Name: All the Light We Cannot See
Rating: 4.230293663060278 (1294 reviews)
ISBN: 9780008485191

ANTHONY. DOERR

Introducing the Collins Modern Classics, a series featuring some of the most significant books of recent times, books that shed light on the human experience - classics which will endure for generations to come.

All the Light We Cannot See

Moira

Valle Fernandez

Daniel Bower

vivian mizuno

Princess Twasam 

Samantha Mochrie 

ellie🤍

Anthony Doerr

A blind French girl on the run from the German occupation and a German orphan-turned-Resistance tracker struggle with their respective beliefs after meeting on the Brittany coast. By the award-winning author of About Grace.

A Novel

Jill

A beautiful, profound, coming of age story of intersecting lines in the lives of Werner Pfennig from Germany and Marie-Laure LeBlanc living in Paris. Set during World War II and the French Resistance, it’s a story about unwavering strength of an orphan boy and blind girl. My heart is so full. One of those books I can’t keep recommending enough. 

Midveil

I admired this novel’s ambition. And it was a pleasing read with a rewarding ending. But for the first 2/3rds of the book, I found it to be choppy and predictable. The action constantly flashes back and forth between the two main characters, with some focus on the secondary characters. Many of the “chapters” ended oddly. Every detail contributing to the highly contrived storyline. I am now curious to read more Pulitizers to see if this is a typical winner.

Greg Talbot

The world of wonder and horror come together, for the two teens Marie-Laure LeBlanc and Werner Pfennig, both on opposite sides of the war, both holding out for all the blessings of family, culture and humanity to bring relief. Most WW2 novels i've read focus on the absurdity of it all (Catch-22, Slaughterhouse 5). Reasonable adults in absurd situations, stare into bleakness, meaninglessness, apathy, and irony. And this is the 'good war' - where the fight against the evil Nazis and the good westerners was obvious. "All the Light We Cannot See" reaches deeper into the stories of he innocent, and see how much of their hearts come out in tact after the mortars have buried their settlement. The book no doubt is heart-felt, but I commend it so much for daring into the grim realities that can tear our souls apart. "All the Light We Cannot See", looks at what happens when we ask for sacrifice from kids. Werner Pfennig, a wunderkind with heightened intelligence and intuitive understanding of the how things come together, moves up the ranks, as he solves problems and becomes instrumental for his German officers. Through his eyes we see the acrid hateful chiseling of boys into soliders. His sensitivity is never lost on us, and as he matures, he questions his own participation in the field. Marie-Laure LeBlanc, a blind girl, with protective words of her father, and the amulet/stone that supposedly gives her immunity from the violence. Her hands are also put to work, toward resistance, toward communicating German positions into a microphone. She too becomes familiar with death, hunger, isolation and questions of identity. "All the Light We Cannot See", takes us into these stories, and asks us about how long empathy lasts, if connection across sides is possible in the urban battlefield, if meaning can outlast tragedy. The pacing is consistent, the stories merge together with impeccable craftmanship, and the vocabulary is inpsired. I'm so impressed by how Doerrr brings together the beautiful elements of humanity ("Claire De Luna", books on adventure), while the devastating darkness of war warps each page too. Even after food is gone, our parents' promises gone, our dignity gone, and we have encountered a horror in human flesh, is there magic in the world to justify its turning.

Sara T-son

I incredibly randomly pick this book from an airport bookshop, buying it because I liked the title and the cover. Little did I know that this would turn out to be one of the best books I have ever read. It has an interesting mixture of World War II and of "fairytale". There is something almost magical laying over this book. A few moments in this book are truly breathtaking and also tear-jerking. It gives you an insight of the devastation of war and more specifically the Second World War. I finished this book being deeply concerned of what war does to people and also with the reminder that war is never black and white. I highly recommend this book to everyone, just read it and you will know what I am talking about.

jamiee

Marie-Laure has been blind since the age of six. Her father builds a perfect miniature of their Paris neighbourhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. But when the Nazis invade, father and daughter flee with a dangerous secret. Werner is a German orphan, destined to labour in the same mine that claimed his father's life, until he discovers a knack for engineering. His talent wins him a place at a brutal military academy, but his way out of obscurity is built on suffering. At the same time, far away in a walled city by the sea, an old man discovers new worlds without ever setting foot outside his home. But all around him, impending danger closes in. Doerr's combination of soaring imagination and meticulous observation is electric.

angie

Frank Huang

Keila Rico 

Jacey Manning

first time read rating: 3.75 stars (didn't complete)

Tali ⋆.˚🦋༘⋆

first time read rating: 3.75 stars (didn't complete)

second time read rating: 5 stars

Maureen

“So how, children, does the brain, which lives without a spark of light, build for us a world full of light?”

