Winner of the Pulitzer Prize A New York Times Book Review Top Ten Book* A National Book Award finalist * From Anthony Doerr, the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning author of Cloud Cuckoo Land, 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 … France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.
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. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.
Doerr’s “stunning sense of physical detail and gorgeous metaphors” (San Francisco Chronicle) are dazzling. 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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A very powerful book; made you think about the choices that you make. Wonderfully done.
These characters are very much alive. The setting of WW II is historic and the drama is spell-binding.
Beautifully written, transportive novel. Highly recommended.
A marvel of a story! Captivating from cover to cover!
This book entranced, and at times enfuriated, me. The story of the two young people who escape their destinies in different ways was never heartwarming or corny, but had a vigor and intense imagination that captivated me. The only thing that disappointed me was, ah, but that is such a spoiler that I cant reveal it. Read to experience the wonder, …
This book is a very good book. It won the Pulitzer Prize. It is a very good book and I can see why it could win such a wonderful prize. However, it does run out of steam about 3/4 of the way through. It has a beautiful story line most of the way through and then I think it just loses direction. I don’t know why, he just seems to lose ideas of …
Beautifully written. Enclosed another side to another chilling, yet magical World War II novel. This will be a book I remember and cherish forever. Wow.
My favorite book of all time! Could NOT put it down!
extremely good. highly recommend. characters will stay with you forever. this book will break your heart over and over again
This unlikely tale captures the heart and the imagination, and left me completely overwhelmed.
The writing is almost poetic.
Incredibly poignant book. Stays with you long after it’s done. Excellent writing.
I read this book several years ago and it remains one of my favorites. Great characters and I learned a lot about radios and their critical importance in WWII.
Highly recommend for those interned in history and the bonds formed in such horrific environments such as World Wars.
Possibly the best novel I’ve ever read about WW II. Werner and Marie-Laure are as unlikely a pair as you could imagine to ever cross paths. Werner is a Nazi youth in Germany recruited to apply his radio technology skills to defeating the resistance, and Marie-Laure is a blind girl in Paris who seeks shelter from the ravaged city at a seaside …
Short chapters kept the action moving. I liked the characters but it was incredibly, heart-wrenchingly sad. Well-written but I didn’t enjoy the disjointed construction of the story.
Finished re-reading All the Light We Cannot See. It’s a stunningly beautiful book written in style that is almost poetic. Possibly one of my favourite books ever. Give it a try. You’ll know within 20-30 pages if it’s for you.
Absolutely love this book.
One of my favorite books that I’ve recommended to friends and family. Beautifully written account of two incredible characters during WWII. The story weaves in and out of their lives and finally draws them together in a dramatic climax. A must read.
A must read page turner for your beach bag this summer!
Absolutely riveting. One of the best books I’ve ever read.