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All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel
Resumen
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE
From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the beautiful, stunningly ambitious instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.
Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure's reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum's most valuable and dangerous jewel.
In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure's converge.
Doerr's "stunning sense of physical detail and gorgeous metaphors" (San Francisco Chronicle) are dazzling. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, he illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. Ten years in the writing, a National Book Award finalist, All the Light We Cannot See is a magnificent, deeply moving novel from a writer "whose sentences never fail to thrill" (Los Angeles Times).
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This is a wonderful book. Beautiful, poetic prose that really brings the places and experiences to life. This is not a shiny, happy-ending sort of book, because in wartime there are previous few of those.The only downside is that it moves a little slow.
At the center of the lives of each of the main characters in Anthony Doerr's great World War II novel “All the Light We Cannot See” (2014) are things or people they cannot see. This makes them no less real, no less important.Marie-Laure, the French girl whose father has taken her from Paris to Saint-Malo along with the world's most valuable diamond, is totally blind. One by one, as the years of war slowly pass, her father, uncle and others in the huge house disappear, leaving her alone. Meanwhile a German officer, attempting to claim Europe's most precious gems for the Nazis, tracks the Sea of Flames, as the jewel is called, to that very house, where Marie-Laure hides behind a wardrobe.Werner is an unusually shy, unusually bright German boy who, because of his special scientific skills, is conscripted into the army despite his youth and put to work tracking down radio transmitters operating in occupied territory. He finds them, and his huge sergeant kills the radio operators.But then Werner discovers that a radio in Saint-Malo is being operated by a French girl who reminds him of his little sister, Jutta, whose warnings he had failed to heed. As it happens, Marie-Laue's uncle had once used that very radio to broadcast science programs for children throughout Europe, which Werner and Jutta used to listen to.Doerr sets up the basic situation fairly early, then lets the tension slowly build through the course of the long novel. “All the Light We Cannot See” deserves all the readers and honors it has received since its publication.
As soon as I started reading this book, I could tell why there have been so many rave reviews. The writing is beautiful, sometimes desperately, achingly beautiful. I don’t often notice or comment on themes in books, but the lovely title of this book highlights the role light plays in the lives of both main characters, a blind girl and a young boy in love with the radio waves that travel invisibly through the world. It also reminds me of the heartbreaking unrealized potential of these two young people, who adore learning but have limited opportunities because of the war torn time they live in. Another theme that drew me in was the question of morality and self-determination, viewed through the lens of a young man coming of age in Nazi Germany. The only thing that let me down about the book was the ending, which continues until the present day without adding anything important to the story after the end of WWII. I expected a surprising twist in this epilogue-like section and was left feeling like the book trailed off instead of ending with a bang.
This review first published at Doing Dewey.
This review first published at Doing Dewey.
A beautiful book. I had forgotten that he wrote About Grace which is also a beautiful book.
I am not quite to the end of this, but I already know. All the Light We Cannot See is destined to be one of THE Books. Doerr's poetry and attention to detail are graceful, minute, and breathtaking, without dampening the dramatic build and momentous action. All this, with incredible depth of field: antiquated radio technology is made fresh and relevant again in the hands of a brilliant-minded orphan, the good old-fashioned observational and theoretical scientific process is re-validated through the hands of a blind girl, and World War 2 in Europe puts on a new, unique and marvelous human face. Like Lucy with the Magician's book in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, I want to read this book forever. 500 stars. (Update: I've since finished the novel and I like it even more. 600 stars.)
This story, in some ways about a jewel, is in itself a beautiful gem. Beautifully and so achingly faceted. Despairing yet hopeful. Words fail me...
