All the Light We Cannot See
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Did anyone else have difficulty connecting with this book.
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Susan
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rated it 1 star
Aug 29, 2015 08:53AM
I had a professor of Shakespeare who was always comparing the poetry and prose of Shakespeare to music, and he kept talking about the Music of the Spheres and that music was mathematical. To someone who knew nothing of the structure of music (me) (I know nothing about music, but I know what I like), it was something I had to take on faith. When studying for the test, a friend and I quickly came to the conclusion: if one of the essay questions is on music, we skip it. So, being constructed like music is something that would have to be pointed out to me and explained to me. And it would make me resent the book more for speaking in a language I could not understand. But, that's just me.
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binsie wrote: "Call me philistine but I feel like the boy who said the 'king is in the altogether.'"binsie, exactly.
Susan wrote: "I had a professor of Shakespeare who was always comparing the poetry and prose of Shakespeare to music, and he kept talking about the Music of the Spheres and that music was mathematical. To someo..."Susan, beautifully said. Perhaps Doerr is "speaking in a language I could not understand." I'm always dragging around a copy of James Joyce's "Ulysses". It can't be read as a novel imo, and is one massive poem. So maybe we should indeed look at "All the Light We Cannot See" as a group of short stories, like "Olive Ketteridge" which also won a Pulitzer and isn't a novel, but a set of short stories. Maybe "Light" can't be considered a novel at all
I loved this book! I couldn't put it down. It is now one of my new favorites.
Jeremy wrote: "I really enjoyed this book up until the point where the two protagonists are brought together. The resolution left me thinking ... What was the point? But I still found it to be a good read overall."I remember thinking it could have ended sooner than it did. There were a couple good stopping points, but I was fascinated nonetheless with the beautiful prose, and the twisting puzzles mirroring the streets on which they walked, the clever old uncle alone his is rooms with his radio, and how the smallest things done by one person can be picked up by someone far away. It also portrays the Nazis as the devils they were/are, which we must never forget.
A fantastic, honest book. Definitely the best I've read this year. Apart from the idea of war being viewed and lived through the eyes of two children, I also appreciated the honesty of a non-completely happy ending. Because that's just how life works. Had Werner and Marie-Laure got together and lived happily ever after would have made the ending puerile and unrealistic.
And I think Doerr was very skillful in describing Marie-Laure's experiences only by means of smells, touch and noises.
What I don't understand is that some people don't get the point of the book. It doesn't take much imagination (for those of us, me included, who are lucky enough not to have lived through WW2 (or any other war)) to picture how an orphan boy would be sucked into the wickedness and ruthlessness of a country like Nazi Germany, even though he didn't fully believe in the ideals, and stand to watch as atrocities happen all around him.
What he did, saving Marie-Laure (twice) and Etienne, was the moment he finally listened to his heart, he followed his ideals, he took responsibilities, he discovered whom he was. All for nothing in exchange, not even freedom. That was the moment he became a man.
I really couldn't fault the book.
Riccardo wrote: "A fantastic, honest book. Definitely the best I've read this year. Apart from the idea of war being viewed and lived through the eyes of two children, I also appreciated the honesty of a non-comp..."
Perhaps my problem was that I had seen WWII through the eyes of a child in many other books (The Book Thief of course springs instantly to mind)and memoirs, so that viewpoint was not at all new to me. And the idea of how a young boy, especially an orphan boy, could be seduced by a wicked political movement is the very basis of the Hitler Youth Program and is still carried on today among boy soldiers and terrorist initiates. So, none of this was new or impressive to me.
Susan wrote: "Riccardo wrote: "A fantastic, honest book. Definitely the best I've read this year. Apart from the idea of war being viewed and lived through the eyes of two children, I also appreciated the hone..."
"The Book Thief" is also from the point of view of a child, yes, but it's a completely different perspective. She's a girl who is relatively well off, even during the war, but her family hides this monstrous secret from the state, but she doesn't fully comprehend why it's a secret at all.
Here instead we see the ruthlessness of the Hitler Youth from the inside. We feel its arrogance, its heartlessness. If one naively reads the synopsis of the book, one would think that Marie-Laure, a blind French girl would live a much more difficult life during the Occupation than Werner's. Werner is the oppressor, Marie-Laure the oppressed.
But peering through the Hitler Youth, we understand how naive that conception would be. For Werner sees tragedies beyond imagining. That's what "THe Book Thief" misses.
I don't pretend to be an expert in WW2 fiction, but having read both this book and "The Book Thief" somewhat recently, I can definitely say that the former had me much more involved. It brings us to the eye of the storm, while "The book thief" limits itself to safe Germany where people were warily looking over their shoulders, careful not to show any opposition to the Fuhrer's ideals.
Susan wrote: "This book has great ratings, but I could never get involved with it. And it went on for soooo long. Did anyone else have a negative reaction to this?"Agree I think the book is over-rated.
