Sea of Flames. The theme surrounding radio communication and the links made between individuals through the radio waves is very interesting as well. This theme goes beyond the science of radio transmission to a feeling of the various ways human lives are intertwined. “Is it so hard to believe that souls might also travel those paths? That great shuttles of souls might fly about, faded but audible if you listen closely enough… the air a library and the record of every life lived, every sentence spoken, every word transmitted still reverberating within it.” All the Light We Cannot See also captivates the reader with intricate models of neighborhoods, keys, hiding places, secret messages and unlikely resistance groups, and love for books and music and knowledge.

This book is a treasure; anyone who enjoys a beautiful and compelling story should read this and savor each and every word.
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Apr 19, 2018 Miranda Reads rated it it was ok

Shelves: audiobook

Why are all prize winning books so depressing?

Do the Pulitzer Prize judges immediately disqualify fun books? Seriously, I don't think I've seen a happy one yet.

Don’t you want to be alive before you die?

We follow two storylines - one set in Germany focused on Werner Pfennig, an orphan, who's always dreamed of an education. He finally gets an opportunity, through the brutal tutelage of the Nazis.

And we follow Marie-Laure, a french blind girl much beloved by her father, a locksmith of the Muse ...more

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May 24, 2014 Regan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-owned-read, favorites

It was amazing.

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Jan 21, 2014 Dianne rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arcs-and-goodreads-first-reads, best-of-2014, favorites, pulitzers

A 4.5....review coming. Have to ponder this a bit. It was a 5 until the last 50 pages....not sure I am being fair here. Very, very good book.

UPDATED: I received an advance reader copy of this book from NetGalley and Scribner. Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner. This review, however, is based on the hardcover version.

I have read this book twice now. The first time, the author had me in the palm of his hand. I was totally absorbed in the book and the flow and the pace of how the stories of Marie-Lau A 4.5....review coming. Have to ponder this a bit. It was a 5 until the last 50 pages....not sure I am being fair here. Very, very good book.

UPDATED: I received an advance reader copy of this book from NetGalley and Scribner. Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner. This review, however, is based on the hardcover version.

I have read this book twice now. The first time, the author had me in the palm of his hand. I was totally absorbed in the book and the flow and the pace of how the stories of Marie-Laure and Werner were coming together. Then – something happened with 50 pages to go that snapped me out of my reverie. It jolted me out of the story and everything was off-kilter the rest of the way. At the end of the book, I was in turmoil. The story was SO GOOD but the ending seemed awkward. One of my Goodreads friends, Evelyn, put it very well – she said she felt that she lost her connection to the characters.

I rated the book 4 stars but it didn’t feel right. The book is better than that – so, I picked it up again and re-read it. This time, since I knew what was going to happen, it did flow better for me at the end and I stayed engaged all the way through. I also picked up a few things I missed the first time through that were important.

The heart of the story takes place in Europe in World War II. Marie-Laure LeBlanc is a young French girl living in Paris with her father, who is the locksmith at the National Museum of Natural History. Marie-Laure is blind. They live simply and happily until the Germans invade France. The museum begins to remove and hide its treasures to protect them from the Nazis, who are pillaging and plundering art, jewels and other treasures as they advance. Marie-Laure’s father is entrusted with the Museum’s prize possession, a legendary blue diamond with a red center called “The Sea of Flames.” Marie-Laure and her father leave Paris on foot and head for shelter with Marie-Laure’s great-uncle Etienne in Saint-Malo, on the Brittany coast of France. Eventually, Marie-Laure’s father is called back to Paris, where he is captured and sent to the concentration camp in Breitenau. Marie-Laure and Etienne become involved in the French Resistance, while unknown to them, Sergeant Major Von Rumpel closes in on them as he searches for the Sea of Flames.

Meanwhile, in Germany, Werner Pfennig lives in the Children’s House orphanage in Zollverein, Germany with his younger sister, Jutta. Werner has a gift with electronics and radios, and his skills come to the attention of a high ranking Nazi commander. Herr Seidler recommends Werner for the National Political Institutes of Education, where Germany’s best and brightest boys are sent to be trained for Germany’s armies. Werner is sent to Schulpforta with 400 other “pure,” blue-eyed boys between 9 and 17 years of age where they are sent to study mechanics, state history, racial sciences, horsemanship, and military history. Werner is taken under the wing of Dr. Hauptmann, the technical sciences instructor, and is treated as a favored pupil. Meanwhile, the strong prey on the weak under the tutelage of sadistic Nazi instructors while Werner, who all his life has “gone along to get along,” looks the other way in shame and embarrassment.

