All the Light We Cannot See in Reading with Style

Aug 15, 2014 gam s (Haveyouread.bkk) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, awesome-characters, book-hangover, re-reading

“Time is a slippery thing: lose hold of it once, and its string might sail out of your hands forever.”

Reading this book felt like stargazing on a cold winter night. An atmospheric beauty that demands no attention, which makes the experience even more touching and poignant. Actually, I read this wayyy back in 2014 and it has been one of my favorite novels since. It is inexplicable why I love it as much as I do, but perhaps because while the characters went through so much, their hearts were
“Time is a slippery thing: lose hold of it once, and its string might sail out of your hands forever.”

Reading this book felt like stargazing on a cold winter night. An atmospheric beauty that demands no attention, which makes the experience even more touching and poignant. Actually, I read this wayyy back in 2014 and it has been one of my favorite novels since. It is inexplicable why I love it as much as I do, but perhaps because while the characters went through so much, their hearts were still full of love. Their perseverance and strong passion to connect with the world, amidst the war, moved me.

*now cue the tears*

description

The Plot : Marie Laure was a blind French girl in Paris until the day the war knocked on her door. She has fled the city with her father, a master locksmith at the Museum of Natural History, to a seaside town named Saint-Malo. There, she met her great-uncle Etienne, who was still shell-shocked from his experiences from the Great War. Etienne coped with his grief by broadcasting his dead brother's old records into the vast sky of Europe to no one in particular.

Meanwhile, in Germany, Werner was an orphan from a border town who got sucked into the whirlwind of war as he was recruited into a Hitler Youth program. Over time, he got promoted to the frontline, overseeing a radio transmission, something he was always fascinated with. The mission eventually brought him to Saint-Malo, where his fate clashed with Marie-Laure's in the most astounding way imaginable.

The Writing : Doerr is such a meticulous writer - the way he chose his words to weave into mesmerizing prose manifests grace and elegance. The story just conveys so many emotions without being too mopey or dramatic. The use of fancy words didn't feel imposing at all. Subtle but precise, like they were placed right where they belong. It's all about connection, and how tragic and incredible we are as human beings. How we fall and thrive, reclaiming the power to do good in the face of hardships and evil.

You can feel it through the pages that, while All the Light We Cannot See is not a love story (in a romantic sense), it is still 100% a story of love beyond everything else. All types of love, be it friendship or just kindness to strangers, even the love Doerr has for his work also shone through. I also noticed how it was divided into small chapters like a radio transmission, something that the characters cared about and loved. It's such a small detail, but I was impressed nonetheless.

If you're a fan of literary fiction with a dab of magical realism flavour (the diamond subplot), I highly recommend this masterpiece. This book is the reason why I love reading so much. I think the story in itself is timeless because we still witness the tragedy of war and an incredible story of human resilience every day. Please read this, and you can thank me later. ...more

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Feb 16, 2017 Claire rated it liked it · review of another edition

Mixed feelings about the book. I liked the story, but found the book sometimes too long winded. It's written nicely and it is a nice read, but I have some difficulties to understand the hype about it.
The author thanks former authors at the end, among which Curzio Malaparte. I can only say the Malaparte's book is a monument compared to this ( in my opinion) ...more

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Jul 29, 2020 Lea rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, war-envolved

I always wonder what I'll think of books that are talked about for years... especially since it sometimes takes me a couple of them to read said books. Reading this book definitely didn't disappoint. As someone who loves plot, it was sometimes a struggle with the parallel stories and time jumps to keep me from going crazy as I searched for the connecting pieces, but the stories in themselves were so good and interesting it kept me satisfied until the big reveal.

And what a reveal it was - again, ...more

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