Drop Everything And Read discussion
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All the Light We Cannot See
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All The Light We Cannot See
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Hallie, I'm all about the books
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rated it 5 stars
Sep 01, 2016 08:25AM
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I am hoping to join this BOTM, I just have to try to track down a copy of this book.
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I am new to the group and I am super excited about joining this BOTM discussion! I have heard the book is Fantastic!!
Loved the book! I'm a WW2 junkie. It was beautifully written without being overbearing.
This book has been on my TBR for the longest time! It's on my kindle so I am ready and eager to get on this to discuss! So excited :D
I Am Gonna Join On This BOTM......
Loving this book and listening to it on Audible. I never want it to end!
I read this book a while ago for another group and I remember I enjoyed it, but I really had to think about how the story was again. For me the main themes in the book where the question of guilt and the question of choice. I.e. when things develop do you still have a choice and if you don't how guilty are you to the things that happen? And if you do have a choice, does this automatically imply guilt? And how far does choice go?
This is illustrated perfectly in the storylines of a blind, french girl and a german soldier. Both are pushed by the circumstances into a certain direction. Anthony Doerr makes clear though that it is in the end their own choice, however hard it is sometimes to choose otherwise.
Still in the middle of this book (p 288). I am finding the characters well sculptured and interesting. Werner's internal struggle with the Indecencies of Hitler's system is palpable, as are Etienne's fears of being caught. I like Madame Manec!
I ordered this book from my library and it`ll be ready to pick up tomorrow. Looking forward to starting it and joining in the discussion :-)
Finished over the weekend. Interesting! Listed my thoughts on the theme here: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
Read this with a bookclub a few years ago and rated it 4/5. Very well written and characters to care about.
I've read this book twice already. it took Doerr 10 years to finish this masterpiece and his hard work paid off. Beautifully written, unforgettable characters and heartbreaking storyline.
I've read a quarter of it now and it's really beautiful!
I`m enjoying the book so far ( I`m at part four. ) The characters are engaging, its beautifully written and easy to read. Just wondered what people thought about the flipping back and forth between different perspectives and time periods?
I browsed through several of the reviews for the book and noticed comments about the flipping back and forth between different perspectives and time periods. Some thought it was unnecessary. Others said it didn't really bother them. I am guessing the author used that technique to heighten tension (Van Rumpel going after Marie-Laure's gem). I found it somewhat annoying, but I'm not sure how I would have reacted to reading the story in full chronological order. It was an unusual amount of flipping, for sure.
At first I thought the constant changing would get on my nerves, but I think its handled really well.
Katie wrote: "I browsed through several of the reviews for the book and noticed comments about the flipping back and forth between different perspectives and time periods. Some thought it was unnecessary. Others..."To me, when I'm reading about hard things, terrible times in history, I do better with changing characters and stories back and forth because it doesn't get so depressing and leave so many horrible images that way. I can enjoy the stories as stories.
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I'm agree with what Bonnie has to say here. I didn't find the switching annoying in any way.
Bonnie wrote: "Katie wrote: "I browsed through several of the reviews for the book and noticed comments about the flipping back and forth between different perspectives and time periods. Some thought it was unnec..."I too didn't mind the switching of the perspectives. I think it even ads to the book as it makes it possible to write about both sides of the war and even a third side I guess.
I just finished it an hour ago and I really enjoyed it.The story is so smooth, the characters are memorable and the reality is so painful. What impressed me the most was the way you experienced the pre World War II period, the war time and post war time periods from the French and German point of view as a teenager. Usually there is the American and the German soldier's point of view but this time it was more intimate. As I was reading, especially the pre war pages, knowing what there is to come, it just gave me the chills. And I think that the way you experience time in this story, while you do have knowledge about history, gives an authentic experience. And as you reach the end of the book, and the journey takes you forward through the years, you have that sensation of both ”that it was all just yesterday” and ”a long time ago”.
At the end of the book I actually felt like I have read two real journals of a girl named Marie-Laure Le Blanc and a boy called Werner Pfennig.
