Scan barcode
A review by spootilious
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
4.0
Realistic review then my opinion:
I really wish I could give this book 4.5 stars.
I realize that the people who read this book either love it or hate it and it is very rare to be in between.
I've noticed the people who hate it complain about the lack of action or plot points or don't like the ending. All of these things are valid.
This book has very little heavy hitting plot points. It is a story of two children's life during WW2. So, if you need a fast pace plot or to sit on the edge of your seat when you read a book then I don't recommend this one.
The ending of the book is unsatisfactory just as many endings in WW2 were. It was an artistic choice which I cannot fault Doerr for.
However, if you want a book that engages the senses and draws you in the stunning beauty of a painting only a gifted wordsmith can manage you've come to the right one.
Doerr's descriptions are breathtaking. He describes things from the character's POV so stunningly I can not give it words. One of the main characters is blind and rather than describing a shell as we see it he describes it as she feels it. It's really beautiful.
The countless atrocious acts that these children see or experience are described with such cold simplicity that it is moving. If a boy watches a man die he does not feel horror during this time period not because it is not horrific but because he is desensitized to it all and rather than relying on words to describe this horror Doerr relies on the reader's response to the coldness to be effective and it is. Only a writer with immense talent could manage such at thing and I have had the privilege to experience it.
The same could be said for the children's innocence in the book. Though as a reader we see what is happening because we know what has happened a sheltered innocent child during the time does not and Doerr manages quite well. Most of the time when an author tries to capture the innocence of youth in their writing it comes out too logical or bias or jaded... not here... not in this book.
I did not care for the ending just as most people did not. However, I can appreciate the choice Doerr made in it. It was fitting and quite realistic rather than pulling away from the rest of the realistic story to please the reader which I can appreciate.
I would also like to add that there are so many subtle things that Doerr added throughout the novel that I caught myself every chapter pausing to simply breath in. This is one of the best novels I have ever read and feel that it deserves to be on everyone's bucket list no matter if they end up hating it or loving it. The literary devices, sentence structure, cadence, metaphors, realism, reader response, and imagery are things that should be shared more openly with the world.
I really wish I could give this book 4.5 stars.
I realize that the people who read this book either love it or hate it and it is very rare to be in between.
I've noticed the people who hate it complain about the lack of action or plot points or don't like the ending. All of these things are valid.
This book has very little heavy hitting plot points. It is a story of two children's life during WW2. So, if you need a fast pace plot or to sit on the edge of your seat when you read a book then I don't recommend this one.
The ending of the book is unsatisfactory just as many endings in WW2 were. It was an artistic choice which I cannot fault Doerr for.
However, if you want a book that engages the senses and draws you in the stunning beauty of a painting only a gifted wordsmith can manage you've come to the right one.
Doerr's descriptions are breathtaking. He describes things from the character's POV so stunningly I can not give it words. One of the main characters is blind and rather than describing a shell as we see it he describes it as she feels it. It's really beautiful.
The countless atrocious acts that these children see or experience are described with such cold simplicity that it is moving. If a boy watches a man die he does not feel horror during this time period not because it is not horrific but because he is desensitized to it all and rather than relying on words to describe this horror Doerr relies on the reader's response to the coldness to be effective and it is. Only a writer with immense talent could manage such at thing and I have had the privilege to experience it.
The same could be said for the children's innocence in the book. Though as a reader we see what is happening because we know what has happened a sheltered innocent child during the time does not and Doerr manages quite well. Most of the time when an author tries to capture the innocence of youth in their writing it comes out too logical or bias or jaded... not here... not in this book.
I did not care for the ending just as most people did not. However, I can appreciate the choice Doerr made in it. It was fitting and quite realistic rather than pulling away from the rest of the realistic story to please the reader which I can appreciate.
I would also like to add that there are so many subtle things that Doerr added throughout the novel that I caught myself every chapter pausing to simply breath in. This is one of the best novels I have ever read and feel that it deserves to be on everyone's bucket list no matter if they end up hating it or loving it. The literary devices, sentence structure, cadence, metaphors, realism, reader response, and imagery are things that should be shared more openly with the world.