Gone with a Book discussion
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All the Light We Cannot See
2016 Group Reads Discussions.
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All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (5)
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"get into it"? How did you feel reading it—amused,
sad, disturbed, confused, bored...?
2. Is the plot engaging—does the story interest you? Is this a plot-driven book: a fast-paced page-turner? Or does the story unfold slowly with a focus on character development? Were you surprised by the plot's complications? Or did you find it predictable, even formulaic?
3. What passages strike you as insightful, even profound? Perhaps a bit of dialogue that's funny or poignant or that encapsulates a character? Maybe there's a particular comment that states the book's thematic concerns?
4. If you could ask the author a question, what would you ask? Have you read other books by the same author? If so how does this book compare. If not, does this book inspire you to read others?
I've read this over the summer (July, I believe). I love historical fiction, especially novels set in the war time, so when I saw how popular and how well loved this book was, of course I had to read it.Not going to lie, it took me a while to get into the story just because of how relaxed and slow the writing style seemed to be. I remember being stunned by the opening, though, because of its imagery of the papers cartwheeling in the sky.
I was really surprised at how long each "chapter" was. I do like that we get a few different storylines, mostly between Werner and Marie-Laure, from both sides fighting the war. I was able to enjoy the story pretty well, though it was slow-moving at times.
The climax was a little disappointing (for me, at least). (view spoiler). The story is sad (as most historical war fictions are), but I don't think connected with it as much as I wanted to. (I know I should've felt more sympathetic toward the end, but oh well. (view spoiler).
The story is more environmentally-driven than anything, unsurprisingly with the war being the main catalyst. But the characters do develop. I don't believe there's much dialogue, so we mostly learn about them through their day-to-day life, including what interests and hobbies they partake in.
I love stories that come together from seemingly two unrelated perspectives. This story does that.
As a whole, I enjoyed it.
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Have you read anything else by Anthony Doerr, or do you want to read anything else by him or will this be the only one you will consider reading?
Sarah wrote: "Great comments Michelle, I was a little reluctant to try this book as I wasn't sure how I would enjoy it. Seeing your comment about the relaxed writing almost confirmed me to not reading it however..."I was not used to his writing style, but for the purpose of the story he's trying to tell, it kind of fits. I had high expectations when I started this novel, and that was excluding the fact that this won the Pulitzer Prize. Sad to sad, I was left somewhat disappointed, but it's a beautiful and heartbreaking story nonetheless. I'd recommend you to check it out if you have any interest in it at all - you never know if you might end up loving it!
Since I do own a copy of this book, I intend on rereading it sometime in the next few years. Maybe I might gain some new insight.
I haven't read anything else by the author, but I'm interested in checking out his short story collections - I believe he has two of them.
Hm,I've just finished the book and don't realy know whether I like it.
My rating was 3 stars - and I really feel that indifferent about the book.
First of all it took me ages to finaly get into the book - the chapters are all really short and thus I always got interupted and never got into the "flow" of the book. In addition the chapters constantly change between Werner's and Marie-Laure's story so again it took me a while to get into the different storylines.
The story itself was nonetheless very interessting and I think a very plausible and realistic one. I liked how he portrayed especially Werner's moral dilemma - how he wrote upon him in an understanding way.
And I really did like the end - which left me pensive. If only the story would have been told in a more intoxicating way...
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I've just finished the book and don't realy know whether I like it.
My rating was 3 stars - and I really feel that indifferent about the book.
First of all it took me ages to finaly get into..."
By your review it, this shows what is one man's trash is another man's treasure... I guess this might have the group on a split divide as to loving or finding just OK.
Category 5. 2015 Pulitzer prize winner.