All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr → Start Date: March 15, 2015

[[deleted user]]

Come join Vicki, Alison, Trisha, Amanda, and me!

[Vicki]

YIPPEE!!! This one looks so good!

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

I'm in!

[[deleted user]]

Yay, the more the merrier :)

[[deleted user]]

hey can i join u guys? I've got this book somewhere in the house so i shud get around to reading it sometime...

[[deleted user]]

Of course you can, Alison!

[Amanda]

Depending on if this comes in at the library in time I will join in. I'm currently 54th in line.

[[deleted user]]

Amanda wrote: "Depending on if this comes in at the library in time I will join in. I'm currently 54th in line."

Wow, that's a lot of people. And even if you get it after we start, just post whenever you read it and I'll talk with you :)

[Amanda]

Thanks :)

There are a lot of copies so fingers crossed I get this in time.

[Vicki]

I'm still 10th in the queue so there is no way I'll have it in time. I'd still like to read it but I have no idea how long it will take to get it.

[Amanda]

I don't think I will have this in time either. I am currently 9th in line. But, it shouldn't be too long of a wait considering a few weeks ago I was 54th in line. I will join as soon as I get my copy.

[Amanda]

I just checked my status and my copy is now in transit to the library. I am hoping it will come in today while I am at work. If not I will pick it tomorrow afternoon.

Has anyone started this yet?

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

I'm starting tonight
I'm going to have to blow through this one for a challenge I'm late on! LOL

[Amanda]

Ok. My copy did not come in today but I can pick it up tomorrow while running errands and start tomorrow afternoon.

[[deleted user]]

So, should I start it?

[Amanda]

Sure. You can start whenever you are ready Alison :)

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

I have an ebook and don't have chapter numbers

do you guys??

(I'm at 11% trying to figure out how to post lol)

[Amanda]

I just got my copy from the library and will be starting momentarily.

I have a physical version and it does not have chapter numbers either. Maybe we could post by chapter title? Not sure how to post either. lol.

[Amanda]

I am about to start the chapter titled "Open Your Eyes" which is 53 pages in the physical copy.

Marie-Laure (view spoiler)[I can't imagine the difficulty of losing your sight and at such a young age. I am curious to see what happens with this diamond that is in the museum her father works at. (hide spoiler)]

I am curious to see how (view spoiler)[Marie and Werner's paths are going to cross. (hide spoiler)]

So far this is moving at a slow pace, but I am enjoying it. Curious to see how everything unfolds.

[Vicki]

I guess I'm officially out. I'm still only 9th in the queue. :o( Maybe I'll find someone else to read it with me when I finally get it.

[Amanda]

Sorry Vicki. I hope that when you get your copy you find someone to read with.

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

awww, I'm so sorry Vicki :(
I have to read this for another group (and a challenge that everyone is waiting on me! Yikes!) so I couldn't wait

I'm so sorry!! when you get it, I will still be here to chat

but Amanda is right, it's a Veeery slow moving book so far....we'll see if it's good!

[Amanda]

It looks like it's broken into parts and then has chapters within them, but they are not numbered. So I'm thinking I will continue to post what chapter I left off at and what page number that is. I'm not sure if there is an easier way to post for spoilers.

I just finished the chapter called "You Have Been Called", which is 126 pages into the book.

Marie-Laure (view spoiler)[how scary it must have been to have to flee Paris because your home is being bombed and then added to that you can only hear the chaos going on around you and not being able to see. It's a good thing she did not get separated from her father. How hard would it have been to get help escaping had something happened to him. I am curious to see what will happen now that they are living with her Uncle. (hide spoiler)]

Werner (view spoiler)[just finished the chapter where you find out he was accepted into that "school" to train the best of the German children. I feel sorry for him that right now he sees this as an opportunity and a way out from ending up in the mines. This is a worse fate for him though he does not realize that he is walking into a trap that he won't be able to get out of. (hide spoiler)]

Picking up pace a little more, but still moves at a slower pace than I usually read. It's good though and I can't wait to see that paths of these kids to collide with one another.

