really liked the book, but I was disappointed with the ending. It just kind of fizzled for me ( )

Saw the miniseries first and reading the book after. Beautiful and so rich. Loved this. ( )

Dieses Buch lag nun schon relativ lange auf meinem SUB und ich bin froh, es endlich gelesen zu haben.

Die beiden parallelen Handlungsstränge um Marie-Laure und Werner, die sich gegen Ende des Krieges in Saint-Malo treffen, haben mir ziemlich gut gefallen. Deutlich verzichtbar war für mich der dritte Handlungsstrang, der mich doch ein wenig zu sehr an das Klischee des bösen Nazis auf der Suche nach einem mythischen Gegenstand erinnert hat (das kennen wir alle schon von Indiana Jones und ohne Harrison Ford macht es weniger Spaß).

Aber die Sprache, die vielen kleinen Ideen am Rande, die Schilderung, wie Marie trotz ihrer Blindheit den Alltag meistert, das alles hat mich ungemein beeindruckt, auch wenn ich mich erst daran gewöhnen musste, in einem Roman verschiedene Zeitebenen im Wechsel zu haben, die so nahe beieinander liegen wie hier. Und sehr gelungen fand ich auch den Teil des Buches, der die Geschichten nach dem Krieg abrundete.

J ( )

Was tempted to rate this 5 stars based on my main criteria -- engaging, readable, wonderfully rich language, and riveting. And also, would I recommend the book to others? Yes!

I finally decided on 4 stars because of the blind girl who I certainly rooted for, but I never really got to know. She seemed like a passive victim throughout, even though she went for bread (a big risk), and took some other big risks toward the end. Still, her character seemed flat.

For me, Werner was a more interesting character since he had some difficult moral issues to face; he sometimes hesitated, as any boy would, but eventually came through in the end. So I enjoyed his character arc -- the way he finally took charge of his actions. ( )

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr transported me into World War II in a way I didn't expect by showing me the war through the experiences of two characters as they were pulled into circumstances beyond their control by their abilities and their inabilities. Doerr creates a fictional world based on a real world event that pushes the reader to cheer when they don't want to and jeer when they don't want to because his characters are so easy to identify with. He humanizes people and shows how easily people can be manipulated to do things they find unimaginable and the all too real effects from committing acts that go against one's conscience. Doerr writes in a way that makes it easy to suspend one's disbelief in areas where the story takes on fantastical airs. His characters are so real, I hurt with them, laughed with them, and wished with them even as I grew frustrated with them, admonished them, and pushed them to make different decisions. All through All the Light We Cannot See is the tapestry of the effects of war that are visited upon peoples and places for generation upon generation. All the Light We Cannot See reveals its many layers through the characters interactions and the threat looming in the distance but always drawing nearer. ( )