All the Light We Cannot See

I've been left feeling really underwhelmed by this book, I was so looking forward to it, Pulitzer prize winner, good reviews from friends and one of the most impressive plots I've come across in a book. But the writing is poor, reminds me of [b:The Da Vinci Code|968|The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)|Dan Brown|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1303252999s/968.jpg|2982101] at times, really rushed and no passion from the author. With the time the plot takes part you would expect to be shocked at some of the things that were happening, but I was left felling Meh! as a 14 yr old boy gets slapped around the face with a rubber hose, something has gone wrong if that scene makes you feel nothing.

The book was set for a 2* rating, but the last 15% of the book was what I was expecting, some exciting drama, moving scenes and really well written, it was like it was by a different author. If the rest of the book had been written like that then I would have considered this a modern day masterpiece.

Hope they make a movie of this, would be pretty good.

All the Light We Cannot See has received bundles of praise and a Pulitzer Prize so I’ve been left wondering if I missed the point. With the exception of the last 100 or so pages, I felt the prose was unemotional and the characters were rather romanticised.

Marie-Laure loses her sight aged just six. It didn’t portray any of the frustration you would expect of a young child going blind and her father is so perfectly patient with her. By nine years old she is a proficient braille reader, reading Jules Verne, imagining worlds she will never see. During her childhood, war breaks out across Europe and France is occupied. Yet she still seems to lead a mostly privileged lifestyle, even if she must stay indoors.

Marie-Laure’s story just didn’t seem to go anywhere. The chapters are short and alternate mostly between her and Werner’s stories, which had the very tenuous link of radios. For the most part, I felt like I was reading two different stories, constantly being torn away before I could connect with either.

Understandably, Werner is something of a spectator to his life, an orphan with no choice to follow the desires of the state. A state whose ideals he’s not sure he believes in. He stands by while awful things are done, so his portion of the story seems distanced. There are glimpses of a boy who cares, but it takes him time to do anything noteworthy.

The plot regarding the mysterious and valuable diamond might have been more enjoyable in a short novel, but I’m not sure it bound together the narratives. There’s a German on the hunt for it, who becomes obsessed, maybe believing in its curse. Not to forget an immensely talented forger who can make faultless copies of a rather unique gemstone.

There’s a completely unnecessary rape scene. It does nothing to further the plot or characters, in fact it’s minor characters that are involved and it isn’t revisited. It was a bit like the author thought he hadn’t got round to mentioning how awful the Russians were in this war, so let’s throw in a rape to show that.

It’s all just a bit meandering and went on far too long. There’s better examples of WWII novels and portrayals of blind characters out there. I spent ages being annoyed by the use of the term terrorist, which seemed modern and out of place. However I did look it up, and will let Anthony off, as it was originally coined during the French Revolution, so it is possible it was commonly used in France during the war.

A compelling romance of the Second World War. I found it interesting to compare this to Suite Francaise, another book that's mostly concerned with the Nazi occupation of France. In that book, Irene Nemirovsky was writing about what was happening around her at that very moment, and Suite Francaise is unfinished because of her internment and murder at the hands of the Third Reich. This book, on the other hand, was written in the 21st century by the American writer-in-residence for the state of Idaho.

Those differing perspectives result in some very similar books, however. Both books involve a nascent, never-fully-realized romance between a German soldier and a young French woman. That romance is more fully developed in Suite Francaise; here it's background to the story of how those two people survived in Europe during the worst years of the 20th century, and how they came to meet.

Both books are told very cinematically. I understand Suite Francaise is already a film in Europe, coming to the US soon. I won't be surprised to see All the Light We Cannot See not far behind.

This book garnered a LOT of attention due to being easily read (and because it won a few notable awards). I figured I'd not fall into that trap, and wondered whether I'd really read it.

“You know the greatest lesson of history? It’s that history is whatever the victors say it is. That’s the lesson. Whoever wins, that’s who decides the history. We act in our own self-interest. Of course we do. Name me a person or a nation who does not. The trick is figuring out where your interests are.”

This book garnered a LOT of attention due to being easily read (and because it won a few notable awards). I figured I'd not fall into that trap, and wondered whether I'd really read it.

“You know the greatest lesson of history? It’s that history is whatever the victors say it is. That’s the lesson. Whoever wins, that’s who decides the history. We act in our own self-interest. Of course we do. Name me a person or a nation who does not. The trick is figuring out where your interests are.”

This book garnered a LOT of attention due to being easily read (and because it won a few notable awards). I figured I'd not fall into that trap, and wondered whether I'd really read it.

“You know the greatest lesson of history? It’s that history is whatever the victors say it is. That’s the lesson. Whoever wins, that’s who decides the history. We act in our own self-interest. Of course we do. Name me a person or a nation who does not. The trick is figuring out where your interests are.”

This is an excellent book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, so much so that I had it read in 2 days and it's not exactly short. This book examines WWII, the people caught up in it, the atrocities, the landscape of Europe itself, in a way that never feels clichéd, never feels like the same old same old. In fact there is never a Jewish person that is secreted away in some attic or basement of some kind hearted villager! Not that that did not happen of course, and admirably, but yes, we've already examined that issue in countless other books. Rather, it is a story about family ties and how war can tear apart those ties in a blind instant. (OMG that's a bad pun. I'm sorry LOL) It is a tale of perseverance, of courage, even of dreams and wonder of ordinary people amidst such a terrible backdrop. Oh, there are atrocities, this is WWII Europe of course but they are not examined closely only alluded to, or dispassionately mentally recorded by the characters . But what shines forth is the human will, the dreams and desires of our deepest selves that survive despite the horror and pain of war. Not just despite but defiantly! It is a testament to what makes us human, what makes some people excellent specimens of the human race.

What keeps me from awarding this 5 stars??? The ending seemed forced even if I understand why it was needed.

Read this book. It reads effortlessly but rewards nonetheless.