Book Review: Audio Re-read of All the Light We Cannot See - Highly Recommend

What a magnificent book! When I first read All the Light We Cannot See, I loved it so much that I purchased a copy on Amazon and sent it to my mother. The words flow like silk and the characters loom like specters (meaning they rise like ghosts become material, not in the sense of being threatening or menacing).

This time around, when my book club selected this as our April read, I sought the audio version of the book and listened while walking on my treadmill. The benefit of listening is that the words flow out more poetically when spoken aloud. It was, again, a magical experience and no less potent because it was the second time around.

Doerr skillfully weaves the stories of a German boy and a French girl across the years of World War II until they collide in one riveting scene. Werner Pfennig is a deeply intelligent boy with a knack for fixing radios (something very handy to the German cause). Marie-Laure is the blind daughter of a museum key master. When the war breaks out, the father and daughter flee Paris with one of the museum's most valuable possessions. Since the museum produced three duplicates, they cannot know if they carry the valuable piece but one German Commandant is after the real stone.

The plot thickens and thickens, causing the reader to remain riveted in the pages of the book. I read until 2 a.m. when I read the book physically the first time around. Plus, the prose is simply stunning. The book took ten years to write. You can tell the author honed and fine-tuned the words until they shimmered like the jewel he described (The Sea of Flames), a marvelous thing to behold.

The book provided great fodder for thought, addressing the futility and brutality of war, the transience of life, and the importance of love and kindness. I thought about the importance of fully living, the strength of the family bonds, and the misplaced value we often put on things over people. I questioned of the impact of fate or destiny. Indeed, I could sit and think about this novel for hours. I expect a great discussion on the night of our book club. It truly is a must-read!