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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I don’t read many novels, but I really liked this one. 4 stars instead of 5 because there were certain scenes I think the author could have used better, more realistic descriptions of the human interactions. Very Good read overall!
Could not put down.
One of the most beautiful and loving stories I have ever read. The blind child who is so loved by her father is unforgettable.
Wonderful story!
Loved everything about this book. Beautifully written, memorable characters, and and inspiring story that stays with you for years.
Excellent historical fiction
2 young main characters, each struggling for different reasons, finally meet at the very end of the book. Yet this a magical and worthwhile read: The setting revolves around small-town France where a blind teenage girl hides from the Germans with an uncle who supports the Resistance by broadcasting information . A young German soldier comes …
This story hits every note and tugs on every string. Almost anyone can find something to love in this book. We read All The Light at book group and everyone gobbled it up. It will be one of those books that ends up on the “must read” lists throughout the years and not because it won the Pulitzer.
This book was okay. There were times I was bored nearly to tears but also times I was completely riveted … probably could be about half the length and be a better read … or just have good writing throughout instead of only on and off.
3 stars.
Note:
I listened to the audiobook. The narrator was okay, but I definitely had to work to pay …
This is the book I wish I had written. I came to this story late, since it was first published in 2014, but I am so grateful I finally found it. It is beautifully written, lyrical and poetic. The story, set in occupied France during WWII, sweeps you, breathless, into the lives of a blind French girl and the young German boy who fatefully …
Flawless writing.
All the Light We Cannot See was wonderful. My only criticism is the distance from the characters. It felt as though I was looking into an intricate snowglobe.
This book is beautifully written in every way. Exceptional reading experience from a gifted author. Highly recommended!
Incredible story. Great characters. This book explains how indoctrination starts and how waves of fascism took hold
incredible writing with a realistic intertwined plot…they don’t get better than this
Read 7.10.2018
Wow.
Well, I can see why this won the Pulitzer. Wow. WHAT a story. I cannot even give a review that will do this book justice, so I am not even going to try [the only negative to this book is that it jumps around. A LOT, and that got super annoying]. I will just tell you that it is a amazing read, keep plenty of tissues handy and …
Beautifully written
This was such an eloquent, beautiful story told through the eyes of several main characters. It shows the tragedy of war, but it also balances the ugliness with moments of beauty and kindness. I definitely recommend it for lovers of WWII fiction.
This was an excellent novel about two people on opposite sides during WW II. Great writing with an excellent storyline and even though it was a novel, very realistic feeling about how it must have been during that time.
Poignant and very realistic. Fantastic detail and character development. Kind of a sad read in that it paralleled desperate lives and times during the current pandemic. Definitely not a happy ending, feel good kind of book.