Melissa, Runell, Erin & Xeyra - All the Light We Cannot See

[Denise, Manufacturing Director]

Melissa, Runell, Erin & Xeyra - All the Light We Cannot See

[Runell]

Melissa, when would you like to start this one?

[Melissa]

Oh sorry for not replying I am only just getting the hang of how to navigate this group. I have never done this before so was wondering how this works? Do we read it all in one go or little chunks?

I would love to start reading it on Tuesday 6th September?

[Runell]

Now I apologize to just now getting back to you.

I'm good fro whatever you want to do. From what I can tell the chapters are super short so we could either read so many chapters/pages and then discuss or each just go at our pace. Which would you prefer?

[Melissa]

Runell wrote: "Now I apologize to just now getting back to you.

I'm good fro whatever you want to do. From what I can tell the chapters are super short so we could either read so many chapters/pages and then di..."

Oh we could do different pages and then chat after that? If i have counted correctly there are 82 chapters and we have 4 weeks to read the book so shall we try and read
Week One: 20 chapters
Week Two: 20 chapters
Week Three: 21 chapters
Week Four: 21 chapters

Or try and do roughly 20 chapters a week depending on how busy we are etc?

[Runell]

Okay, doing 20 chapters a week works for me. :)

[Melissa]

Sounds good to me :)

[Melissa]

I've finally started reading this book and I'm not sure how I feel about this very short chapters. I'm getting confused already! But I'm sure it will all become clear soon

[Melissa]

Also I made a mistake. There are waay more than 80 chapters but there are 12 parts so we could try and read three parts a week? Sorry about the confusion :(

[Rita]

Melissa and Runell,

Erin and I just finished The Nightingale and decided to continue on with our WWII in France reading with All the Light We Cannot See. Do you guys mind if we discuss the book here with you both? We haven't begun yet and may take a few days to pick it up but it'd avoid a new thread on this book for September and you'd have two more people to discuss it with! :D

[Erin]

Thanks Xeyra!

I have the book through the 26th. It's a bit longer than The Nightingale so I figure I need at least 8 days to read it, 9 for good measure. That would have me starting around the 17th/18th.

How is everyone doing with this book so far?

[Erin]

For reference, this is my plan:
9/17 - Read up to Part 1, Rumors
9/18 - Part 3, Madame Manec
9/19 - Part 3, The Wardrobe
9/20 - Part 5, The Rounds
9/21 - Part 5, Relapse
9/22 - Part 7, The Third Stone
9/23 - Part 9, Grotto
9/24 - Part 10, Birds of America
9/25 - finish
That breakdown is for a pretty much equal amount of reading over 9 days.
I've got an ambitious plan to finish another book by end of day Friday, so this allows me some wiggle room...

[Rita]

This works for me. I'll hopefully finish another Buddy Read on the 16th so starting this on the 17th will work great. I also hope to be able to finish a book I'm currently reading by that date because on the 18th I'll have another buddy read to start and I can only manage about two books at the same time! (I signed up for way too many things this month).

[Melissa]

Oh we are more than happy to have more people reading this book with us. I will also try and finish by 9/25 so we can all discuss it :)

[Runell]

That's more than okay. I've actually got a little behind of both reads as I've gotten a little busy, but both reads will be finished by the end of the week. :)

[Erin]

I'm on track to start tomorrow :-)
Has anyone else gotten into it yet?

[Melissa]

Yes I have. It was tough for the first 100 pages or so but now I'm into it and it's amazing.

[Erin]

Oh boy... 100 pages?
I just finished The Light Between Oceans which was 300+ pages of "tough" :-P
I don't know how much more "tough" I can take, haha!

[Melissa]

Oh no! It's worth it though. But pay attention to the dates because I got so confused because there are a lot of time changes :)

[Rita]

I'm on track to start today as well. Just need to check on the reading schedule since chapter names as stop points are harder to remember than chapter numbers :)

[Rita]

2 'chapters' in and already one can see the sheer difference in writing ability between this and The Nightingale.

