In All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr orchestrates a heartbreaking story about the consequences of war. His poetic style successfully creates an atmosphere that is both dark and lucid at the same time. Few writers have the ability to make beautiful, nostalgic reflections about life in a time of war, but he's able to quite easily.
At times it felt like he was trying a bit too hard to be profound, especially near the end, where every sentence seemed like a disjointed statement about the despair of the characters. It took the whole length of the novel for the two main characters to finally meet, and when they did it was only for about 20 pages. You have Werner, an intelligent German boy interested in radios, who feels totally out of place after he's forced to serve for the Nazis. And Marie-Laure, a blind French girl who lives with an uncle that candidly broadcasts important information across the English Channel to Britain. The focus on radio-waves alludes to the title of the novel; Marie-Laure can only perceive forms of light that are undetected by the eyes.
If you're looking for adventure and action, this isn't the book to read. If you're looking for deep insights and descriptions, interesting character studies that jump through time, and an ending that wasn't written for Hollywood, then this is way up your alley. I was disappointed that Doerr chose to use some of the narrative from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and even went so far as to spoil the ending. He'd already gotten me interested in reading it, so why he did he have to synchronize its ending with his own? It took away from some of the impressiveness I'd had leading up the end, and may have affected my rating of the book. Granted, if I had already read 20,00 Leagues there wouldn't be any complaints from me, and probably would have made the book even better.
No comments:
Post a Comment