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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This was my favorite read for the summer. It is heartwarming, and heartbreaking all at once. Its a beautiful story of the innocence buried under war.
Finally checked this one off the list, and as promised it’s beautifully written. Apart from the prose, I think the way Doerr constructed the story was really compelling (we separately follow two characters until their paths cross in a surprising way). It did feel as though we could have traded a bit of verbosity for pacing, but with writing this …
I have seen this book on the shelves many times and passed it by after reading its synopsis on the book jacket. When I saw it won the Pulitzer, I asked my Mom, the most avid reader I know, did it deserve the award. Mom said, “It will haunt you; it will stay with you, particularly you, forever; you will not read it slowly, and it will break your …
This is a lovely, sensitive, and well-written book. The language and the descriptions made me feel as though I were floating over war-torn Europe during World War II. The author kept me on the edge of my seat through 530 pages of dense and detailed writing! The story ended on a happy and optimistic note without wallowing in saccherine …
I’d love to see this book made into a movie! The language of the author was very poetic, and I’d love to see that translated into the visual realm. It’s a beautiful story about the complexities of people in different circumstances and how they’re basically the same underneath.
I know I’m late to the Anthony Doerr fan club party but I’m so glad I came. This WW2 story is an amazing piece of work. I couldn’t help rooting for the characters struggling through the sacrifices of war. Do yourself a favor and listen to this on audio. It’s mesmerizing.
An intimate and tragic view of World War II from the perspective of a French blind girl and a German orphan boy fighting the war.
I actually listened to this book on CD while driving to and from work, and it made me look forward to going to work so I could get more into the story. The author created complex characters and placed them into a fascinating story.
Everyone should read (or listen) to it!
Some members of both book clubs that I attend couldn’t finish this novel because the story was so powerfully tragic. There was no way I could put this book down. From the very beginning, the characters and their stories were so different than anything I have read – and I have read quite a lot as a former English teacher.There is so much to …
I listened to this book in audio format. It was so lovely told about a serious event. Loved how the character became intertwined in each other.
All the Light We Cannot See is a beautifully written tale of Marie-Laure LeBlanc and Werner Pfennig. Marie-Laure is a blind young woman living in Paris at the height of WWII and Werner is a young German orphaned boy recruited into Hitler’s Youth. Marie-Laure and her father are forced to evacuate to St. Malo, France where Werner is eventually …
If you are looking for a light read, don’t read this. And spoiler *if you are looking for an HEA, also don’t read this.* But this should pretty much be a no-brainer going into the book since the main backdrop of the story is Hitler’s invasion of Paris. Having made sure you understand that this is heavy, let me just say that this is one of the most …
A modern day existentialist novel. A book in the tradition of Dostoevsky, although that may not be obvious right away.
You cannot think of this novel in terms of a sweeping plot with several subplots. All the individual stories carry about equal weight, if not equal appeal: Marie-Laure moving through and surviving the war; Werner curbing a role …
The is one of my all time favorite books!! It’s definitely a page turner that kept me up late many nights. Set in WWII France & Germany. Unpredictable and action-packed, even a little suspenseful at times. One event in the book was so unexpected and emotional that I put the book down. Two days later I was back reading it, anxious to see how …
One of the best books I ever read. We read this for my book club. We do mysteries and fiction, even historical fiction. I really like the WWII stories.
Characters that cannot be forgotten. I will be traveling through Germany this fall and have been reading many books—fictional and non-fictional on the Holocaust and WWII——Though this book was fictional it gave view points of a young German boy who were forced to enter the military and young blind Jewish girl—–did it end like I wanted it …
Marvelously written – each sentence effectively paints the story in your mind, drawing you in more and more, as though you are the blind one being led solely by words.
I honestly did not want this book to end. While reading about a beautiful story about a young, blind French girl who lives with her grandfather, you read about a young German boy who involuntarily becomes a soldier in Hitler’s army. The author does a great job with the parallel storytelling. Poignant in so many ways. The story came alive to me …
When I read a book I’ve heard so many good things about, it’s hard to like it. I read with a more critical eye and look for things that aren’t quite right. It’s perverse. I know. If you look hard enough you can always find some things you don’t like. The chapters were too short and it threw off the pacing. I’ve read a few too many books about WWII …
Beautifully written. Both riveting & satisfying. I love the characters in this book. Papa who so adores & nurtures Marie-Laure. Great uncle, damaged from his experience in WWI, who finds the courage to live again. The old ladies gleefully performing their small acts of resistance. Werner & his devoted Jutta. Brave Marie-Laure. Against the backdrop …