In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.
Rating: 4/5 stars
Haunting, evocative, and alluring, All the Light We Cannot See captures and depicts the quietest and loudest moments of a devastating war. Its detail and meticulous prose fills the novel with a hushed suspense, one that gives the reader a sense of foreboding and trepidation. It's a novel that teaches and puzzles its readers. It's a novel that, despite its merits, has its flaws.
All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr starts off at a crawl and drags on. It's slow, to say the least. While at times its pace certainly establishes the ominous atmosphere, serving as a reinforcement for the foreboding the reader is meant to feel, it could also be seen as a detrimental aspect of the novel, (especially since there were other qualities that served the same purpose of suspense).
With the slow beginning came an arguably unsatisfactory ending. The way the suspense was built up, slowly and carefully, provoked the reader into expecting great things. But the moment the readers were waiting for, the moment when all three story lines collided, was fleeting.
However, this is where the criticisms end.
All the Light We Cannot See is a masterfully written novel with a strong foundation, an organized structure, and an unbelievable amount of detail. Its captivating and descriptive language locked the reader's attention from the beginning and its voice put the readers in a trance. The way the characters were built is also worthy of praise. Each character with their different backstories and different personalities and relationships made the novel all the more mesmerizing. Although the characters moved around the plot and changed with events, the attention given to the characters made it seem as if the plot moved around the characters. As if the characters were in charge and if anything were to happen to any of them there would be nothing to read about, even though logically there would be plenty.
There is so much good in All the Light We Cannot See it easily outweighs the faults. It is definitely a book I would recommend for the patient and historical fiction fanatics.