***

Longest book I’ve read this year! The prose is one of the best I’ve read. Honestly got hooked because of its lovely cover and title... though the content doesn’t disappoint! The short chapters (1-2 pages) easily make it a page-turner. Everything is so vivid— Doerr does Marie Laure’s character justice. 4 stars because it’s such a slow burn that I dropped this halfway—however, I think it’s also one of the book’s strong points because the characters are properly fleshed out as a result. The ending felt anticlimactic, but I don’t usually read historical fiction so I can’t judge. Nevertheless, I’m glad I finally finished reading this and I truly understand why plenty of people love this book.

One of the best books I have ever read. Everything about it interested me so much. I thought it was really interesting to have 2 points of view with little connections to each other that are actually really important. I love the well-developed characters and the interesting plot. The ending left me in tears but it was worth it.

Heard good things about this book and was recommend it by some friends. It did not disappoint. It was a beautifully written story.

Jazz

Chris Dailey

Engrossing and beautiful fiction about two teens, one French, the other German, caught up in the machine of WWII. Told in 2-4 page bursts, the story operates in flashbacks with an anchor in the fall of the fortress city of Saint Malo in 1944. The two precocious protagonists deal with loss of family, longing for a normal life, stunted intellectual curiosity, and the horrors of war. Despite their national allegiances, the two seems to be one in the sense that they're looking for the same thing: the chance to pursue their interests. Engaging writing moves the narrative along quickly and could have benefited from a slower pace.

It was a gorgeous, heartfelt and poignant book about a blind girl in the midst of the Second World War.

Harriet 

Rec from Charlotte and Ella. I’m so sad guys. This was gut wrenching in a whole different way than expected. 

A beautiful, subtle book, very moving and clever.

Emma Randall

Crystal Mfeka

Luke Harkness

Just wasn't as big a fan of it as I hoped I would be. The chapters were too short, I just couldn't connect the characters, it jumped around times too frequently.

maitha mana

'Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever'

At first I didn't want another WW2 novel. Then I realised this was something special.

A cloth bag containing 20 paperback copies of the title that may also include a folder with sign out sheets.

3 of 5 stars

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Finally, I've read this book. I was craving for something historical and I remember having this on my TBR for such a long time. But unfortunately, it ended up being quite a disappointment for me. I knew that it was in WWII setting and I expected a very emotional and heartbreaking story. It was heartbreaking in its own way but not heartbreaking enough for my own taste. I didn't get attached to it as much as I wanted it to and the symbolism of the diamond in the story was not very helpful to achieve it. 
It was still a good read, don't get me wrong. It's just that I hope I went into it without having too much expectation. Maybe I would have liked it more that way.

All The Light We Cannot See

Suyash Goylit

Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever

All The Light We Cannot See is like a sad song that touches your heart and leaves you contemplating long after you've heard it. It starts with an array of lovable characters in situations we wouldn't wish on our worst enemies. It, then, masterfully makes us live these situations along with the characters through masterful writing and storytelling. Multiple POVs and timelines developing coherently, almost like building up to a crescendo, then everything coming together and collapsing in that one moment. Flawless execution of a heart-wrenching story with a conclusion that ties up everything in a nice little bow.

Even though it was a bit longer than what I usually read, it never felt that way. Partly because dividing each scene into individual chapters works perfectly, as it never wore me out and compelled me to read just a little more every time. But mainly because since the penultimate chapter of part 1, Herr Siedler, about 80 pages in, I was completely engrossed in the story. From that point on, everything came together perfectly. The jumps between different POVs and even timelines felt so coherent until the very end.

There are three chapters that stood out for me. First, as I mentioned before, the penultimate chapter of the first part, Herr Siedler. It transforms the story and Werner's life completely by giving him a glimpse of what he thinks could be his way out. For the reader, I think it burns in the adverse condition this 13-year-old is in and gives us false hope for a better future. It is also virtually the starting point of Werner's story. The second is the ante-penultimate chapter of part seven, White City. (view spoiler)[It serves almost as a flip-switch moment for Werner. He was on the fence regarding his actions in the war from the very beginning but he pushed through everything, but, this chapter was essentially his breaking point. When he sees that little girl in the wardrobe with a bullet hole right between her eyes, it shatters him and lays the groundwork for things to follow. Finally, the very first chapter of the eleventh part, Berlin, broke me as a reader. We often forget that irrespective of the outcome of the war, the general populace always suffers. This chapter, in mere 3 pages, describes the horrible atrocities that were committed by the universally deemed "good side" in the war. And to top all that, it comes at the heels of Werner's demise, which was just heart-breaking. It, however, leads in to the conclusion of the story perfectly. The fallout of the war and the epilogue of the story, even though was not desirable, it was authentic. It was never meant to be a fairy tale and it didn't try to be that, not even at the end. It felt like every character had a satisfying conclusion, and even though none of them had a truly happy ending, it was the best they could have had in such adverse conditions. (hide spoiler)]

All the Light We Cannot See

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