Alexandra wrote: "I had a problem with this book because of the inaccuracies. The fact-finder did a lousy job. I became unable to trust the author and stopped reading half-way through."BINGO!
Damian wrote: "Not at all. In fact one of the the best books I've read in 2014 in my honest opinion. That's now three books set during the Second World War that I've enjoyed, the others being 'The Book Thief' and..."Actually, I think "The Book Thief" was far superior. I liked "All The Light..." but did not love it.
Susan wrote: "I guess I'm really in the minority here -- a minority of one." I DO agree it was long and slow at spots. When the two main characters were older--you were patiently waiting for them to intersect, and that dragged a bit. But I personally loved it, the short chapters helped move the book. I liked the writing and overall story, and I am not a Historical Fiction fan. Don't feel bad if you did not connect, we ALL can [hopefully] list books that it seemed the lit world loved but we did not. For me, it's Great Gatsby and The Secret History (that was a ZZZZZZ!)
I really enjoyed this book. It ranks right up there with Donna Tartt's "Goldfinch". Yes I thought it was THAT good. Unfortunately, I could only rank it as high as 5-stars. I thought it deserved 7 or 8 stars. The novel brought me into WWII and thinking about how things were during that time. My grandparents and my mom lived it during WWII while my mom was young. She lived in England and it was during the Battle of Britain. Same sort of thing as far as hiding under furniture while the bombing is going on!
I couldn't put it down, either. The characters were so appealing and so very human that it would have been hard not to really care about them. War is so chaotic and so destructive, and the effect it has on innocent lives is profoundly sad. Even the villans had a human side, and though you couldn't sympathize with them, they deserved a modicum of understanding. A person can only react according to the strength and wisdom, or lack of it, that his background has provided him.
Susan wrote: "This book has great ratings, but I could never get involved with it. And it went on for soooo long. Did anyone else have a negative reaction to this?"It took me forever to read - I read it over a few months, not weeks. I found it very dark.
Lizburke wrote: "Susan wrote: "This book has great ratings, but I could never get involved with it. And it went on for soooo long. Did anyone else have a negative reaction to this?"It took me forever to read - I ..."
Yes, I just couldn't get into it, and I couldn't finish it.
I really enjoyed this book until the end. The ending left me feeling flat and unsatisfied. There was no real resolution in my opinion.
Susan wrote: "This book has great ratings, but I could never get involved with it. And it went on for soooo long. Did anyone else have a negative reaction to this?"Yes in one hand the book has been very slow in some parts, but in the other hand the poetry and the characters have saved it, at least for me.
Susan wrote: "This book has great ratings, but I could never get involved with it. And it went on for soooo long. Did anyone else have a negative reaction to this?"I tried. I tried again, and I tried a third time. This book did not draw me in. I didn't even finish it. Normally, I love books written in this time frame. Books of any type... fiction, non fiction, realistic fiction, memoir, biography, historical, informative.... but not this one.
I'd say I read 1/3 of the book before I just said, "Enough."
I liked it. In fact, it's some of the best prose I've read in a bit. I'm not normally one for historic fiction, but this rated high for me.
Susan wrote: "I guess I'm really in the minority here -- a minority of one."No, I listened to the book, and I found it to be just so-so--maybe I've read too many from this period, but there are better books than this one. I can't list it among "best books I've ever read." Too many other books, with less "predictable" plot lines.
I'm finding a lot of people with the same reaction.
This book was very well-written, but I did not connect to it on an emotional level. It was great on an intellectual level, but I never cried, and I was disappointed in the ending. Someone mentioned The Book Thief, which made me cry and cry. If a writer can make you cry, that is an excellent thing because art is supposed to be emotional.
Susan wrote: "This book has great ratings, but I could never get involved with it. And it went on for soooo long. Did anyone else have a negative reaction to this?"Definitely. I thought for sure it was going to be so good when there were 37 holds ahead of me for it at the library, but it was just painful to read. I really didn't want to finish it, but it was the book we were reading for my book club so I had to struggle through it. It was boring, it was confusing at times, it was uninteresting. The only character I cared about was poor Frederick and that was so depressing I just didn't want to read anymore about it.
I haven't finished it yet but felt I had to read what others thought. I have several friends that couldn't stop stressing how wonderful the book is. Sometimes I feel like an odd ball because books that people rave over often don't affect me in the same way. Maybe it's because outstanding reviews lead me to expect too much from a book. Going back and forth between characters isn't my favorite style; also adding jumping back and forth between different periods of time was often confusing.
Susan wrote: "This book has great ratings, but I could never get involved with it. And it went on for soooo long. Did anyone else have a negative reaction to this?"Yep, I still do not get what all the hoopla surrounding this book was. It was poorly written in terms of characters and just it went no-where.
