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All the Light We Cannot See

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About this listen

WINNER OF THE 2015 PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR FICTION

A beautiful, stunningly ambitious novel 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

Marie Laure lives with her father in Paris within walking distance of the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of the locks (there are thousands of locks in the museum). When she is six, she goes blind, and her father builds her a model of their neighborhood, every house, every manhole, so she can memorize it with her fingers and navigate the real streets with her feet and cane. When the Germans occupy Paris, father and daughter flee to Saint-Malo on the Brittany coast, where Marie-Laure’s agoraphobic great uncle lives in a tall, narrow house by the sea wall.

In another world in Germany, an orphan boy, Werner, grows up with his younger sister, Jutta, both enchanted by a crude radio Werner finds. He becomes a master at building and fixing radios, a talent that wins him a place at an elite and brutal military academy and, ultimately, makes him a highly specialized tracker of the Resistance. Werner travels through the heart of Hitler Youth to the far-flung outskirts of Russia, and finally into Saint-Malo, where his path converges with Marie-Laure.

Doerr’s gorgeous combination of soaring imagination with observation is electric. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. Ten years in the writing, All the Light We Cannot See is his most ambitious and dazzling work.

©2014 Anthony Doerr (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
20th Century Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Literary Fiction War & Military Military Romance Heartfelt War

Critic reviews

'Far more than a conventional war story, It's a tightly focused epic revolving around two unusual main characters … Doerr paints with a rich palette, using prose that resonates deeply and conveys the ephemera of daily existence along with high drama, sadness and hope … A bittersweet and moving novel that lingers in the mind' Clifford Beal, Daily Mail

‘TIt is easy to understand why Doerr’s book is regarded by many as an epic and a masterpiece’ Justin Cartwright, Observer

‘This novel will be a piece of luck for anyone with a long plane journey or beach holiday ahead. It is such a page-turner, entirely absorbing… [Doerr’s] attention to detail is magnificent’ Carmen Callil, Guardian

‘Doerr’s novel seems poised somewhere between the sublime and the twee. It very much lands on the right side of things, thanks to the author’s eye for detail and the suspenseful rhythm of his chapters — often only a page or two — which expertly cut back and forth in time. He can bring a scene to life in a single paragraph … Delicate and moving … the novel takes hold and will not easily let go’ Lidija Haas, The Times

‘Boy meets girl in Anthony Doerr’s hauntingly beautiful new book, but the circumstances are as elegantly circuitous as they can be’ Janet Maslin, The New York Times

‘I’m not sure I will read a better novel this year … Enthrallingly told, beautifully written and so emotionally plangent that some passages bring tears’ Amanda Vaill, Washington Post

‘This jewel of a story is put together like a vintage timepiece … Doerr’s writing and imagery are stunning. It’s been a while since a novel had me under its spell in this fashion.’ Abraham Verghese

‘“All the Light We Cannot See” is a dazzling, epic work of fiction. Anthony Doerr writes beautifully about the mythic and the intimate, about snails on beaches and armies on the move, about fate and love and history and those breathless, unbearable moments when they all come crashing together.’ Jess Walter

All stars
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This book more than met my expectations. The story was very moving and extremely well told. I would recommend it.

A well told Story

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Initially I nearly gave up on this as I found the narration jarring. This, however is not only a brilliant book, but the narrator perfectly suits the directions that the book spills into. I never thought my top five books could change, but this book has rammed into them. I have resisted it for years. It is such a beautiful story so full of adventure and connection. Never before have I read a book with such subtlety with its description of Nazi Germany. And the light approach, is more devastating by what it leaves hanging in the air. The ending is so open to interpretation but the voice of the narrator becomes the voice of the radio and you are taken so seamlessly back in time, across the globe. I am so sad for it to have finished. It’s felt like an experience.

Give it a chance

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This was a beautiful story, very moving but also a bit of a page turner. Mispronunciations by the narrator were a bit jarring though.

Super story!

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The story was very good, at times beautifully written and well told. The characters were very believable. However I felt there was too much jumping around the time periods which I felt was overdone and thus made the read more complex than necessary. I also thought the end of the book was rushed and after enjoying it up to Werners death, the ending left me feeling a little unfulfilled very sad and somewhat cheated. Having said that I would recommend it and it's a great choice for book clubs as there are plenty of issues to discuss.

Highly recommended but prepare to be challenged

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My second audiobook and I was absolutely blown away by the story and narration alike.

Amazing novel

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