Doerr, Anthony - All the Light We Cannot See - Informal Buddy Read; Starts January 12, 2015 - revisit Sep 18th, 2015

[Laura]

Bath {p.189}
(view spoiler)[
Marie-Laure's dad is going to return the stone to the museum. He is thinking about Marie-Laure. He thinks" How do you ever know for certain that you are doing the right thing? There is pride too, though---pride that he has done it alone."

As a parent both of those statements resonant with me. I question if I am doing the right thing for my children or if I could be doing something else. (hide spoiler)]

[Laura]

Weakest(#2)
(view spoiler)[my heart breaks for Werner. How agonizing must it be to stand by and watch your best friend get beaten and do nothing knowing that as a 14 year old boy if you try to stop Bastian he will kill you?? (hide spoiler)]

[Margaret]

Laura wrote: "Bath {p.189}

Marie-Laure's dad is going to return the stone to the museum. He is thinking about Marie-Laure. He thinks" How do you ever know for certain that you are doing the right thing? There ..."

so true!(view spoiler)[I know it must had been a hard decision to leave his daughter, especially since she is blind! I think it takes years sometimes to reconcile choices or like now I still wonder did I do my best? I think that all parents go through that, though I think that the parents that don't ponder about the "what ifs". No one is perfect but and I think it is quite normal for those questions. (hide spoiler)]

[Margaret]

Laura wrote: "Weakest(#2)
[spoilers removed]"

absolutely mind boggling for sure!

[Renee]

Finished Part 1
This is a slow read for me. It is a slower paced book and the chapters are really short, so I have been reading a few chapters here and there among other faster paced books. I'm enjoying the beautiful writing style and feel like I know the main characters more now. I'm happy to keep taking my time with it.

[Rebecca]

Okay I just finished.

(view spoiler)[ I'm so glad that Marie-Laure met up with Werner (and he saved her), even though it was a very short time.

The end almost frustrated me a bit. I like how Marie-Laure has lived a long life and seems to be mostly happy. But for some reason I almost would have liked to be left with the image of her being reunited with her uncle. I am a bit confused about why Marie-Laure gave that key to Werner, but maybe that was to show up that he is an amazing character to be able to resist the gem?

Poor Fredde! That was so heartbreaking and maybe the saddest part of the book. (hide spoiler)]

[Laura]

I want to read what you wrote so bad... I'm getting there!

[Laura]

Up to p. 306 ( The Death of Walter Bernd)
(view spoiler)[
wow, so much happened.

I guess eventually we knew it would happen that Werner would go to the front lines. It was sad when Werner went to visit Fredrick.

Great-uncle Etienne is a minor character but has a bigger role in the last quarter of the book. I like him. He obviously cares about Marie-Laure and Madam even though he is a recluse. I loved that he cared for Madam when she was sick and dying.

Hide Marie- Laure, hide! Can you imagine living in a time when you would need hidden doors? (hide spoiler)]

[K~Terror]

Laura wrote: "Up to p. 306 ( The Death of Walter Bernd)"

(view spoiler)[ OMG! I was soooo nervous for Marie-Laure when she was having to sneak up the stairs and hide in the hidden compartment in the wardrobe. I nearly had a heart attack! No, I really can't imagine having to live like that and to think she had to do while blind. What an amazing girl.
(hide spoiler)]

[K~Terror]

RebeccaS wrote: "Okay I just finished.

..."

I agree. (view spoiler)[ The part about Frederick and Werner visiting him was heartbreaking. The ending was definitely bittersweet. The writer definitely made you feel like you lived through the time period. (hide spoiler)]

[Becca]

just started this yesterday. In the middle of chapter 2 -
(view spoiler)[
I am so in love with her father teaching her how to navigate the city blind. I know this is setup to where she's going to need to use this in the middle of the war. I am torn between being very interested in reading more, and wanting to put it down for a faster read :) But I'm sure I'm going to love it.
(hide spoiler)]

[Laura]

Becca wrote: "just started this yesterday. In the middle of chapter 2 -

(view spoiler)[
at first I thought it was so cruel that he did this, then realized that it would be helpful.
I think I am the only one who doesn't find the book slow, I love it and can't wait to read more.I think the two different stories of Marie-Laure and Werner make the book more interesting and vivid.
(hide spoiler)]

[Renee]

Finished Part 2 - about 20%
(view spoiler)[ The war is getting more "real" now. It's gone from something on the radio happening somewhere else to changing everyday life. (hide spoiler)]




4 Leaf

[Becca]

no idea which chapter I'm in.. it's so hard to keep track on audio! But I think I'm about 25% through?

(view spoiler)[I felt so bad for Jutta when Werner destroyed her radio!

I can feel the tension of the beginning of the war so much... I just cannot fathom how this happened, and I KNOW it DID. I just cannot fathom how so many people just up and lost their damn minds! I guess it all comes down to how charismatic Hitler was, and then mob mentality. I just have a really hard time understanding how more people weren't questioning it like Jutta is.

I'm very worried for Werner's future. Is he going to get completely carried away, or will he be able to think for himself to think about what is right and wrong? :/

Really enjoying this so far (hide spoiler)]

[Rebecca]

Becca - (view spoiler)[wrote "I just cannot fathom how this happened, and I KNOW it DID"

I agree! For most of the book I keep hoping for a different outcome, even though i know what is going to happen. Especially when you get glimpses of Marie-Laure and Werner's future and you just keep thinking, noooo maybe it will change somehow. (hide spoiler)]

[Laura]

RebeccaS wrote: "Becca - wrote




(view spoiler)[I keep reading and it makes me think of my grandfather who never really talked about it that much. Too many terrible memories and survivor guilt I suspect. He was stationed in Germany. (hide spoiler)]

[Laura]

Finished
(view spoiler)[
Loved it. I gave it 5 stars! (hide spoiler)]

[Jane]

I'm still finding this slow, but I love the descriptive details.

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

BUDDY READ REVISIT! BUDDY READ REVISIT! BUDDY READ REVISIT!

This topic is open for discussion of All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr




Book Synopsis:
Marie Laure lives with her father in Paris within walking distance of the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of the locks (there are thousands of locks in the museum). When she is six, she goes blind, and her father builds her a model of their neighborhood, every house, every manhole, so she can memorize it with her fingers and navigate the real streets with her feet and cane. When the Germans occupy Paris, father and daughter flee to Saint-Malo on the Brittany coast, where Marie-Laure's agoraphobic great uncle lives in a tall, narrow house by the sea wall.

In another world in Germany, an orphan boy, Werner, grows up with his younger sister, Jutta, both enchanted by a crude radio Werner finds. He becomes a master at building and fixing radios, a talent that wins him a place at an elite and brutal military academy and, ultimately, makes him a highly specialized tracker of the Resistance. Werner travels through the heart of Hitler Youth to the far-flung outskirts of Russia, and finally into Saint-Malo, where his path converges with Marie-Laure.

Doerr's gorgeous combination of soaring imagination with observation is electric. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. Ten years in the writing, All the Light We Cannot See is his most ambitious and dazzling work.

[Kat]

So when will this start? January already passed...

[Plethora]

I think you suggested September 18th as a start date? That would work for me.

[Kat]

Yep! :)

[❀Tea❀]

Kat wrote: "Yep! :)"

OK I'll edit and move it to buddy read thread :)

[Kat]

Thanks! :)

[Kat]

Thanks! :)

[Plethora]

Has everyone started? I want sure if I missed a notification on some discussion, as my notifications have been spotty lately. I'm a little over 25% done.