This book is really not very good. There is a definite "follow the herd" factor with book reviews. I think people set aside there own intelligence because a book is highly rated or has been given a prize. Perhaps for people with little or no knowledge of history and, in the case of this book, little or no experience with blindness, a book like this just amounts to good fiction but I think the author has an obligation to be reasonably faithful to the historical and personal setting of the story.
Susan, I agree. It wasn't bad, but I just didn't feel any connection with the characters. I'm glad I wasn't the only one. I would have liked giving 2.5, but that's not possible, so I made it 3.I always have difficulties putting a book down and getting enough sleep, but every time I read this book, I felt sleepy after a couple of pages. I never felt like that with a book. But at least it allowed for more sleep than usual... :-)
Apart from the pages explaining the 'after-war' I guess it left me feeling quite indifferent, so I was disappointed. Yet the story wasn't that bad, so I still finished it. But I don't agree with the raving reviews.
Sabine wrote: "Susan, I agree. It wasn't bad, but I just didn't feel any connection with the characters. I'm glad I wasn't the only one. I would have liked giving 2.5, but that's not possible, so I made it 3.I a..."
It is hard when everyone is raving and you're there saying "Huh"?
Susan wrote: "This book has great ratings, but I could never get involved with it. And it went on for soooo long. Did anyone else have a negative reaction to this?"I absolutely agree! I know many people loved it and it was rated well. I barely got through with it and I am a huge reader.
Susan wrote: "This book has great ratings, but I could never get involved with it. And it went on for soooo long. Did anyone else have a negative reaction to this?"
Thank goodness you wrote this! Everyone else I know who has read this book loved it, and I didn't.
That is the reason I started this thread!
Somehow I couldn't connect to the characters. I think that's my biggest problem with the book. I wonder why so many others love the book.
I adored this book. I read it very very slowly, because I wanted to savor all the phrases and beautiful writing. It kept my interest as a story as well. I do think it is one of my all-time favorite reads. It humbled me a bit as an author who has a novel (The End of Miracles) being published in May, because no matter the glowing advance reviews I have received, I know my writing is in an altogether different category than his.
Monica, I totally agree. The writing is gorgeous and the story is enhanced by it.
Re: The Key, The Jewel and The Little House. How did the key get into the Little House? Werner didn't know how to open the Little House up.
Susan wrote: "This book has great ratings, but I could never get involved with it. And it went on for soooo long. Did anyone else have a negative reaction to this?"Susan, I listened to the book through Audible. I also did not particularly like it. It seemed like it never reached a climax. A lot of beautiful descriptions but the plot was lacking.
Leslie wrote: "I really enjoyed this book until the end. The ending left me feeling flat and unsatisfied. There was no real resolution in my opinion."I agree that the ending was dark, and flat. Plus the author killed off my favorite character.
I really like but I can't figure out if theres some higher meaning about the Sea of Flames.
Judy wrote: "Susan wrote: "This book has great ratings, but I could never get involved with it. And it went on for soooo long. Did anyone else have a negative reaction to this?"Susan, I listened to the book t..."
I too listened to this book on Audible. My husband loved it - I just never got in to it. It dragged and I never connected with the characters.
Petrina wrote: "I cannot understand why everyone is gushing over this book. I love reading and this book did not enthrall me at all. I never connected with it. There was too much flowery language and so little plo..."
I am in the small group mystified by the popularity of this book. I finished this book only because it was my book club's choice. The other members of my book club loved the book.
Sometimes not everyone likes the same book.I love WW2 fiction, for anyone who wants something a little shorter, I'd suggest Atonement
Ruth, it's not the length of the book or the topic, as I like WW2 stories as well. That's why I did finish it, even though it never grabbed me. It really is about not connecting with the characters. I finished this book, but remained unsatisfied afterwards.
Sabine wrote: "Ruth, it's not the length of the book or the topic, as I like WW2 stories as well. That's why I did finish it, even though it never grabbed me. It really is about not connecting with the characters..."I agree, Sabine, it is not the subject or length. I am burnt out on WW2 right now, but if one is recommended to me or catches my attention, I will jump into the fray again. And as for length, I love long books if they have enough good plot and ideas to fill it out. When it just seems to ramble on nonstop, like this one seemed to me to do, I get annoyed with the length.
I'm with you Susan. Every time I would get sort of interested in one character's story, it would switch, and I'd be disengaged again. I was bored and had to drag my way through it.
Tiffany wrote: "I loved the book, and found myself way more caught up in it than I usually get these days. I think the point was that by helping the girl, the poor little German boy could finally feel like he did..."
I agree with you Tiffany and is was a great read. Almost as good as The Book Thief.
I have just started listening to Audio books in the car while driving to work. I have not long finished The Book Thief on audio and it truly added another dimension so good was the reading/acting.I hope to now find All the Light We Cannot See on Audio. I saw the Movie, read the book and listened to the audio of The Book Thief. The Audio was my favorite, the book 2nd and movie 3rd in my rating.
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