Our Book Review: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (2014)

Why we read it: On lists of best books of 2014, won Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for 2014

Would we recommend it: Yes

Her review: Occasionally, there comes a book that reads more like poetry than fiction. This is one of those books.

I was hesitant to write this review as what can I say that everyone hasn’t said?  But both the simplicity of the story, the lyricism of the language, the poignancy of the characters is terrifically moving.  It doesn’t give in to easy expectations and the even-handedness of the plot makes big things seem huge, huge things seem commonplace. The world is a scale model much like what Marie-Laure’s father makes for her and it is beautiful.

His review: As this book is written in short chapters, I read it slowly, enjoying the intricate construction of each character. Novels that are able to blend together poetic descriptions, deep character depictions, and an ambitious narrative structure are rare. This novel pulls it off beautifully. I was reminded of Life After Life by Kate Atkinson as I read Doerr’s novel, as the narrative moved across time and across characters.

The plot of this novel surrounds a famed jewel, hidden and sought by various characters. But in many ways, that jewels becomes the mcguffin to bring these characters together, as at the end the story of the jewel is not as relevant as the lives brought together by it. Characters are built slowly and when they converge, the meeting is not forced but feels appropriate for this war-torn world.

I was disappointed by the final chapters and leap forward in time. It felt, like the jewel, a bit lost in direction in comparison to the rest of the novel. I wanted something more—not drama or exposition, but something that revealed more about these characters. But this is a small quibble. This is definitely a book worthy of the awards, and one that rewards.