The alternating stories of Marie-Laure and Werner are told in very brief chapters and those chapters are contained within alternating segments of the book that flip back and forth in time. Ultimately, the stories of Marie-Laure and Werner converge in Saint-Malo, as that last strong-hold of the Germans in France is overtaken by the Allies.

The writing is beautiful and the story is engrossing and very moving. I can’t imagine anyone not liking this book. So much to think about – I kept putting myself in the characters’ places and wondering what I would do. “What you could be,” Werner. What you could be…..

Five stars.
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Mar 23, 2016 Cecily rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fict-20th-cent, ya, read-only-cos-of-gr-friends, canada-and-usa, sea-islands-coast

In the darkest places, at the darkest times, there is light, if we can but believe.

This is a story of contrasts, parallels, and coming together.

It is about light, and so, inevitably, also about the dark.

The descriptions are very visual, but what cannot be seen is key. One of the two main characters is blind, so it’s about touch and smell and sound as well. And it’s radio that drives many lives and events. “Radio: it ties a million ears to a single mouth.” It is also “a war waged through the air ...more

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Sep 09, 2015 Lyn rated it liked it

This was a well written, beautifully envisioned, powerful, frustrating, heartbreaking, and ultimately redemptive novel that humanizes a difficult time.

Told from the alternating third person narrative perspectives of a blind French girl, a young German boy and a German sergeant major, author Anthony Doerr, who won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for this work, blends stark realism with elements of legendary fantasy and introspective prose to create a chronicle of a time and place that is human and approa This was a well written, beautifully envisioned, powerful, frustrating, heartbreaking, and ultimately redemptive novel that humanizes a difficult time.

Told from the alternating third person narrative perspectives of a blind French girl, a young German boy and a German sergeant major, author Anthony Doerr, who won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for this work, blends stark realism with elements of legendary fantasy and introspective prose to create a chronicle of a time and place that is human and approachable.

Marie-Laure LeBlanc is a girl growing up in Paris by her widowed father, a talented locksmith for a natural history museum. Their life is changed forever by the Nazi invasion and occupation of France and from her perspective without sight the time is one of life at the end of hope, a fragile uncertainty.

At the same time, in a German orphanage in a coal mining town Werner Pfennig and his younger sister Jutta, are being raised by a French nun. Werner is a small boy for his age with hair so blonde it appears white. Werner is a gifted scientist and has a natural talent for electricity and radio. He and Jutta listen at night to prohibited French broadcasts.

Doerr’s novel is organized into many, many short chapters that follow the two and a group of other related characters over the course of several years towards their meeting soon after the Allied invasion at Normandy. While this allows for an easy and accessible reading experience, it also produces a disjointed and sometimes inconsistent history. The themes of broken and lost family relationships, and the overriding theme of spiritual connectedness, with unifying elements of the reading of Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and a mysterious lost cursed jewel, helps to tie the narrative together, but Doerr still seems to go off on confusing tangents or overlong sub-plots.

I could not help but compare this to Erich Maria Remarque’s brilliant 1928 WWI novel All Quiet on the Western Front as both works provide a refined, anti-romantic depiction of war.

Unfortunately, I also compare this work, obliquely, to Mailer’s Why Are We in Vietnam? because of the genius of the ending after a sometimes muddled and overlong body. While Doerr’s novel is far better than Mailer’s muddy absurdity, both reward the reader for getting to the finish by a very satisfying end.

Told with warmth, some humor, and humanity, Doerr’s greatest contribution to literature in this book is the theme of connection. Throughout the book and especially in his conclusion, we are shown how close we all are, how no matter what political or ideological insanity we must wade through, in the end we are all mortal and tied together by the bonds of a shared humanity.

Recommended.

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About Anthony Doerr

Anthony Doerr

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Anthony Doerr is the author of five books, The Shell Collector , About Grace , Memory Wall , Four Seasons in Rome and All the Light We Cannot See . Doerr’s fiction has won four O. Henry Prizes and has been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories, The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories, and The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Fiction. He has won the Barnes & Noble Discov ...more