All the Light We Cannot See | Review

4.19/5.00

Published: 2014

Genre: Historical Fiction

Goodreads

“So how, children, does the brain, which lives without a spark of light, build for us a world full of light?”

Every story I have ever heard or read about WWII revolves around the Americans, British, Russians, and/or Germans. Everyone seems to neglect France. Various perspectives tell this story, but two are more prominent than others.

Marie-Laure, the French, blind puzzle-solver. The girl who has lost so much.

Werner, the German orphan with a sharp mind and white hair. In most stories featuring some boy genius character, he is an infuriating, arrogant, improbably invulnerable and perfect nuisance. By some magnificent miracle of character development, I did not find Werner intolerable and completely un-relatable.

Saint Malo, the French city where the majority of the story takes place

“All your life you wait, and then it finally comes, and are you ready?”

This is not a happy story. Tragedy follows the pages to the very last one. It’s sad more in a realistic way than in a poetic, romanticized way. War is an awful, ugly tool that breaks generations and only lapses into brief rests. We understand and predict that, so what makes this book stand out? Because it is neither about soldiers at war or wives at home. Sure, they’re there, but they aren’t at the forefront. Because it doesn’t get swept up in being a sugary romance.

The prose is beautiful without being flowery. Maybe a bit dense, maybe a bit sidetracked with imagery and description over actual plot sometimes but beautiful nonetheless. It gets scientific and philosophical in the perfect way. Some authors get too dense and jargon-happy whereas others try and fail painfully, appearing as insufferable, college freshman trying to sound like experts after taking one intro course.

“Time is a slippery thing: lose hold of it once, and its string might sail out of your hands forever.”

The short chapters are a relief for people who prefer to stop at the beginning of chapters rather than the middle. If you are reading this late at night like the rest of us insomniacs, the just-to-the-next-chapter excuse is flimsy. I understand how this can seem clipped, maybe jarring to some people. This book isn’t perfect. It has its flaws, but they’re small to me.

I recommend this book to anyone. Even if you aren’t particularly a fan of historical fiction, the story is interesting and poignant enough to keep you engaged. I haven’t had much luck with the genre, but this book redeemed it for me.

Anthony Doerr is an American author who earned the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction with All the Light We Cannot See, his most recent book.

“Anyone who has spent a few months in a tent during a storm can tell you: The world doesn’t care all that much if you live or die.” –Anthony Doerr