From the back cover:
Marie-Laure LeBlanc lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he 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.
“Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever.”
-Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See
It’s taken me a while to gather my thoughts on this one. I have to admit, All the Light We Cannot See really intimidated me for the longest time (as any massive, Pulitzer-winning, WWII novel would). It was a slow read for me with not much happening in terms of plot, but the characters and the writing are why I kept returning. Doerr pens elegant, well-crafted sentences and his characters are not only vividly-described but heart-breakingly beautiful as well. I quickly grew to adore Marie-Laure and found myself flipping through the pages to find her next chapter.
“What do we call visible light? We call it color. But the electromagnetic spectrum runs to zero in one direction and infinity in the other, so really, children, mathematically, all of light is visible.”
-Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See
All the Light We Cannot See focuses on themes of interconnectedness, with the various characters crossing paths at different points in their lives. There are so many untold stories from the war, and Doerr hints at this throughout the novel. You would never think that two characters as different as Marie-Laure and Werner would come together, but they did. I felt like the majority of the book was leading up to their meeting, and then when it finally happened… I was disappointed. It wasn’t a big meeting, more like a small introduction. I know this isn’t a plot-driven book, but there was virtually no plot at all, and I could definitely sense that it was missing. Luckily, the beautiful prose made up for the lack of story.
Overall, I can say that I enjoyed this book… but not as much as I thought I would.
This is one of my favourite books, mostly because of the writing. But I must admit, I was a little disappointed with their meeting as well, although that’s probably because I’m so used to plots from contemporary, ya novels where everything just seems so… intense.
LikeLike
I’m glad I’m not the only one that feels this way!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I listened to this book in 2017. I felt like I SHOULD have liked it more than I did. I thought the gemstone aspect of the story was great and the model cities were unique and fun to imagine. I did like the characters but I agree that the plot was slow. All-in-all it was a beautiful book.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I definitely struggled with not liking it as much as everyone else- it was absolutely a beautiful book, but for me it fell flat. I agree that the model cities were a nice touch to the story, and very cool to imagine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can see why you were a bit disappointed with their meeting, I personally really love character driven books, so I wasn’t as bothered. I actually visited Saint-Malo last summer, just after I read the book. It was so fun to see all the places from the book irl!
LikeLike
Ahhh that’s so amazing!
LikeLiked by 1 person