(edited: Finished, with tears in my eyes)
(edited: Finished, with tears in my eyes)
I actually discovered Doerr through his short story collection, Memory Wall, which became a fast favorite of mine. Because of that, I was both excited and nervous about diving into his novels--not all writers can pull off both stories and novels, so I wasn't sure what to expect. All told, I wasn't disappointed, though my preference is for his short stories. Regardless, the truth is that Doerr is simply a fantastic writer, with a flare for bringing settings to life in a way that allows them their own space as characters, and that talent really shines in this novel.In All the Light We Cannot See, Doerr's movement in time around WWII is all but flawless, and although the novel's structure takes some bit of time to get accustomed to, what at first seems like a rather fragmented read comes together beautifully, and without the heavy-handed force that's often seen in books like this. As in his stories, the characters feel somewhat secondary to the story and writing, and I think that's more apparent than ever in such a long form. It didn't put me off, exactly--they were still interesting and believable, and I cared about them--but the distance that was in place because of that prioritization left me a little bit less emotionally involved than I'd expect from a work like this. If Doerr's writing weren't so masterful, this probably would have been a real problem, but he has such a gorgeous way with words that it wasn't. For historical fiction and literary fiction readers, I think this is a gorgeous book to sink into, but as an introduction to Doerr's work, I'd probably still recommend Memory Wall and his short stories, which are--for me, at least--somehow more powerful and memorable in many ways.Recommended overall, for anyone interested.
I started this book 4 times. The last time I told myself I would get into the story this time. I even made notes. I was 3/4 finished and finally gave it up. I didn't want to.
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr; (4*); Doerr paints a picture of two adolescents growing up on opposite sides of WWII. The paths each follows ultimately lead to their meeting one another and make for wonderful storytelling. The author uses contrast of characters and events to develop his characters: peace versus war, the mature and experienced versus the young and innocent, etc. I found it interesting how well this worked for the author. Doerr uses short chapters to move back and forth among characters and events and to take time out of sequence. A very effective way to make what was a rather long read move along quickly. This was my first experience with this particular author. I would like to read something else by him.
The difficult and the delightful blend beautifully in Doerr's shining prose. Among innumerable WWII books, the handful of characters here manage the rare feat of living distinct lives shaped but not supplanted by the war. Worth it for the model building and the breadth of research.
I understand why this book is a hugely popular award winner, and I enjoyed reading it, but it’s not one I would re-read. It was a good story, very informative, and had some decent suspense, but I was never really pulled in. It felt more like required reading. It’s well-written and interesting, though, so the star review reflects that (whereas 4stars usually means I would re-read it).
I’ll admit that when something is popular and gets a lot of buzz, I tend to deem it beneath my interest, at least at first. (I know- what elitism! But books are the only thing I get to be snobby about. I’m not good at anything else.) However, when the buzz extends to my literary circles, NPR critics, and most trusted colleagues, I roll with it. And I’m super glad I did.Fun fact: I taught high school English- various levels from advanced placement to “intensive”, grades 9-11, for seven years. I loved it but longed for the freedom entrepreneurship allowed: writing, family time, and sleeping in! This book makes me want to go back. Go back to that stuffy room (our school’s AC was ALWAYS out) and get those moderately apathetic teens engulfed in a great work of literature that is actually accessible to them!On top of having a rich plot and well-developed characters, All The Light We Cannot See is chalk full of motifs- darkness vs. light, spirals, enclosed objects, man vs. nature and follows, but not obnoxiously so, the quest model, complete with dueling underdog protagonists, a wise but reclusive teacher, and the search for a magical object. What 11th grader wouldn’t love that? (Especially compared to the alternatives)Anthony Doerr takes on what would seem an overwhelming task- producing a new take on a World War II novel. Unlike, Hannah’s The Nightingale, in which we get a clear distinction of “good” vs. “bad” guys, Doerr invites us to explore the multiple “sides” of war and we discern the varying degrees of helplessness and victimization of nearly every character, and there are many. Cogs in a machine.Reminiscent of Zusak’s The Book Thief, the characters of All the Light We Cannot See are quirky and endearing. Marie-Laure, a young, blind French bibliophile of sorts, is much more than her helpless visage conveys. Her curiosity and determination drive the piece and take the reader on, not just a journey, but a daunting quest. Werner, a young German orphan with a gift for engineering, is equally pleasant and driven to “solve” the puzzle that is war and how it affects everything around him.Though the subject matter is decidedly dark, the book reads like a Wes Anderson film (think The Grand Budapest Hotel and/or Moonrise Kingdom) with plenty of wry, subtle humor in each section. One of the German officer’s is described as having “a wife who suffers his absences without complaint, and who arranges porcelain kittens by color, lightest to darkest, on two different shelves.” And we meet many a character, sympathetic and less so, in just this very manner. I find it quite nice.As my former colleagues discussed this work during our last book club meeting, we agreed that it is the kind of book you want to read again. As with The Scarlet Letter, The Great Gatsby, The Things They Carried, and the many great American classics we as teachers re-read each year, this is a work where you will always discover something new; your mind will connect a few more dots than it did the last time around. And to me, that is the true mark of a great piece of literature.
