Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - All the Light We Cannot See

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All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

50 reviews

alexiafox's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

Beautiful and lyrical prose. There is no doubt that Anthony Doerr is a talented writer.
I’m not sure if it was all the hype I had heard previously or if it was because it took me a long time to read this, but I simply didn’t enjoy this as much as everyone else (it seems).

It felt very long, and at times it seemed like the plot didn’t progress all that much. If you enjoy reading for the ambience and characters rather than plot then I would recommend this. It would be easier to forgive the slow pace if I felt connected to the characters but I simply didn’t connect with them that deeply. I certainly cared and empathized but I felt something lacking.

Close to the end (probably 200 pages from ending) I felt more “hooked” since the war was starting to end. However, by the end, I felt more frustrated than heartbroken. I don’t know if I understood the choices for such a bleak ending that seemed rushed and came out of nowhere. On the other hand, the ending had some beautiful moments.

I was just left wanting a bit more: emotionally and for the characters. But then again, that is the point. War is bleak. War is catastrophic. War destroys.

<Spoiler>:
After reading some discussion, I will say I understand that war isn’t something that has “happy endings” for the people affected by it. I now see the irony of Werner’s death since he died in the way he feared (his father’s death). I also understand that so many people were lost to the war and many didn’t get the peace of knowing what happened to their loved ones. I think this reality is what is upsetting… but it’s important to read about. <Spoiler>

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erebus53's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Another book club read, and I'm glad I was put onto this one, as I otherwise wouldn't have bothered with it. This is a beautifully woven tale of .. uhm, nerds in World War II.

Werner is a snow-haired German lad who was orphanned by the mines of the Reich. As a curious child he develops himself into an electrical engineer who specializes in fixing radios, and is noticed by a German general who forwards him for advancement in an elite military school.
Marie-Laure is the daughter of keymaster of the French museum. She develops cataracts and goes blind as a child, and her father crates a scale model of her neighbourhood as a tactile map for her to learn her way around.
When the war starts, Marie-Laure and her father flee to her uncle's house, and Werner is a radio engineer for Hitler's army.

This story is told with deep emotional resonance, and using all sorts of literary quirks that focus on themes of light and darkness, sounds, sensation, fear and bravery, morality, logic and puzzles, knowing and learning, art and music, the love of nature, and of people. I love the descriptions of things like disappearing in fog– that it's about vanishing into whiteness rather than shadows. The descriptions are visceral and evocative as well as clever.

This is a story of survival, of war, of fear and bloodshed, and it doesn't pull its punches. It certainly answers, in a humane way, questions about how people can do inhuman things in war, and the toll it can take on families.

I found the going slow, and occasionally tense, but also full of whimsy and beauty in contrast.
Well worth the read.

Content Warnings