Book Cover
POINTS TO REMEMBER
BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
Doerr, A. (2014). All the light we cannot see. New York, NY/USA: Scribner.
PAGES/AUDIO BOOK TIME
531/16 hours
PURCHASING OPTIONS
Hardcover $21.60
Paperback $13.87
Paperback $13.87
NOOK $12.99
Audiobook $19.99
Audiobook $19.99
Kindle $12.99
Hardcover $11.42
Hardcover $11.42
Paperback $13.60
Audio CD $15.10
ANNOTATION
Marie-Laure and Werner fight to survive the devastation and destruction of Nazi occupied France.
SUMMARY *Spoiler Alert*
Marie-Laure LeBlanc is a blind french girl living with her father in Paris. Daniel LeBlance is the keeper of the keys at the National Museum of Natural History. In 1940 they are thrust into the war consuming Europe when Nazi Germany defeats France and comes to occupy Paris. Marie-Laure and her father flee to the coastal town of Saint Malo to the home of her Uncle Etienne, a veteran of WW l and an extremely reclusive man who hasn't stepped outside in years. They carry with them a secret that has been entrusted to Daniel LeBlanc at great personal risk-to keep the legendary diamond called the sea of flames from falling into the hands of the Germans. There Marie-Laure befriends Madame Manec, a maid in her uncle's house, who is determined to fight the Germans in any way possible.
Werner Pfennig and his sister, Jutta, are orphans who live in an orphanage in the coal mining town of Zollverein, Germany run by the kind Frau Elena-a native french woman. Werner has a proclivity toward radios and can fix any radio given to him. He and his sister find the remnants of a broken radio, repair it, and stay up late into the early hours of the morning listening to a broadcast of a french man teaching on topics of science. All orphans, upon their 18th birthday, are sent to work in the mines. Werner, however, finds his way out when he is asked to fix a Nazi soldier's, Rudolph Siedler, radio. When he successfully repairs the radio he is then presented with an offer to attend the National Political Institute of Education. This is the opportunity of a lifetime for Werner-or so he thinks.
In 1944, after years of occupation, her father being sent to and dying in a prison camp in Germany, the death of Madame Manec, and working with her uncle, Etienne, to illegally broadcast codes to other rebels using his hidden radio transmitter, Marie-Laure finds herself alone in her uncle's 6-story house while the city is being bombed by the Allied forces. Werner converges on Saint Malo with the assignment to hunt down people illegally transmitting radio broadcasts and kill them. However, when he hears the broadcast coming from Etienne he finds he cannot turn them in. It is the broadcast he and his sister, Jutta, used to listen to when they were younger.
Reinhold von Rumpel, a major in the German army, is an expert mineralist, and he is hunting the sea of flames diamond. He has successfully tracked it to Saint Malo and figures out that it is in the house of Etienne LeBlanc. He is bent on finding it before the malignant tumors throughout his body take his in the life in the hopes that the legends are true that it has healing powers. In 1944, after the bombings have ceased for a short period, he enters Etienne's house with the determination to find it. Marie-Laure, who is in possession of the diamond, hides in the attic, whose door is hidden behind a large wardrobe with a secret door in the back. She uses the radio transmitter to send a call for help with the hope that someone will hear it and come.
Werner, who has been trapped under a pile of rubble for days, hears Marie-Laure's call for help. He escapes from the rubble and finds the home where the transmission is coming from. He confronts von Rumpel, kills him, and rescues Marie-Laure from the attic. He helps her escape the city before the bombing starts up again, and then turns himself into the Allied forces. After a few days he becomes sick from drinking contaminated water. As he leaves the medical tent in delusional sickness, he steps on a land mine and is killed.
Jutta, Frau Elena, and a few remaining girls from the orphanages have been moved to Berlin to work in factories. In 1945 the Allied forces march into Berlin and occupy it. Jutta has endured near starvation and being captured and raped by Russian soldiers. She learns of her brother's death, and she tries to live a life forgetting the trauma of the war. Marie-Laure becomes a member of the National Museum of Natural History and lives in the same apartment her and her father lived in before the war in Paris. She has one daughter, and in 2014 she sits peacefully with her grandson reflecting on those she lost and loved.
Marie-Laure and Werner fight to survive the devastation and destruction of Nazi occupied France.
