All the Light We Cannot See – I don’t know how Anthony Doerr can move us so profoundly with mere words on a page. A soulful book that transported me to France and Germany during WW2.
Marie Laure and Werner, the two protagonists, are depicted so beautifully that you cannot help but fall in love with them, flaws and all. A radio transmitting lectures on science forms a thread between the girl and the boy.
The story hops between three timelines, revealing the threads so skillfully while squeezing our hearts. The senselessness of wars displayed through haunting imagery broke my heart.
Even in dire circumstances, we can choose to do the right thing. Doerr places his characters in life-threatening situations to depict this moral choice. All the characters are so well drawn. In a book that features a blind girl, color plays a key role in setting up the scenes.
Favorite quotes: There are so many to choose from, but I liked these two in particular.
That something so small could be so beautiful. Worth so much. Only the strongest people can turn away from feelings like that.
Anthony Doerr
I have been feeling very clearheaded lately and what I want to write about today is the sea. It contains so many colors. Silver at dawn, green at noon, dark blue in the evening. Sometimes it looks almost red. Or it will turn the color of old coins. Right now the shadows of clouds are dragging across it, and patches of sunlight are touching down everywhere. White strings of gulls drag over it like beads.
It is my favorite thing, I think, that I have ever seen. Sometimes I catch myself staring at it and forget my duties. It seems big enough to contain everything anyone could ever feel.
All the Light We Cannot See
This is one of the novels that should be a must-read for all of us. I am now ready to watch the movie.
Anna Bushi 