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr is one of those books that you’ve heard so much about that you feel like you’ve read it before even picking it up. The Pulitzer Prize winning novel tells the story of two children spending their formative years in Europe during World War II. While Doerr writes beautiful prose and his descriptions are absolutely flawless, I found myself underwhelmed with the character growth and plot.
Marie-Laure, an inquisitive and altruistic blind girl living with her father in France, and Werner, a curious and stubborn boy fighting an uphill battle against his poverty-inflicted life in Germany, lead very different lives that eventually intertwine. Meanwhile, the war rages around them, and they fight in their own subtle, but meaningful ways.
The plot unfolds slowly, emphasized by time shifts amongst chapters and sections. Perspective changes between chapters added some frustration to my reading experience, as I often found Marie-Laure’s voice more engaging. Furthermore, about half-way through the novel, a new main character is tossed in the mix, and his mini-plot lessened more than enhanced my enjoyment of the novel. Ultimately, I felt more connected to the atmosphere and setting in the novel than to its characters.
While the novel is rightfully classified as historical fiction, there is also a thread of fantasy strewn throughout the plot. This thread felt the weakest to me, as it did not add much to the story. Marie-Laure’s and Werner’s struggles to lead significant lives provided a greater sense of fulfillment and emphasized the tragedies of war much more effectively.
On a more personal (and yes, very biased) level, I usually come away from novels about war with a heightened sense of its futility. Unfortunately, I never felt like I attached enough to the characters to attain a sense of catharsis. In fact, I felt that the fantastical element detracted from the novel’s meaning because it distanced the plot from reality.
The hype proved to me too much for Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See. As much as I enjoyed the writing style, everything else struck me as surprisingly average. If you’re interested in atmosphere over character, I would still definitely give it a shot though, as Doerr’s writing certainly evokes a comprehensive and accurate vision of the time.
Marie-Laure, an inquisitive and altruistic blind girl living with her father in France, and Werner, a curious and stubborn boy fighting an uphill battle against his poverty-inflicted life in Germany, lead very different lives that eventually intertwine. Meanwhile, the war rages around them, and they fight in their own subtle, but meaningful ways.
The plot unfolds slowly, emphasized by time shifts amongst chapters and sections. Perspective changes between chapters added some frustration to my reading experience, as I often found Marie-Laure’s voice more engaging. Furthermore, about half-way through the novel, a new main character is tossed in the mix, and his mini-plot lessened more than enhanced my enjoyment of the novel. Ultimately, I felt more connected to the atmosphere and setting in the novel than to its characters.
While the novel is rightfully classified as historical fiction, there is also a thread of fantasy strewn throughout the plot. This thread felt the weakest to me, as it did not add much to the story. Marie-Laure’s and Werner’s struggles to lead significant lives provided a greater sense of fulfillment and emphasized the tragedies of war much more effectively.
On a more personal (and yes, very biased) level, I usually come away from novels about war with a heightened sense of its futility. Unfortunately, I never felt like I attached enough to the characters to attain a sense of catharsis. In fact, I felt that the fantastical element detracted from the novel’s meaning because it distanced the plot from reality.
The hype proved to me too much for Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See. As much as I enjoyed the writing style, everything else struck me as surprisingly average. If you’re interested in atmosphere over character, I would still definitely give it a shot though, as Doerr’s writing certainly evokes a comprehensive and accurate vision of the time.
Moving, heart-wrenching and beautiful all despite being set in the second world war. Paths collide but it's about survival in terrible unfathomable conditions. I had never thought of what it must be like to be caught up in something so awful and frightening as war and conflict when you cannot see or cannot walk etc. This story will stay with me.
A very powerful book. It is well written and interesting. I liked the fact that most of the book focused on two main characters and their perspectives on what was happening throughout WWII. I could easily picture what was happening and the author did a great job creating characters that readers will feel something for and care about.
