Tea & A Good Book Brewing- Installment 2, All The Light We Cannot See
It's Tuesday already!
I certainly intend to post on days other than Tuesdays and on subjects other than books, but this past week swept by and between doing the necessary work to keep the house afloat and using our home only as a bed & breakfast over the weekend as we were away so much, I didn't have extra time for writing, even though there are various things waiting in the wings that I would enjoy telling you about!
I thought I would go back & forth between adult & children's books, so this week I will review a book I just finished on Sunday. The book was borrowed through the library on my kindle and I finished reading it in the car while Wesley & I were on our way to Blacksburg, VA for the funeral of his great uncle.
Interestingly enough, the book (a work of fiction) was written about the World War 2 era- and Wesley's great-uncle was a World War 2 veteran.
All the Light We Cannot See, written by Anthony Doerr, is amazing. Really amazing. And I don't think you would have to be intrigued with this particular time in history to find it so. I love powerful writing and the author of this book has a particular style that suited me perfectly. His descriptions and word pictures are works of art. I found myself re-reading phrases just to better take it all in, as you might pour over a painting in order to catch all the details. The book has many layers to ponder & explore and I am already considering a second reading, which is a rarity for me!
The book starts out in 1944 with the opening scenes in Paris, France. After several brief chapters, the book skips back in time 10 years to 1934. From there the story yo-yos back and forth, following the two main protagonists- one of them a blind girl living in France and the other an orphan boy being raised in Germany and eventually caught up in the Nazi regime.
You can guess that eventually these two people's paths cross, and they do, but the ending really is not the one you might expect (or wish for!)
While there are definitely scenes of cruelty and deprivation, this story is not about the Holocaust, and while Jews and prisoners of war are mentioned, the main story line surrounds a Parisian and a German growing up on opposite sides of a war in devastating times. Woven into the story is a fascinating element involving a priceless diamond called the Sea of Flames, which adds some intrigue to the story without being too hair-raising (just enough to keep the pages turning!)
The author makes use of rather short chapters (some only a page or two) to go back and forth between the Parisian & the German, as well as to go back & forth between the "present" and the "past." This can be confusing if you don't keep track of the dates, but it made it nice to read in shorter segments- which is often how I manage to get through a book! And again- the author's fascinating way with words makes the short chapters all the more effective.
It would seem that in All The Light We Cannot See, the author uses a blind girl to illustrate that the way we see & relate to the world around us has more to do with what's in our hearts than with our physical eyesight. The worst kind of blindness comes from a dark heart.
As I was reading this book about a past world crisis, I was feeling troubled over current world affairs and epidemics. There is darkness everywhere and something to fear at every corner.
I only find peace when I turn my face toward Jesus.
He is the answer to our darkness.
He is the Light we all can see.
I certainly intend to post on days other than Tuesdays and on subjects other than books, but this past week swept by and between doing the necessary work to keep the house afloat and using our home only as a bed & breakfast over the weekend as we were away so much, I didn't have extra time for writing, even though there are various things waiting in the wings that I would enjoy telling you about!
I thought I would go back & forth between adult & children's books, so this week I will review a book I just finished on Sunday. The book was borrowed through the library on my kindle and I finished reading it in the car while Wesley & I were on our way to Blacksburg, VA for the funeral of his great uncle.
Interestingly enough, the book (a work of fiction) was written about the World War 2 era- and Wesley's great-uncle was a World War 2 veteran.
All the Light We Cannot See, written by Anthony Doerr, is amazing. Really amazing. And I don't think you would have to be intrigued with this particular time in history to find it so. I love powerful writing and the author of this book has a particular style that suited me perfectly. His descriptions and word pictures are works of art. I found myself re-reading phrases just to better take it all in, as you might pour over a painting in order to catch all the details. The book has many layers to ponder & explore and I am already considering a second reading, which is a rarity for me!
The book starts out in 1944 with the opening scenes in Paris, France. After several brief chapters, the book skips back in time 10 years to 1934. From there the story yo-yos back and forth, following the two main protagonists- one of them a blind girl living in France and the other an orphan boy being raised in Germany and eventually caught up in the Nazi regime.
You can guess that eventually these two people's paths cross, and they do, but the ending really is not the one you might expect (or wish for!)
While there are definitely scenes of cruelty and deprivation, this story is not about the Holocaust, and while Jews and prisoners of war are mentioned, the main story line surrounds a Parisian and a German growing up on opposite sides of a war in devastating times. Woven into the story is a fascinating element involving a priceless diamond called the Sea of Flames, which adds some intrigue to the story without being too hair-raising (just enough to keep the pages turning!)
The author makes use of rather short chapters (some only a page or two) to go back and forth between the Parisian & the German, as well as to go back & forth between the "present" and the "past." This can be confusing if you don't keep track of the dates, but it made it nice to read in shorter segments- which is often how I manage to get through a book! And again- the author's fascinating way with words makes the short chapters all the more effective.
There are some very interesting characters which play an important part in the story and at the end of the book the author gives us a glimpse of where some of them ended up. The life of Marie-Laure (the Parisian) is actually chronicled up to the year 2014, although with some large gaps in the timeline! This book is a new release and a New York Times Bestseller. I waited quite awhile for it to become available in an ebook format and when I checked into borrowing a paper copy just yesterday through our library, there were 40-some holds on the book (although they do have 13 copies!)
It would seem that in All The Light We Cannot See, the author uses a blind girl to illustrate that the way we see & relate to the world around us has more to do with what's in our hearts than with our physical eyesight. The worst kind of blindness comes from a dark heart.
As I was reading this book about a past world crisis, I was feeling troubled over current world affairs and epidemics. There is darkness everywhere and something to fear at every corner.
I only find peace when I turn my face toward Jesus.
He is the answer to our darkness.
He is the Light we all can see.
This sounds wonderful! I'll have to put it on my list to read.
ReplyDelete