Scan barcode
bellaliss's review
informative
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
3.5
Anthony Doerr writes thoughtfully and beautifully about his time in Rome with his family - which includes young twins. Gentle observations about the city with thoughtful philosophical ruminations on life.
dr_tree's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Anthony Doerr is such a beautiful writer and his reflections on parenting, awe, culture, and time are spot on. Can see some of the inspirations contained in All the Light we Cannot See here.
kbooch3's review
5.0
i pretty much cried like a baby the whole way through this book. beautiful prose for a beautiful city.
booktalkwithkarla's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
Anthony Doerr, a prize winning author, takes us on his adventure with his twin sons and his wife, as he writes and moves through a year in Italy. He is there as a fellow, at the American Academy, writing alongside other artists pursuing independent projects. This is a beautifully written and interesting peek into the life of a new father temporarily living in a historic and fascinating city. Doerr is a talented writer, able to bring Rome alive. I felt the wind. I smelled the food. I heard the water. Doerr’s insights and advice - parenting and otherwise - inspire presence and observation.
I loved how he wove together ordinary and extraordinary events. I felt moved between the beauty of the past and present. This is a short book but one that I hope to engage with again and again. The richness of Doerr’s connections and contrasts is incredible and worthy of more attention. His love for Rome made me consider more cities I want to explore. This book offers a powerful and rich reading experience. Enjoy the journey.
“Maybe being a new parent is like moving to a foreign country. There is a Before and an After, an Old Life and a New Life.”
“We are humbled over and over – humility hangs over our heads like a sledgehammer.”
“Not-knowing is always more thrilling than knowing. Not-knowing is where hope and art and possibility and invention come from. It is not-knowing, that old, old thing, that allows everything to be renewed.”
j_lange's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this gentle read- Doerr's writing is lovely. Especially in a very claustrophobic summer, this was a really nice, short, read.
adorkablereader's review
5.0
I really loved this book. And I loved the author's writing style... Yes, it is full of metaphors and yes, it is super discriptive and yes, there is a lot of detail, and yes, I thought it was wonderful. I've read some reviews stating some readers thought Doer's writing was so beautiful in the beginning, but by the end they felt it was just too much and they were over it. I really don't know how anyone could get sick of something so beautiful. Plus, I think the author is aware that there is potential of this... Especially after reading this quote in the book ".... We began to feel glutted, oversaturated. Church interiors meld from one to the next, two-thousand-year-old columns float past unnoticed. Was that another Michelangelo? Another Pinturiccho? Fifty years ago, in Rome and a Villa, the novelist Eleanor Clark called it the "too-muchness" of Rome.......Too much beauty, too much input; if you aren't careful, you can overdose.". See, he knows that crossing the line is a potential, but he treats us anyways! I also loved that we know in this book he starts writing one of my favorite books "All the Light we Cannot See". I will definitely be reading more by this author. I would recommend listening to this audiobook as well, as it is narrated by the author: he did a great job.