Only I know what these characters have been through. I finish the novel and only wish their descendants knew them as well as I do. But then I remember that this is a fictional story. It doesn't seem possible that these characters aren't real. I feel love for them and ache when they are in pain. This remarkably well written novel is one of the best I've read. It's more than a WWII novel. The character development and the connection between them is what impressed me the most.
I had high hopes for this book after reading some reviews, but once again I found that it didn't live up to its reputation. The story was slow, the characters boring and the writing jarring. Very ho hum!
Marie Laure is blinded when she is little. Werner is a good German boy who gets himself into the Hitler Youth. Marie Laure ends up in Paris after her father is arrested. To be honest, I’m not quite sure exactly what else happened. Or, not enough to really summarize, anyway, though there were bits and pieces I caught. I listened to the audio and knew I was in trouble as soon as I heard the male voice; I tend to lose focus much more quickly and more often with male narrators, and this was no exception. Sorry to everyone who loved it, but I’m not a fan – at least not of the audio, anyway.
What beautiful writing!
Almost entirely wonderful. I guess I was concerned that this was going to be a dense and less accessible WWII story, but it was a lighter read than I was expecting. Very plot driven, short snappy chapters and clean prose. I'm not sure it's an enduring work of literature, but it was certainly a well-crafted delight.
“Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever.”In “All the Light We Cannot See”, we read of two young lives, Marie-Laure LeBlanc and Werner Pfennig, from 1934 through 1944 and beyond. The young Marie-Laure is the blind daughter of a single dad, Daniel, living in Paris and eventually escaping to Saint Malo where her great-uncle, Etienne, lives when WWII starts. Werner is orphaned with a younger sister, Jutta, living in an orphanage in the coal-mining town of Zollverein. Werner leverages his intelligence to escape a coal-mining life and attend a political education institute; but from fire to frying pan, Werner becomes a soldier in WWII, tracking unauthorized radio transmissions. Marie-Laure and Werner’s lives are presented to the reader in a parallel format in alternating ‘chapters’, always in similar timeline. The convergence point is known from the start as author presented those in brief segments, interspersed with major portions of these youths’ growth. The outcome, including the extended outcome, however, was entirely unpredictable; it felt plausible, maybe even real, not at all contrived. Doerr doesn’t attempt to wrap everyone’s lives in gift wrap with a bow on top. In life, you win some, you lose some. Some questions are never fully answered. Some pains will never fully dissipate. Though the story is wrapped around fictional characters and a fictional diamond, the story is steeped in the historical realities of fleeing the cities, rations, communication controls, the brutal ‘liberation’/attack in German cities by the Russians, and the mental and physical torturing practiced by the Nazis. The treatment of the weak was particularly cruel to read. This book made me care about its fictional characters. Its writing is excellent – very well laid out, easily understood despite parallel stories and multiple time-jumps, and the words, those extra words in incomplete sentences that trigger a complete imagery. Yeah, it’s a pretty damn good book. A chapter titled “The Simultaneity of Instants” (Pg 466,467) wonderfully tied all the parallel lives into a single continuous paragraph. On History:“You know the greatest lesson of history? It's that history is whatever the victors say it is. That's the lesson. Whoever wins, that's who decides the history.”On Entropy and the radical ethnic cleansing viewpoint:“For Werner, doubts turn up regularly. Racial purity, political purity – Bastian speaks to a horror of any sort of corruption, and yet, Werner wonders in the dead of night, isn’t life a kind of corruption? A child is born, and the world sets in upon it. Taking things from it, stuffing things into it. Each bite of food, each particle of light entering the eye – the body can never be pure. But this is what the commandant insists upon, why the Reich measures their noses, clocks their hair color.The entropy of a closed system never decreases.”On Living:“’Ready?’ He sounds like her father when he was about to say something silly. In her memory, Marie-Laure hears the two policemen: People have been arrested for less. And Madame Manec: Don’t you want to be alive before you die?”And “He says, ‘You are very brave.’She lowers the bucket. ‘What is your name?’He tells her. She says, ‘When I lost my sight, Werner, people said I was brave. When my father left, people said I was brave. But it is not bravery; I have no choice. I wake up and live my life. Don’t you do the same?’He says, ‘Not in years. But today. Today maybe I did.”On Cooking a Frog – in reference to the effect of an emerging oppressive government:“Madame Manec snaps open the door of the icebox. Marie-Laure can hear her rummage through a drawer. A match flares; a cigarette lights. Soon enough a bowl of undercooked potatoes appears before Marie-Laure. She feels around the tabletop for a fork but finds none.