Today I'm reviewing an audiobook that I actually finished more than a month ago...yep, it's February and I'm already behind with my reviews! This title was actually discussed in book club early January, so that tells you how long ago I finished this book. I probably would have never read this book otherwise, but I'm glad that I did. Read on to find out what I thought of All The Light We Cannot See written by the Pulitzer Prize winning, and highly acclaimed author Anthony Doer
Publisher: Scribner | Simon & Schuster Audio
Release Date: May 6, 2014
Format: Audio MP3
Pages: Hardcover: 530 pgs | Audio Length: Approx 16 hours
Narrators: Zach Appelman
Source: Local Library via Overdrive
Genre: Historical Fiction
Review Date: February 3, 2016
Rating: 4 bookmarks
Synopsis: Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.
In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.
Release Date: May 6, 2014
Format: Audio MP3
Pages: Hardcover: 530 pgs | Audio Length: Approx 16 hours
Narrators: Zach Appelman
Source: Local Library via Overdrive
Genre: Historical Fiction
Review Date: February 3, 2016
Rating: 4 bookmarks
Synopsis: Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.
In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.
The setting is World War 2 and the alternating points of view are of Werner, a young boy in the Nazi Party, and Marie-Laure, a blind French girl living with her father. The story is told in a linear format and there are many, many chapters, but they are very short, which I believe helps the the pacing of the story.
We start off learning about Marie-Laure's blindness and how her father empowers her despite her disability. We also experience Werner's intelligence at a young age, and that he was placed into a Hitler Youth academy. We follow them both through the years until their lives cross for one brief moment in time. We the reader experience all the lows that both characters endure as they grow up. Unfortunately there weren't many highs among all the lows, but that's the product of the things going on during that time.
Marie-Laure's story was so amazing and inspiring. Werner also had an interesting story, but I wouldn't have minded if the whole book was about Marie-Laure's experience. I love that we even got a glace into her future to see how things turned out for her, which was very satisfying.
I understand fully why this author won the Pulitzer. He's writing style is easy flowing and his abilities to world build are stellar. Top the wealth of details with well developed characters and bravo, a good read. Balancing all of the crucial elements needed for a cohesive story is not done easily, but Doerr does it well.
This was indeed a long book, which makes for a lot of audiobook listing time. Luckily the plot starts moving early on and quickly, so it doesn't feel like you're listening for as many hours as your are. It probably also helped that I listened with the speed set at 2x. The audiobook narrator, Zach Appelman was the perfect match for this story. He easily embodied the all of the characters and added value to the experience.
As I mentioned earlier this was book club read for me. I think this is a perfect choice for book club because there's lots to talk about. We could have talked for an hour only on the character development and the actions that these characters. So if you're looking for a recommendation to read for book club, this should be on your list.
Before you go, check out a few of my favorite quotes.
“Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever.”
“A real diamond is never perfect.”
Happy Reading & Listening,
~Tamara
I understand fully why this author won the Pulitzer. He's writing style is easy flowing and his abilities to world build are stellar. Top the wealth of details with well developed characters and bravo, a good read. Balancing all of the crucial elements needed for a cohesive story is not done easily, but Doerr does it well.
This was indeed a long book, which makes for a lot of audiobook listing time. Luckily the plot starts moving early on and quickly, so it doesn't feel like you're listening for as many hours as your are. It probably also helped that I listened with the speed set at 2x. The audiobook narrator, Zach Appelman was the perfect match for this story. He easily embodied the all of the characters and added value to the experience.
As I mentioned earlier this was book club read for me. I think this is a perfect choice for book club because there's lots to talk about. We could have talked for an hour only on the character development and the actions that these characters. So if you're looking for a recommendation to read for book club, this should be on your list.
Before you go, check out a few of my favorite quotes.
“Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever.”
“A real diamond is never perfect.”
Happy Reading & Listening,
~Tamara
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