Edit: Made it to the end of the first part today (so, slightly ahead). Really liking the present tense omniscient narration. Love the writing.

[Erin]

Just finished my reading for today. It's definitely better than The Nightingale so far and, thankfully, I'm not finding it as tough a read as The Light Between Oceans, though Werner's preoccupation with radios and electricity and magnetism is giving me flashbacks to my high school physics class and I really hated physics... So most of that is over my head :-P

[Rita]

I'm really enjoying this so far. I'm somewhere past the Wardrobe but still in part 3 right now and I am loving the writing on it and how it's a bit of an omniscient narrator telling a story and I'm already too invested in these two kids of two different sides of the war. Also, I love Marie-Laure's papa; the care he takes with building her a model of the city/town she lives in so she can learn to navigate it, is so heart-warming.

[Melissa]

Yes he Papa is so kind and loving towards her. Also I love the relationship between Werner and Jutta, and their love for their radio.

[Erin]

I'm also enjoying it so far, though I must confess, I don't think the manner in which I'm reading it does it the justice it deserves. A bit here, a bit there... If I were to wait for solid chunks of time where I could read a fair amount in one sitting, I probably wouldn't be able to finish before my time with the eBook is up.

I love the relationship between Marie-Laure and her papa. It's so sweet. I know she calls out for him after the bombs drop in 1944, but I still somehow got the sense that he's no longer with her there and can't help but wonder what became of him. I'll be so sad if something bad happened to him.

Do you think the Sea of Flames he was given was the real one or one of the decoys? I feel like the obvious choice would have been to give him the real one, but I'm hoping it's one of the fakes. I like "surprises."

I'm not quite sure how I feel about Werner yet. I understand his thirst for knowledge and wanting to escape the coal mines, but it will be interesting to see how his time in the school may change him. I really liked what Jutta said before he left, when she told him he could lie to himself, but not to lie to her. Hopefully that sticks with him and he decides not to lie to himself either.

[Melissa]

I just finished the book and during the last 100-200 pages it gets really interesting. Everything ties together really nicely and all the different aspects of the story start to make sense. Yes I found that I had to read it in big chunks to make things make sense. But once you get into the story because the story changes so rapidly it's quite easy to dive in and out. But the last 100 pages or so I had to read in almost one go because I couldn't seem to put the book down. It's definitely a really good read.

[Rita]

I think the problem is that the chapters are so short and sometimes end abruptly that if you have to pause right there instead of continuing to read, it doesn't have the proper impact. This is probably why I'm not entirely following your reading timeline above, Erin, since I am either trying to stop at a place that makes more sense to me or (more often still) reading up until I am falling asleep mid-chapter. :p

[Erin]

Xeyra wrote: "I think the problem is that the chapters are so short and sometimes end abruptly that if you have to pause right there instead of continuing to read, it doesn't have the proper impact. This is prob..."

I don't blame you for reading ahead. I would love to just dive in and read this one for hours. But life...
:-P
I did get a good chunk of time while my son napped this afternoon (he would not nap at all yesterday) and I should get another chunk after he goes to bed tonight so I think I'll pass my original goal for today (I barely finished yesterday's reading... And I probably didn't retain as much as I would have under better reading conditions, but oh well).
I can't wait to finish this one!

[Rita]

Oh, I finally reached the point of the first intersection in the stories of these two characters (as expected) and then bam, back to the past. :D

[Erin]

They do reveal some connections fairly early. Like the fact that the radio program Werner so enjoyed was the recording made by Marie-Laure's grandfather and great uncle.

And I believe all the work Werner is doing at the school is part of an effort to locate Etienne's attic radio, though I'm not sure why it's so important to do so at this point.