‘Do you know what happens, Etienne,’ says Madame Manec from the other side of the kitchen, ‘when you drop a frog in a pot of boiling water?’‘You will tell us, I am sure.’‘It jumps out. But do you know what happens when you put the frog in a pot of cool water and then slowly bring it to boil? You know what happens then?’Marie-Laure waits. The potatoes steam.Madame Manec says, ‘The frog cooks.’”On Our Existence:“We all come into existence as a single cell, smaller than a speck of dust. Much smaller. Divide. Multiply. Add and subtract. Matter changes hands, atoms flow in and out, molecules pivot, proteins stitch together, mitochondria send out their oxidative dictates; we begin as a microscopic electrical swarm. The lungs the brain the heart. Forty weeks later, six trillion cells get crushed in the vise of our mother’s birth canal and we howl. Then the world starts in on us.”On the “Sea of Flames” diamond:“It is cut, polished; for a breath, it passes between the hands of men. Another hour, another day, another year. Lump of carbon no larger than a chestnut. Mantled with algae, bedecked with barnacles. Crawled over by snails. It stirs among the pebbles.”
Marie-Laure a young blind girl lives with her father in the suburbs of Paris. Her father has created a miniature model of the city and by memorizing the detail she is able to navigate in real time. Meanwhile Werner a skilled radio operator and member of the Hitler youth spends his day identifying and neutralizing Resistance threats when heard over the airways. So we have a story told in alternate voices through the eyes of two young people. It is an obvious assumption to make that the lives of Werner and Marie will interact at some time in the near future. Threaded throughout the action is the mystery of a precious stone known as the "Sea of Flames"...that is legend has it that bad luck will befall the lives of those who own it.There is little doubt that "The light we cannot see" is a beautifully written book taking place at a harrowing, disturbing and changing period in world history. However the descriptive wordy narrative begins to irritate after a relatively short time and although the novel may appeal to many I found it rather ponderous.
Amazing, impressive novel, that keeps you up all night reading because you cannot put the book down anymore. Enjoyable, poetic English.
This novel is fascinating. Despite a complex structure and a labyrinth of physical images, beautifully observed, it is deeply human, and deeply moving. The two central characters move toward each other through time and space, providing a propulsive plot. More than enough reviewers have summarized the plot, noted the beauty of the imagery, and discussed the compelling setting. Suffice it to say that this is a wonderful book, which I expect to reread.
Highly recommend this book. It's a great intertwining story of WW2 set in France and Germany.
I have just finished this breathtaking......it is now my favorite book!!! Breathtakingly perfect!
Beautifully written book! It didn't touch me as much as some of my favorite books, but I loved the development of parallel plots twisting together at the end and the beautiful prose. Definitely a worthwhile read!
Wonderful, beautifully written book. I picked this up in a airport mostly because of the Pultizer Prize because the subject was not of great interest. However it was constantly in my mind while reading it because the author so exquisitely told the story of 2 young people on different sides growing to teenagers during WWII. A blind girl with a loving father and a poor orphaned boy with a mind able to comprehend and learn math and electronics. Many other interesting and special characters were in their lives and helped tell a story of the horrors of the war while still giving us inspiration of the amazing human qualities that endured and thrived.
A great read. You just want more. The character development in this story are just fantastic. I found this book hard to put down once I started it.
Set in Europe during WWII, this novel details the story of a gifted German boy trying to escape a life in the mines by going to a military school and a blind French girl trying to survive the onslaught of the Nazi attacks. Their paths cross in several fascinating and heartbreaking ways. The concurrent story of a priceless jewel, the Nazi officer trying to track it down, and the hapless museum worker charged with keeping it safe (who also happens to be the French girl's father) is just as engrossing.There are so many wonderful things about this book: the story is excellent, the characters have impressive depth, and the writing is superb. But the last hundred pages or so became too dark and sad for me. I recognize that this is my issue and not the book's, though, and it's still one of the better books I've read this year. Definitely worth all the acclaim it has garnered.