Welcome to this month’s book review of the ‘grown-up’ variety. I’ve read quite a few books and seen a few movies set in World War II lately, and thought I wouldn’t be able to get into another one.
I was wrong. And here’s why.
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All the Light We Cannot See / Anthony Doerr
(Fourth Estate, 2014)
All the Light We Cannot See is the tale of Marie-Laure LeBlanc, the daughter of a locksmith who grows up in France in the 1930s. Blind by the age of six, she learns to navigate with a miniature of her neighbourhood, built by her father.
It is also the tale of Werner Pfennig, the snowy-blonde, blue-eyed orphan who grows up in Germany at the same time. He is determined not to share the fate of his father, who died in a mine, so accepts a position at an elite military academy to build his engineering skills.
It is the tale of Marie-Laure, and the tale of Werner Pfennig, and the tale of right and wrong and everything in between. In fact, it is the tale of everything that looks right but might be wrong, and everything that looks wrong but might be right.
This book. I’ve got to be honest; it wasn’t love at first sight. It took some getting into. I was approaching the 200-page mark (of 530) before the words stopped feeling a little overdone.
But then the strength of the story started to sink right into me. I’d say that I sunk into the story, but it was definitely the other way around – I couldn’t put it down, yet read it as slowly as I possibly could so that I could savour the journey.
After all, you can only read a book for the first time once.
All the Light We Cannot See makes you feel without making you feel sick from too much feeling. It silences the voice in your head that wants to moralise and shout at certain characters, and compels you to simply watch events unfold. Even as the knot in your chest tightens.
It might take some getting into, but you’ll be glad you kept it up. So very glad.
Standout lines:
- There are, he assures her, no such things as curses. There is luck, maybe, bad or good. A slight inclination of each day toward success or failure. But no curses.
- “Your problem, Werner,” says Frederick, “is that you still believe you own your own life.”
- …she is angry. At Etienne for doing so little, at Madame Manec for doing so much, at her father for not being here to help her understand his absence.
- If only life were like a Jules Verne novel, thinks Marie-Laure, and you could page ahead when you most needed to, and learn what would happen.
- He is average-sized and prematurely gray, but by some contrivance of carriage and posture, he makes the men who stand before him feel smaller.
I recommend this book to anyone and everyone. And if, like a few friends of mine, you’ve been tossing up between this and The Narrow Road to the Deep North because you don’t want to read too many World War II books, forget it. The tossing up, I mean. I’ve read them both, and I honestly can’t decide which to recommend more.
You can purchase All the Light We Cannot See from Booktopia here, or from Book Depository here.
Have you read All the Light We Cannot See? What did you think?
* Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you click to buy the item, I earn a little commission, but you don’t pay any extra.
Another one on my list Em. I have read The narrow road and loved it. I also read recently the Paris Architect…. Continunuing on the world war 2 theme 🙂
I’ve added one to your list; you’ve added one to mine! The Paris Architect. Thanks.
WW2 is one of my favourite book settings. This book has been on my list for ages. I hate books that take that long to fall in love with but will still plan on reading this one soon. Xx
It took that long to fall in love with it, but it never felt like a chore. Would love to hear what you think when you’re done.
I picked this up at a book shop a couple if weeks ago and was interested, but reminded myself of the size of my reading stack at home, and put it down. I have read the Richard Flanagan, however, and I love it very much.
Fair enough! What’s in your reading stack? I’m always on the lookout for more suggestions!
Thanks for this – the title grabbed me. I have just finished reading the Narrow Road to the Deep North and I can’t shake the sadness and futility it left me with – beyond the horrors of the POW camps was just a profound hopelessness at lack of redemption.
Beautifully summarised. And yet joy in the smaller moments. The stories you don’t think are going to be beautiful but end up being so.
I am reading this little gem right now and with a kid-free weekend away planned only days away – I suspect me and this book are going to settle in for some long reads together. Love this “After all, you can only read a book for the first time once.” xx
Thanks Josefa. Would LOVE to hear what you think of this one!
I haven’t gotten around to reading this yet, but it’s on the list!
Excellent! Enjoy when you get to it.
This is the next pick for our book club… I will be patient getting into it… As they say ‘ good things come to those who wait’ …
Patience is good with this one. It’s never bad, it just takes a while to worm its way into you. If that makes sense.
I’m on the search for a new book. I’ll check it out, tans. #TeamIBOT
You’re welcome! Enjoy.
Your description of reading this book slowly to make it last longer yet not being able to put it down at the same time puts it straight onto my “must read” list. Thanks for the recommendation.
Thanks Ingrid – I’m glad that message got across. I couldn’t think how else to explain it!
Em, I’m off to trawl through your previous reviews as I need an easy, but entertaining read for at night… fiction.. so my mind doesn’t go overtime!
Thanks so much for the follow-up email! You ended up with a great purchase list – looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
I actually started reading this book a couple of nights ago. I have been so tired that I haven’t read much of it yet. It has been sitting there for a while and I have kept picking other books over it. Glad to hear a positive view of it, will keep reading until I hit the sweet spot.
I hope you’ve read it now – would love to hear your thoughts!
Oh so many books to read, so little time! Im keen to check it out now. Just need to finish the Song of Ice and Fire Series.
So many books. We’ll never get through them all, will we? Le sigh.
Excellent review. I’m a big fan of books and movies set in the war time too. I watched Fury recently and I keep going over it in my mind. I’ve already got two books on the go at the moment, but when I’m done I’ll think about getting this one 🙂
We watched Fury too. I was intrigued but it’s not one that’s staying with me. But Unbroken and The Imitation Game were great – such different perspectives. The wars really were fought by so many people in so many different ways, weren’t they?
That would not normally make my reading list but your review makes it sound very intriguing and well worth the effort of the first 200 pages. Great review Em!
Thanks Kirsty. I hope you like it.
I haven’t yet read “All the Light We Cannot See”, but I read Richard Flanagan’s “Narrow Road to the Deep North”, which is a beautifully written and powerful story. After reading it I wondered whether Flanagan would ever be able to write that well again. I can only commend the book, a worthy addition to our literary cannon.
It’s something I’ve wondered too. Do authors ever look at their books and think, “Well, better retire now. I’ll never be able to replicate that.”?
I’ve been looking forward to your review of this one, Em. I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to get into it and now I think I will give it a go. It might be a bit ‘Harry August’ for me, though. I was over 200 pages in and I gave up on him… which is not something I usually do at all. x
Ooh, my powers of persuasion win! I really hope you like it then Bron!