Book Review: All the Light We Cannot See

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

(Disclaimer: This is neither a dystopian nor post-apocalyptic novel. In fact, it is not even science fiction. However, the novel is so good that I felt compelled to review it here. By the way, it just won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, so I'm not alone in my opinion!)

The title of All the Light We Cannot See is much like the novel itself: it is a simple picture with layers of meaning. The story unfolds in a series of short snapshots of the lives of various characters, primarily involving the protagonists Werner and Marie Laure, in the years leading up to the invasion of Saint-Malo, France during August of 1944. The genius of the vignettes and the title are the tight connection the author creates between the pair before they ever meet, many of the connections coming as a surprise to the reader. The writing is dense with metaphor, but not in a pretentious way. Mr. Doerr wrote the story over a ten year period and the writing reflects it, aged like a fine wine to a perfect blend of metaphor and flow. The ending may seem a bit anti-climactic when compared to the typical story arc of a novel, but it is necessary in order to send a meaningful message: that we are the sum of our experiences, and that every life leaves a mark on every other life, regardless of the brevity of the contact.

Highly recommended!