Page 31 - 2017-01-02

all the light we cannot see
Reviewed By Sue Blue
All the Light We Cannot See (2014), by Anthony Doerr, combines history, sci- ence, and mystery to tell the story of two teenagers who survive war-torn Europe during World War II. Told from the per- spec ves of a blind French girl and a Ger- man child-soldier who is an expert in radio transmission, the novel is rich in sensory details as well as revela ons about life dur- ing war me.
The novel opens on August 7, 1944 in the German- occupied French city of Saint-Malo two months af- ter D-Day, with the approach of Allied bombers. Lea ets fall from the sky warning French citizens to evacuate before the deadline passes and bombing begins. In short, alternating chapters, Doerr tells the stories of Marie-Laure and Werner, beginning when they were children, until their lives intersect brie y during the bombing in August 1944. Six-year-old Marie-Laure, the motherless daughter of the principal locksmith of the Museum National d'-Histoire Naturelle, is rapidly losing her eye sight and her clever and devoted father builds her a tiny, detailed model of their Paris neighborhood so that she can memorize the streets and buildings and be able to nd her way. Eventually, she and her father ee on foot across France to nd sanctuary with uncle Etienne in Saint-Malo, her father carrying the museum’s huge legendary diamond, the “Sea of Flames,” which is the focus of Hitler’s search for treasures.
Meanwhile, orphaned Werner and his younger sis- ter Jutta are growing up in the German mining town of Zollverein. He is a genius with radios as well as physics and math and is taken by Hitler’s army to be a soldier at the age of 14. Through Werner’s experiences, we learn of the horrors of being a teenage soldier-in-training and of the propaganda designed to make the boys killing machines. Work- ing with a German technical sciences professor, Werner is “intoxicated” by the technical possibili- ties and stories of magni cent victories. Yet the voice of his little sister remains with him: “Do you know what atrocities means?” and “Is it right to do something only because everyone else is doing it?” During the course of the novel, we meet some characters who act with extreme, unthinkable cru-
elty, and many others who demonstrate courage, loyalty, endurance, and love. We are reminded that incredible kindness and courage endure, some- times in the most unexpected times and places. When Marie-Laure nally meets Werner, she tells him that people told her she was brave when she lost her sight and when her father left, “But it is not bravery; I have no choice. I wake up and live my life. Don’t you do the same?” He replies, “Not in years. But today. Today maybe I did.” I found this exchange a poignant reminder that some people who do brave, generous things often don’t con- sider that they had any other choice. And in the nal few pages, Doerr reports on the lives of the survivors, right up through 2014.
This book was one of the New York Times Book
PHOTOGRAPHY BY VAL SCHOGER Review’s ten best books in 2014, Winner of the
Pulitzer Prize for Literature, and a National Book Award nalist.
ABOUT SUE BLUE
Susan Blue was an assistant professor of English at Gulf Coast State College for 25 years, teach- ing composition and literature. Today, she likes to restore old houses, paint both pictures and walls, read books, attempt to grow things in the yard, and travel with her husband, Rob. They have three chil- dren who live in Panama City, New York City, and Marina Del Rey, California.
BOOK REVIEW
www.PanamaCityLiving.com • January - February 2017 • 31