[Amanda]

I just finished the chapter called "The Arrest of the Locksmith" which ends on page 197.

Werner (view spoiler)[he is starting to realize the horrors of what this school entails. It's not a safe place to be. (hide spoiler)]

Marie-Laure (view spoiler)[I would hate to be kept cooped up inside all the time and not allowed to go outside. But, I understand the reasoning behind it. They are in danger and it's not safe for her to be outside on her own. I hope that her father can make it home to her, but the fact that he is being held prisoner on a train to Germany does not bode well for him. (hide spoiler)]

[Vicki]

Trisha wrote: "awww, I'm so sorry Vicki :(
I have to read this for another group (and a challenge that everyone is waiting on me! Yikes!) so I couldn't wait

I'm so sorry!! when you get it, I will still be here ..."

Thanks, Trisha. All I know is that it's obviously popular. LOL

[Amanda]

Just finished the chapter called "Relapse" which ends on page 299.

Frederick (view spoiler)[everything that he has endured has been difficult to read. The horrific treatment he received at that school was awful and now the state that he is in is heartbreaking, giving him a lobotomy just because he was the "weakest" is deplorable. (hide spoiler)]

Werner (view spoiler)[it's scary that they are changing his age so that he can now serve in a position that they deem more useful. It will be something pretty bad that they will want him to do and I am sure that this is what will make his and Marie-Laure's paths finally cross. (hide spoiler)]

Still slow moving. It's not a bad book. I am enjoying this it's just moving slower than I like.

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

Okay, I see what you were saying...there are Parts

I guess I'm through Part I

I agree(view spoiler)[ I'm interested to see Werner and Marie connect (hide spoiler)]

great goodness...this IS slow. I keep falling asleep while reading. yikes lol :O

[Amanda]

Yes. It's slow for me too. There are parts I am enjoying so that keeps me interested to continue. I don't think it's going to pick up pace though. I think this will continue for the whole book unfortunately.

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

Amanda wrote: "I just finished the chapter called "The Arrest of the Locksmith" which ends on page 197.

Werner [spoilers removed]

Marie-Laure [spoilers removed]"

Okay, I'm here too! yay, finally! LOL

Werner(view spoiler)[ OMG both moments when they ran after the boys. I wondered what would happen when they caught them
that was awful :( (hide spoiler)]

triangles(view spoiler)[ what's with all the triangles? is this something with the war I don't know? (hide spoiler)]

Marie-Laure(view spoiler)[ I can't imagine the traveling they did with her world being so dark....
and now they've taken her dad
i wish he hadn't left her so naive. she doesn't really understand why she can't go outside because he always made excuses instead of really explaining their situation.....

but the beginning of the book she is roaming alone in the house, isn't she?
I wonder what happens to the other 2? .... (hide spoiler)]

[Amanda]

Triangles (view spoiler)[I was confused by that too. If it has something to do with the war I am not sure what it is. (hide spoiler)]

I am busy most of the day today so I won't be able to read more of this until tonight.

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

Amanda wrote: "Just finished the chapter called "Relapse" which ends on page 299.

Frederick [spoilers removed]

Werner [spoilers removed]

Still slow moving. It's not a bad book. I am enjoying this it's just m..."

okay, I'm finally here, lol
it took me ALL MORNING! ha! I kept getting distracted.

