Book review: All the light we cannot see

All the light we cannot see by Anthony Doerr

A great book, beautifully woven together

I cannot tell you how well written this book is. Set in the Second World War, it tells the perspective of a young German orphan called Werner, and a blind girl, Marie, living in Paris. The slow buildup to the war is artfully done, showing both sides of the story; the poverty in Germany and the more extravagant lifestyle in Paris. The story shows some of the horrors of war, juxtaposed with the refugees' view of the bombings, but it doesn't make too heavy reading.

The story is beautifully woven together, carefully spliced with the past and present. I don't want to say anymore, for risk of spoiling the plot, but it's a masterpeice. Whilst this is an "adult" book, it's gripping enough for any historic-fiction fan, and even a varied reader such as myself would enjoy it immensely.

Disclaimer and Response Questions if you clicky "Read More"



The ending wasn't just "they lived happily ever after", giving pause for thought and perhaps a few tears as well! I felt that whilst it provided some interesting questions, the final wrap-up went on for a little too long.

Now of the disclaimer part: As previously stated, this is an adult book, and comes with some bad language and one scene where some Russian soldiers come to a girl's house for a "visit". However, the scene isn't explicit, and I personally found it fine.

The book left me with some questions at the end, which might be worth mulling over if you've read it. I'd be interested to hear what you thought of them:

1. As Werner shows, not all of the Nazis were intentionally persecuting Jews, but they all helped the reign of Hitler and caused many deaths along the way. Can they be blamed for the atrocities they committed? 
2. What about all the boys from Hitler's youth? They were effectively brainwashed from a young age, but does that excuse them? Who can you blame?
3.   Fredrik joined Hitler's youth because it was a "good" thing to be seen to be doing. How does a society grow into that mindset without people speaking out? How does that compare to our society today? 
4. What would it take to turn Britain into a country discriminating against Muslims, because of ISIS? Would we be more or less justified, if we did the same things that the Nazis did to the Jews? Perhpas we would say we had a "reason" or we were "provoked", but would Nazi say the same thing?