All the Light we Cannot See - a book review

I'm kicking myself for not getting a photo of the actual physical book and doing a photo shoot with Nadi with the book sitting next to her as has been tradition with all the books I have read in the past here.

But I'll find a cute photo of her and put it up here at the end anyway because that seems to make everyone and me very happy. Nadi is indifferent to the process and knows a treat is coming afterwards so she'll do whatever I want.

I encountered this book because a local friend of mine has an extensive library and is a collector. I used to collect books but about 7 years ago I determined that I want my life to fit inside of two suitcases and a dog carrier and therefore, books are not something that I collect anymore. I have a Kindle, but I do prefer an actual physical book over an E-book. It's lucky that I have this local friend because as long as I am very careful with how I treat the books, he doesn't mind letting me borrow them at all.

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When he handed me this book the first thing that went into my mind was "I think I have heard of this before." It turns out that Netflix has already turned it into a film or series but thankfully I have not seen it yet and that is a good thing because this book is one of the most digestible books that I have ever read and I am really happy that he passed it on to me.

This book is about World War 2 but told from the perspective of two main characters: One is a French child whose land gets occupied by Germany, and the other is at the beginning a German child, who eventually grows up and is thrust in the role of being a soldier for the Nazi party.

This book isn't preachy but instead presents a humanitarian point of view about how it isn't really that great to be on EITHER side of this sort of this or any other armed conflict.

We are treated to two different coming of age stories and how even though history has long-since determined who was wrong and who was right as far as the overall war is concerned, that the individual people involved were once just innocents that were simply trying to get on with their lives as best they could.

The book has no agenda. It doesn't attempt to vilify the Nazis any more than they already have been, nor does it attempt to paint a picture of how innocent and pure the occupied Allies were at that time. It simply presents a picture of what it might have been like to have been a part of either side. It wasn't glory and reward for anyone involved, but rather, suffering and a feeling of loss that they are surrounded by at all times in a situation that is completely beyond their control.

There is a bit of mysticism in there and I wont spoil what that is but still, it is a very interesting element of the story that is kind of one of the central ideas that drives the actions of many of the characters involved in it.

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I don't mind telling you this because it is revealed in the first chapter and is no doubt a major part of the trailer for the series of which I have seen neither: One of the main young characters becomes blind at a very young age and therefore, the horrors of the war take on a completely different way about them because she doesn't have much of a concept of violence at all since she has literally never seen it.

The characters in the book are total fiction, although the events and locations that are described in the story are real and many of the actions or military movements that happen in the book are real to life as they happened in WW2.

The main thing that I really enjoyed about this book is something that I really enjoy about almost any book and that is the chapter lengths. I don't mind a book that is 500 pages long but I do mind a book that has chapters that are what I consider to be "too long." I think the longest chapter that exists in this book might have been about 10 pages and for me, this is just perfect. I find it so much easier to follow a story when I don't have to read 19,000 words in a row to get to a stopping point. Maybe that is just my short attention span coming to the foreground there but for whatever reason, I really enjoy books that are written this way.

Also, every chapter has a purpose. We aren't introduced to minor character only to have them disappear entirely without explanation and therefore everyone that we meet in the book has a part to play in the story. The story ends just like real history did, but instead of just preaching that the Axis were BAD! we are treated to the perspective of what it would have been like to be involved in this conflict from the perspective of many people who have no interest in what their leaders' overall goals are. The lost innocence of youth is quite shocking and it kind of gives you an idea of what it might have been like to be a child playing with your toys one week, and then hiding in a bunker with no access to food and water the next.

While the physical size of this book might be intimidating to some people that are afraid of long books (I'm one of those people), trust me, you will blaze through this book and I spent many nights staying up later than I probably should simply because I wanted to read "just one more chapter."

One of the main places that I would normally read my book is up in the gym that is on the top floor of my building and because of the short chapter lengths it was perfect for this. I would do a weight lifting set, then sit down and read a 2 or 3 page chapter and do it again. All the while Nadi was over on her gym bed that is just a towel that I bring up there with me. Why she chose the treadmill as her lying down point of choice remains a mystery.

All the Light We Cannot See is one of the best books I have ever read in my life and if you have the ability to get your hands on it, I highly suggest that you read it. If you live in North America you have a library there and this means you can get it for the grand price of $0.

If you already have read this book, I would be particularly interested in hearing your thoughts about it.