[Rita]

You know, I didn't actually make that connection until recently, that Etienne was actually the guy Werner and Jutta used to hear on the radio. I must have missed that detail in the writing and only saw it mentioned in more recent chapters and then I was like: what did I miss???? :D

[Rita]

So I finished this yesterday and posted by review of it, but I want to talk about the couple of things that dropped my rating on this. I'll put a spoiler tag just for those who haven't finished it yet.

(view spoiler)[The Jutta and Frau Elena's rape at the end of the war/near end of the book seemed so gratuitous that it did sour the book a little bit for me (certainly cost it half a star). Is it just me? I know the war was terrible and women suffered a lot of abuse and indignities but it seemed so tacked on to have that small chapter on what was going on with Jutta after Werner's death and just make it a rape chapter. To be honest, the more I think about it, the madder I get, because it was so jarring in what was otherwise an amazing novel.

And then there's what I'll call the Return of the King effect, with all those small chapters at the end, both in 1944 and further, where each could have been the end of the novel but nope! One more! And then one more! To the point the chapter in 2014 (part 13) felt completely unnecessary for me. (hide spoiler)]

[Melissa]

Yes sure I would like to talk about it too cause I've finished it.

[Erin]

I'm getting close! I hope to finish it tomorrow but, if not, I will definitely finish it on Friday.

[Erin]

Xeyra wrote: "So I finished this yesterday and posted by review of it, but I want to talk about the couple of things that dropped my rating on this. I'll put a spoiler tag just for those who haven't finished it ..."

Just finished myself! In case Runell hasn't finished and checks in...

(view spoiler)[I completely agree with you about the chapter with the rape. What bothered me the most, was that it seemed so nonchalant. Frau Elena was "disappointed." And the girls didn't display any terror, didn't get upset, didn't appear to be traumatized which are all emotions I would have expected. It had all the emotional impact as a visit to the dentist. "Darn, I'm going to get a cavity filled!" "Darn, I'm going to get raped now!"
It was certainly "disappointing" to me after all that had come before and I think that part should have been omitted.

I was also somewhat let down by the ending. Sure, it was good to know what became of people after everything that happened, but I think it dragged on more than it should have. I wish it had been more concise. And yeah, I saw no point to the chapter set in 2014.

I'm also curious about the fate of the Sea of Flames. I presume Werner was curious about the model house Marie-Laure released into the grotto which is why he went back for it. (Not sure why she gave him the key...) And he was a pretty bright boy, so it's not hard to believe he figured out that it could be opened. But why toss the stone? I'm a bit confused by this. I wish there had been a chapter focusing on his return to the grotto and what his thoughts were. (hide spoiler)]

[Melissa]

Ah that's great Erin! Did you enjoy it?

[Erin]

Melissa wrote: "Ah that's great Erin! Did you enjoy it?"

If you click on (view spoiler) in Xeyra's post from yesterday and my latest post, you can read our thoughts.

We hid them with links in case Runell checks in so that we won't spoil the ending for her (well, I also wasn't finished when Xeyra made her comment yesterday).

[Melissa]

Thanks!

[Erin]

If you're not familiar with HTML codes (I wasn't when I first got into Buddy Reads) you can refer to this guide:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Rita]

The Sea of Flames

(view spoiler)[I remember reading something about it being at the bottom of the ocean in that little grotto in Saint-Malo. And I do recall the impression that Werner did figure how to open the model house too. It's possible he just didn't know how important it was and threw it out into the sea? If he'd kept it, it would have been found by now, what with him dying so suddenly, but Marie-Laure got the model house empty so maybe it just got lost. To be honest, the Sea of Flames was more of a prop to motivate Von Rumpel - it was never actually supposed to be a proper plot point. Because if we ever took this point logically, we could deconstruct all the holes in the novel where it comes to this stone and how long it took Von Rumpel to actually find it! And enter the Saint-Malo house once he did know where to look for it.