Frederick(view spoiler)[ that was awful, him visiting. I can not believe what they did to him :( it's heartbreaking. he'll never be drawn to birds again... (hide spoiler)]

Werner(view spoiler)[ OMG I can't believe they are shoving him out to the front line. I know, I'm ready for them to meet too. It feels like something big must happen when they finally collide (hide spoiler)]

Marie-Laure(view spoiler)[ I love her father's letters but I think they are a lie. he is completely sugar coating what he's going through - and it's sweet of him, to try to calm her, but....It just makes me so sad.

and now Madame is gone.... :( due to illness. I'm sure now Eienne will be arrested. She loses them both, we know (hide spoiler)]

trip wire, ringing bell(view spoiler)[ remember that chapter? that's in the future, after both Madame and Etienne are gone..... The guy is just looking for this diamond and he's completely ruined lies looking for it. I hope he doesn't hurt her (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

I just finished 40 minutes.

it's finally all coming together

Werner(view spoiler)[ Oh...he's supposed to find her?! YES! He finds signals and they are sending one
I was so glad when he heard the song. he will, hopefully, protect her! could he talk his friend into attacking the guy in there and saving her?? hmmmm (hide spoiler)]

Marie-Laure(view spoiler)[ her meeting with the guy searching - that was scary and he's creepy
he's dying and thinks this will save him. he's hurt SO many people just to get this. it's frightening the power he has. sickening what he's done for NO reason. it won't save him (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

and I'm done

this is a very heartbreaking, well told story
it's slow (so slow) but the end is worth the wait

(view spoiler)[
There was so much ugliness in this book it's hard to read.

Jutta and her last few months. those poor orphans.
Werner - it was ugly what he went through...and he didn't feel like he had a choice.
the guy who was looking for the fire diamond thing and hurt and got so many arrested and killed because he was so selfish
(hide spoiler)]

it's an emotional book. I'll probably make another post after I've processed a little more.....

[Amanda]

Wow that was fast. I am on break at work but I did not bring the book with me :(

I will continue more tonight and probably finish this tomorrow. I can't wait to read your spoilers.

[Vicki]

I'm glad you liked it, Trisha! I'm down to 8th in the queue. Lol

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

I DID like it
but this is a really tough book to read
really tough...

when you get it, Vicki. I'll definitely be around to chat!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amanda, yeah, I just pushed through. I don't think my updates are very good....I was just stunned when I finished.
I look forward to chatting as you read!! I think you and Vicki will have more insight where I was just spent most of the book in shock

[Amanda]

Just finished 40 minutes.

Werner (view spoiler)[finally the paths cross. I hope that we have a scene where there is a conversation between these two. (hide spoiler)]

Maire-Laure(view spoiler)[what a scary encounter with that guy. He is so desperate to find that rock because he thinks that it will save him. (hide spoiler)]

Hoping to try and finish this tonight.

[Amanda]

Finished.

Wow this was such an emotional book and so gut wrenching in the end.

Werner (view spoiler)[I am so glad he helped Marie-Laurie escape but he had a pretty awful death that he did not deserve. So sad that he was forced into everything he had to do. I just knew when he joined that school that it would be the death of him. (hide spoiler)]

Frederick (view spoiler)[I think he is the one character that I feel the most upset over. It's just so awful what they did to him at that school and now everything that made him Frederick is gone. It's just so awful what types of experiments were done to people in that era, and all because they wanted to have "flawless" germans. It's sickening. (hide spoiler)]

I'm still trying to process everything that I've read.

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

Amanda wrote: "Finished.

Wow this was such an emotional book and so gut wrenching in the end.

Werner [spoilers removed]

Frederick [spoilers removed]

I'm still trying to process everything that I've read."

I completely agree with everything you said,
this is such a tough book....TOUGH. that end(view spoiler)[
so many horrible horrible things came out of it!

Frederick, Werner, even Jutta didn't make it out without her awful experience....

and they were all German

add to it the emotional scars of Marie-Laure and never finding out what happened to her father....it's just awful.

I do love that we got that touching moment for Marie-Laure both when she got to meet Jutta and also when she was talking to her grandson

but what they went through was just awful. (hide spoiler)]

yeah...this one was good but wow, it was really difficult to get through

[Amanda]

I agree this was a tough book. So difficult to read, but at the same time it was nice to read a book showing how many different people were affected by this war.

I liked that scene between (view spoiler)[Jutta and Marie-Laure too. It was a touching moment. (hide spoiler)]

This was so good but a very difficult book to process. Still trying to wrap my mind around everything.