SUMMARY *Spoiler Alert*
Marie-Laure LeBlanc is a blind french girl living with her father in Paris. Daniel LeBlance is the keeper of the keys at the National Museum of Natural History. In 1940 they are thrust into the war consuming Europe when Nazi Germany defeats France and comes to occupy Paris. Marie-Laure and her father flee to the coastal town of Saint Malo to the home of her Uncle Etienne, a veteran of WW l and an extremely reclusive man who hasn't stepped outside in years. They carry with them a secret that has been entrusted to Daniel LeBlanc at great personal risk-to keep the legendary diamond called the sea of flames from falling into the hands of the Germans. There Marie-Laure befriends Madame Manec, a maid in her uncle's house, who is determined to fight the Germans in any way possible.
Werner Pfennig and his sister, Jutta, are orphans who live in an orphanage in the coal mining town of Zollverein, Germany run by the kind Frau Elena-a native french woman. Werner has a proclivity toward radios and can fix any radio given to him. He and his sister find the remnants of a broken radio, repair it, and stay up late into the early hours of the morning listening to a broadcast of a french man teaching on topics of science. All orphans, upon their 18th birthday, are sent to work in the mines. Werner, however, finds his way out when he is asked to fix a Nazi soldier's, Rudolph Siedler, radio. When he successfully repairs the radio he is then presented with an offer to attend the National Political Institute of Education. This is the opportunity of a lifetime for Werner-or so he thinks.
In 1944, after years of occupation, her father being sent to and dying in a prison camp in Germany, the death of Madame Manec, and working with her uncle, Etienne, to illegally broadcast codes to other rebels using his hidden radio transmitter, Marie-Laure finds herself alone in her uncle's 6-story house while the city is being bombed by the Allied forces. Werner converges on Saint Malo with the assignment to hunt down people illegally transmitting radio broadcasts and kill them. However, when he hears the broadcast coming from Etienne he finds he cannot turn them in. It is the broadcast he and his sister, Jutta, used to listen to when they were younger.
Reinhold von Rumpel, a major in the German army, is an expert mineralist, and he is hunting the sea of flames diamond. He has successfully tracked it to Saint Malo and figures out that it is in the house of Etienne LeBlanc. He is bent on finding it before the malignant tumors throughout his body take his in the life in the hopes that the legends are true that it has healing powers. In 1944, after the bombings have ceased for a short period, he enters Etienne's house with the determination to find it. Marie-Laure, who is in possession of the diamond, hides in the attic, whose door is hidden behind a large wardrobe with a secret door in the back. She uses the radio transmitter to send a call for help with the hope that someone will hear it and come.
Werner, who has been trapped under a pile of rubble for days, hears Marie-Laure's call for help. He escapes from the rubble and finds the home where the transmission is coming from. He confronts von Rumpel, kills him, and rescues Marie-Laure from the attic. He helps her escape the city before the bombing starts up again, and then turns himself into the Allied forces. After a few days he becomes sick from drinking contaminated water. As he leaves the medical tent in delusional sickness, he steps on a land mine and is killed.
Jutta, Frau Elena, and a few remaining girls from the orphanages have been moved to Berlin to work in factories. In 1945 the Allied forces march into Berlin and occupy it. Jutta has endured near starvation and being captured and raped by Russian soldiers. She learns of her brother's death, and she tries to live a life forgetting the trauma of the war. Marie-Laure becomes a member of the National Museum of Natural History and lives in the same apartment her and her father lived in before the war in Paris. She has one daughter, and in 2014 she sits peacefully with her grandson reflecting on those she lost and loved.
MY REVIEW
Anthony Doerr has done a rare thing. He has created an orchestra of words. His characters are more than believable. They could quite easily be real people who we've been given the extraordinary opportunity to witness their stories. The desperate, egotistical Reinhold von Rumpel; the unforgivable, cruel Bastion; the precocious, quiet Werner, the courageous, unassuming Marie-laure; a reclusive uncle; a maid who defies even her master to resist the occupation in any way she can.
Doerr creates a story that will go down in the annals of time to be revered as one of the greatest tales of the human spirit, our resilience, and that good can shine through even the darkest of times.
I listened to the audio recording of the book narrated by Zach Appelman. The audio recording is 16 hours, and although it is long, the melancholic tone and compelling way in which Zach Appelman translates the tension the characters experience is exquisite.
RATING
Quality: Gold
Popularity: Diamond
GENRE & SUB GENRES
Anthony Doerr has done a rare thing. He has created an orchestra of words. His characters are more than believable. They could quite easily be real people who we've been given the extraordinary opportunity to witness their stories. The desperate, egotistical Reinhold von Rumpel; the unforgivable, cruel Bastion; the precocious, quiet Werner, the courageous, unassuming Marie-laure; a reclusive uncle; a maid who defies even her master to resist the occupation in any way she can.