Maybe it's just supposed to be a mystery; an unanswered question we'll never know about. (hide spoiler)]

[Erin]

Xeyra wrote: "The Sea of Flames"

(view spoiler)[I got that Werner left the stone in the grotto, I just don't understand why he did. Supposedly it was a pretty spectacular stone, so I would think someone unfamiliar with it would still be able to conclude that it was probably (or at least possibly) valuable. Perhaps, by that point, he was so disappointed in himself and everything he was a part of that he felt he wasn't worthy? (hide spoiler)]

Were any of you able to make the connection between the title and the story itself? I actually had a little trouble with that, so I looked it up... (view spoiler)[I thought perhaps it had something to do with the broadcast about the brain being enclosed in darkness yet able to create a world of light. But that didn't quite fit. I found a Q&A with the author online and he said it refers to 1. The light we literally cannot see, the radio wavelengths and 2. The numerous untold stories of individuals from WWII. It makes sense, though I don't really like to think the primary focus of this story was the radios. It also makes the rape part even more irrelevant since that doesn't relate to those things at all. (hide spoiler)]

[Rita]

Erin wrote: "Xeyra wrote: "The Sea of Flames"

[spoilers removed]

Were any of you able to make the connection between the title and the story itself? I actually had a little trouble with that, so I looked it u..."

The funny thing is that I took the title at face value and thought it related to Marie-Laure's blindness or, more subjectively, to Werner's despondency at the end. I actually didn't try to search for a higher meaning than that but now that you've explained it, it really does make sense in the overall story and it's quite moving too.

(view spoiler)[And I agree so much to everything you've said about the nonchalance of the rape scene... why would his editor just let it go through? Never did I more feel like this book was written by a white male than that chapter. (hide spoiler)]

[Erin]

Xeyra wrote: "The funny thing is that I took the title at face value and thought it related to Marie-Laure's blindness or, more subjectively, to Werner's despondency at the end."

That makes a lot of sense too! Especially relating it to Werner's despondency. I remember the "why bother" chapter. Why bother to "build splendid buildings, to make music, to sing songs..." He's basically lost sight of the "light" at that point.

What are your thoughts Melissa?

[Melissa]

Personally I thought the overarching theme of the book was how Werner and Marie-Laure were still striving to do good even in the face of such evil. And perhaps the "light" is the good deeds and things that perhaps go unnoticed but do touch people's lives and make a difference? Maybe that's too philosophical but that's what I thought. :) also it could allude to the Sea of Flames and perhaps how it was supposed to bring him eternal life but he was never gonna reach it or something like that?

[Melissa]

On a different note. It's my last day working as a library assistant because I'm off to uni. This woman came in to pick up her reservation. Guess what? The book she was picking up was All The Light We Cannot See. I told her I had just read it and the time changed confused me a little and I thought that in my opinion the book took a bit too long to get going and the end was rather strange. It's amazing how such a small world it is! This is my first ever challenge on Goodreads and I just wanted to say thank you so much for being so kind and helpful. I definitely want to do more of these and would love to pair up with you guys again! X

[Erin]

Melissa wrote: "And perhaps the "light" is the good deeds and things that perhaps go unnoticed but do touch people's lives and make a difference? "

I like this idea too. It ties to so many things. Marie's father building the model towns for her. Unimportant to anyone but Marie. Etienne's broadcasts - the educational one that reached Werner as a boy but probably went unheard by so many others, as well as the ones with the numbers to contribute to the resistance efforts, though only a couple people knew he was doing so.

I'm glad you enjoyed your first Buddy Read! It was great to hear your thoughts. I've found that since I started with them, which was only last month, I find myself wanting a sounding board for all the books I'm reading. I'll be reading one on my own and come to a point where I'll think, "Man, I really wish I had someone to weigh in with about this and get their opinion on it." Haha!

[Melissa]

Me too. Being part of a group really helps me with motivation. I'm awful at reading on my own because I end up wanting to read three books at once and never finish one. I really wish I had an accountability group/partner. Because having someone else means I'm so much more motivated to read the book and I have someone to enjoy it with!