Book Review: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Title: All the Light We Cannot See

Author: Anthony Doerr

Series/Standalone: Standalone

Genre: Historical Fiction, Adult

Pages: 530

Publisher: Scribner

Year Published: 2014

Format: Paperback Physical Copy

First Line: "At dusk they pour from the sky."

"Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. 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, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Marie-Laure and Werner, from warring countries, both having lost many of the people they loved, come together in Saint-Malo, as Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another."

My Rating: 4/5

This is a book that I bought based on the premise as well as the lovely cover. I know.. I'm that person who takes that into consideration if I'm buying books. As soon as I started this book I expected to enjoy it. The characters captured the reader's attention easily and the writing kept me thinking late into the night. I think that the subject matter is important for youth as well as adults to read about. While we are taught about the war to an extent in school, or through post-secondary education there is still so much you can't get from facts alone. Many people still view all the German soldiers who fought in this war as villains, but this book (similar to parts of the Book Thief) showed that many people weren't willing participants but were motivated in some way to participate. It's horrible to think about but it's a fact. I think that the author did an excellent job of showing how integrity and resistance were viewed in Nazi Germany. I also think that the beginning of the book portrays the change in a society. I enjoyed this work overall, just found that it didn't give me a huge wow factor for this reason I rated this book 4/5 stars overall.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Spoiler: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

It's been quite a while since I've picked up a historical fiction and it's rare that I read an adult book so might as well hit two birds with one stone. I thought that this book really illustrated points about the war that I never had to think about before. The idea of someone trying to make something of themselves even though they feel what they are doing is wrong, knowing there is no way back, PTSD before it was fully accepted, and how Germany looked between the two world wars. I think that the pacing for this book helped keep me interested the changing between past, present and finally futuristic times to our main characters. The main characters in this story were two very interesting points of views to read from as well as the other side characters who sometimes had a chapter here and there.

Characters:
Marie-Laure: I don't think that I've read from a character who was blind before and it was interesting to see the way the author worked that into his writing. The way that Marie-Laure made her way through different cities and experience the war would be very different from others in similar positions to her. I thought that an interesting idea was how she claimed not to be brave just living her life. It was a way I never thought of looking at the situation.

Werner: I was interested in his beginning to see how Germany changed between the wars and right before the second. To see his fear about the mines and making a choice to "better" himself. Little did he know.. but he would have been conscripted either way. I also thought that the choices he made were tough choices to make. He was scared to speak up and wouldn't you be as well if you worried nothing would change or you would be next. I thought that his death was a little crazy. It makes sense if you think about him dying due to not having the stone, but at the same time, I wished he would have made it through. At least the author was realistic.

Frank Volkheimer: Overall he was a man who did what he thought was right for his country and himself and by 1974 it clearly haunts him every day.

Etienne: Another interesting perspective to think of someone who has PTSD from the first world war and is entering the second. I wonder how many men experienced this from the first to the second world war. Were they able to survive another time either from home or the trenches? I'm happy that he ended up living a long life.

Frederick: I thought that the ending was a chance for Werner to say goodbye to Frederick and I wish that he had had a chance to live a very different life.

Jutta: She was one of the only people who had her eyes wide open and was going to say something about what she saw. I think her future was a sad look for us, but important none the less. To see Berlin post war was a scary thought for me as a young lady. A subject I would be interested in learning more about.

Madame Manec: To have lived through 2 wars and to still be willing to stand up to the oppression her country was experiencing was inspiring.

Reinhold von Rumple: A desperate man will do desperate things for certain.

Daniel: I wish we saw more of him, but once again a realistic showing of how people who went to work camps did not often make it home or anywhere after the war.

Bastian: He was a root of evil. To train those boys to do those things and have them kill a man ever year shakes me. It makes you wonder what motives he had to do such a thing, or if he took much convincing.


Moments to Remember:
Pg.  266
"'And you, Madame? What would you like to be?'
'Me?' Madame Manec's knife pauses. Crickets sing in the cellar. 'I think I would like to be the Blade.'
'The Blade?'
'Yes.' The perfume of the peaches makes a bright ruddy cloud.
'The Blade?' repeats Marie-Laure. Then they both start laughing."


Final Line: "Until all she can hear are the sighs of cars and the rumble of trains and the sounds of everyone hurrying through the cold."


Thanks for reading,
Sidny