Book Review: All the Light We Cannot See

 

Returning so many months later to review this book has been a strange experience. By the time I finished All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, I found that I needed to sit with it for a while—let it steep—before I could discuss it in any meaningful way. Anyway, I read All the Light We Cannot See in February, 2021, and my period of processing has finally reached an end (This review was written on December 12, 2021. This revision was completed on April 24, 2023.). 

Rating: 4.5/5

Buy All the Light We Cannot See.

Blurb from goodreads:

"Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.

From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the stunningly beautiful instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II." 

Review:

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr is a critically acclaimed piece (It won the Pulitzer prize.) of literary fiction and it has really earned its fame. 

This is a slow-moving book, and I am generally a fan of that pacing for this piece. The writing is rich with detail, atmospheric, beautifully worded, and intentional. According to an article in The Guardian, Doerr spent ten years writing this book and I think it shows, particularly in the research aspects, which is something I absolutely appreciate in historical fiction. 

Now, from a more personal standpoint, I must admit that I have always enjoyed reading books that highlight senses outside of vision. Books that include a strong impression of another sense just offer so much more in the way of depth and immersion. So when I heard that this book was partially told from the perspective of a girl who is blind, I was immediately drawn to it. Werner can see and I loved his perspective, but exploring part of this world through the hands of Marie-Laure was beautiful in an entirely different way. 

So, why not a 5 star rating, then? 

There were a few scenes that drew me out of the story. Marie-Laure's behavior does not always seem to match her age and I found that distracting. And, while I acknowledge this one is entirely a matter of personal taste, there's a character who makes a decision that is utterly baffling to me—to the point that I could not stop thinking about it for the rest of the novel. However, both of those things were relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. 

This book has its issues and it isn't going to be everybody's cup of tea, but it is terribly beautiful. And, in my opinion, it was worth every second spent reading it. 

(Also, this has nothing to do with the writing and does not impact the rating in any way, but I'd like to note that the cover of my paperback copy is wonderful. The paper is thick, has a great texture, and it's subtly shimmery. I love it. It does have a non-removable badge-thing printed on it, but that wasn't a totally off-putting aspect, in this case. Unfortunately, I did not link to my exact copy because I was unable to find it.)