Doerr creates a story that will go down in the annals of time to be revered as one of the greatest tales of the human spirit, our resilience, and that good can shine through even the darkest of times.
I listened to the audio recording of the book narrated by Zach Appelman. The audio recording is 16 hours, and although it is long, the melancholic tone and compelling way in which Zach Appelman translates the tension the characters experience is exquisite.
RATING
Quality: Gold
Popularity: Diamond
GENRE & SUB GENRES
Historical Fiction
WW ll Fiction
WW ll Fiction
APPEALING FACTORS
This book offers personal insight into the plight of the German occupation of France by following Marie-Laure, a young blind woman. It also follows the story of a young man who is sent to become a soldier of the Nazi army but soon finds himself conflicted with loyalty to country and party and what her feels is right.
BOOKTALKING
Despite the evil around us we can fight for what is right.
The book goes back and forth for the majority of the story instead of being placed in chronological order. Did you find this made it harder to keep track of characters and events? If so, how would you prefer the order of events be placed in?
What is the significance of the symbolism of Madame Manec's analogy of the boiling frog?
The book is filled with situations of having to decide between doing what is right and what is wrong. The line between these choices aren't always clear. What do the characters of the story teach us about facing tough situations of choosing right from wrong and deciding which is which?
Frederick tells Werner his problem is that he still believes his life still belongs to himself. However, Frederick repeatedly defies the cruel and evil actions of the Nazis and his superiors. What do you think Frederick meant when he said this to Werner?
REVIEWS
This book offers personal insight into the plight of the German occupation of France by following Marie-Laure, a young blind woman. It also follows the story of a young man who is sent to become a soldier of the Nazi army but soon finds himself conflicted with loyalty to country and party and what her feels is right.
BOOKTALKING
Despite the evil around us we can fight for what is right.
If we live in apathy and complacently we can be lulled into allowing our free will and rights to be taken.
The historical significance of the book is a reminder that we never forget what has happened. This book, though fictional, the book provides an opportunity to learn the hardship the french citizens experienced. It also shows that we can't assume that someone is evil just because the majority of the group is just like Werner.
Frederick was the mentor in Werner heroic journey. His refusing to pour water on the Polish prisoner and being beaten to the point of sustaining sever brain damage was a defining experience for Werner and had an influencing power when he decided to do the right thing in Saint Malo.
The trauma that Werner carries with him after the murder of the Viennese girl is symbolic for the trauma that millions experienced during the war.
Reinhold von Rumpel's comparing Poland to France is an indication of Nazi idealism of eugenics and their opinion of the Polish people who were seen as an inferior species of human-just like the Jews, Slovaks,Czechs, and Russians.
DISCUSSION POINTS
Did you find the regular switching between character perspectives insightful or distracting?
The book goes back and forth for the majority of the story instead of being placed in chronological order. Did you find this made it harder to keep track of characters and events? If so, how would you prefer the order of events be placed in?
What is the significance of the symbolism of Madame Manec's analogy of the boiling frog?
The book is filled with situations of having to decide between doing what is right and what is wrong. The line between these choices aren't always clear. What do the characters of the story teach us about facing tough situations of choosing right from wrong and deciding which is which?
Frederick tells Werner his problem is that he still believes his life still belongs to himself. However, Frederick repeatedly defies the cruel and evil actions of the Nazis and his superiors. What do you think Frederick meant when he said this to Werner?
WHY THIS BOOK?
I have always been drawn toward historical fiction and specifically WW ll era books. I have not read much on the war in France, and this book gave me the opportunity to learn about a part of the war I knew little about.
THE AUTHOR
SIMILAR TITLES
In the Wolf's Mouth by Adams Foulds
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Jacob's Oath by Martin Fletcher
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Jacob's Oath by Martin Fletcher
AWARDS
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2015
Audie Award for Fiction 2015
ALA Alex Award 2015
Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction Runner-up 2015
Ohioana Book Award for Fiction 2015
Andrew Carnegie Award for Fiction 2015
Idaho Book of the Year 2014
National Book Award Finalist for Fiction 2014
Goodreads Choice Award for Historical Fiction 2014
International DUBLIN Literary Award Nominee 2016
POINTS TO REMEMBER
- German Occupied France
- Saint Malo
- The Sea of Flames Diamond
Comments
Post a Comment