[[deleted user]]

It looks like I'm kind of behind everybody but I'm on p. 117 just finished reading Entrance Exam.

The different times and different perspectives make it hard to stay engaged, and I have so many questions! (view spoiler)[Definitely want Werner and Marie Laure to meet up. (hide spoiler)]
It's also so interesting (view spoiler)[ to read a book from a blind perspective. The way everything is described is so seamless I almost don't realize that one sense is not there but when I switch to Werner perspectives I notice a shift in the description (hide spoiler)]

[Vicki]

Alison wrote: "It looks like I'm kind of behind everybody but I'm on p. 117 just finished reading Entrance Exam.

The different times and different perspectives make it hard to stay engaged, and I have so many q..."

You aren't behind me because I still don't even have my book! :o(

[[deleted user]]

Haha lucky for you I'm a really slow reader!

[[deleted user]]

I'm on p. 208 after the Two Cans

I'm still pretty confused but everything seems to be coming together!
(view spoiler)[ I like how we find out how Werner was listening to those radio programs and how they were connected to Marie Laure! It seems like their stories are converging a bit!

Also, I need to find out what happened to Marie-Laure's dad! (hide spoiler)]

[Amanda]

I liked (view spoiler)[that too. I liked how we found out that Werner was listening to Marie-Laures grandfather, it was a nice connection. (hide spoiler)]

[[deleted user]]

I'm on p. 302 its part six

Frederick (view spoiler)[ is such an interesting and sad character. I learned so much about him in this last section. He did so much to hide his " "imperfection" but still he is punished. And he has this great love of birds that nobody appreciates. I feel like he is so wise in his own way and nobody can see it. Not even Werner, who is a frustratingly bad friend in my opinion. And now nobody will ever see how amazing he was. :( (hide spoiler)]

Werner (view spoiler)[ has been feeling uneasy about the regime for a while and I'm glad he finally took action and asked to go home even though I'm pretty sure it was a factor in his getting sent to war.

I love how almost every character has something they are passionate about, like frederick and birds, werner and engineering, Marie Laure and snails, even Sergeant Major Von Rumpel's love for gems. (hide spoiler)]

Sergeant Major von Rumpel (view spoiler)[ he's getting interesting, with his cancer diagnosis. I'm curious to see what happens with him. (hide spoiler)]

Madame Manec(view spoiler)[ I love her so much!! Why do all the good ones have to die?? (hide spoiler)]

[Vicki]

I am STILL number 4 in the queue after starting at 32 LONG ago!

[Amanda]

I hope that you get your copy soon Vicki.

[Vicki]

Thanks, Amanda. As of today I am STILL #3 in the queue.

[[deleted user]]

Finally finished it! It took me a while but was worth it in the end!

Werner (view spoiler)[ I did not expect him to go like that. I didn't expect him to die at all, there are really no words to describe how shocked and sad I am. Also, I thought Marie-Laure and him would get more time together and form more of a connection, but we see in the end how little they got to know each other. I'm glad that they finally met and that Werner finally deserted in a way. Which is painful for me because I was so attached to both of them! (hide spoiler)]

Jutta (view spoiler)[ her story took a surprising turn in the end with the Russian soldiers. I hadn't thought that she would begin any danger. This book seemed to really go into the suffering of both sides. (hide spoiler)]

Sea of Flames(view spoiler)[ it was interesting how the legend of this stone was a motivator in the story but nothing much came of it, and the legend was never proven or disproved... (hide spoiler)]

Last Part (view spoiler)[ I really enjoyed having a sort of epilogue and seeing the effect of the war on everybody even so long afterwards, and how no matter how briefly Werner and Marie-Laure, she seemed to have a big effect on his life. (hide spoiler)]

Volkheimer (view spoiler)[ I really liked him because he is portrayed as this tough, cold-hearted soldier, but he has this deep love of music and Werner, and the war and the Nazi regime ruins him as well. (hide spoiler)]