Great book. Enjoy it at least as much as I did!
I read about the author after I finished the book because it was one of those ones that it was so engaging to read that I just had to see how the did it. Finding out that that he started the whole idea after seeing people loose signal on their cells on the subway and then looking at how radio waves connect us all was really cool. I do love to see all the ways the characters are connected in this novel.
Marieke wrote: "I read this book a while ago for another group and I remember I enjoyed it, but I really had to think about how the story was again. For me the main themes in the book where the question of guilt..."
An interesting perspective of the story, I did not see that right away but I can kind of see what you are talking about.
I must put this book on my to read list.
To be honest, I don't read books about war but the synopsis made it sound like it was a romantic book. So if you have read this book, you will know that there is no romance. The two main characters, the French girl and German boy, interact for about five minutes, which really pissed me off. Even though, I am still unsatisfied with the book in general because it was long and there were too many repetitions, some parts really stuck with me. The one that got to me the most was the one at the end, where those German girls get raped by the Russian soldiers. I was thinking, That's horrible! These German women and girls who had no part in the war and they just get raped because they're there and they're unprotected and they're German. So my point is that even though it was boring and I was angry that I was lied to, I'm glad I read it.
Hi I'm new to DEAR, and am looking forward to discussing books with fellow book addicts, I am currently about half way through this book and enjoying the duel perspectives of the two main characters, the use of the narrative in this way helps to give a inner life to a very familiar larger narrative, WW2, and serves make this story personal rather than a history lesson, hope to finish it soon.
I really loved the story of the girl and her father.
You know, it was a great read. I did have to force myself to continue on through a large part of it. But, I loved Werner's story! He fell in love quite quickly, didn't he? How cute was that. I think Marie-Laure represented everything he couldn't have in his life--hope, innocence, and a companion.
I really liked this book, the story was sad but also beautifully told. Honestly, I sometimes found it a bit hard to stay engaged at some points - I think it was the descriptive writing style. Like Mukhlisa said, I was also disappointed that Marie-Laure and Werner barely interacted. The characters were probably my favourite part of the book. I loved the relationship between Marie-Laure and her father as well as her uncle and Madame Manec.
OK someone tell me what they thought of this I'm going to buy it!
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It's a beautiful book!
Morgan, it's hands-down one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. Such horrible times but the prose is gorgeous and it's not dressed up into a predictable story line. I can't recommend it enough. (I just finished it a few weeks ago, review in my profile,)
how long did it take to read it
My log says 9 days. I didn't want it to end... Have you read anything else by him? I've not...
Just looked at your "read" books. My guess is if you enjoyed Book Thief and Thousand Splendid Suns you'll like this.
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I took a day to read it, but it was summer and my birthday that day (that book would have made the perfect present!). I'm also a fast reader, but my brother read it in two weeks.
ah OK yea it seems the a book thief type plot so I'll try it out
I thought this book was really well done and I loved watching the main character learning the towns, I was shocked how well the author was able to portray blindness in a way I was able to understand so well.I did have some issues with it in that the last bit of the book... (view spoiler)
I read the book 2 months back and was a bit afraid as the friend who suggested me the book said she was unable to understand the plot clearly. But seems I was really able to capture the essence but it made me read the book in a slow and steady way which is so unlike meSo I think it is the best book I have read this year because I was so much invested in the book emotionally and the book made me feel sad when it ended but at the same time happy because I got to read such a wonderful book. I know what I said don't make any sense but I haven't felt this way ever since I finished reading Kane and Abel which happened like 2 years back. I'm not a good critic, I just talk about how the book made me feel and this one is a good example of how a reader should feel after he finishes a book
Currently on p 248. I read The Book Thief right before this so it's interesting to hear from such different perspectives of practically the same events. However, I must admit that The Book Thief was more enjoyable for me to read than this book so far. But still both are beautifully written.
Amazing, touching, vibrant characters and massively creative. I was astounded at the idea of the father's gifts of puzzles, mazes, and then a 3-D map of the town for his daughter.
