All the Light We Cannot See: Book Review

 

Protecting Humanity and Living Through War

I enjoyed this book for its rich descriptions of the war mindset and the loss of place that pervaded the world during this time. At its core, it’s a story of how beauty, truth and humanity must be protected in dangerous times. War’s anti-human nature demands an all-consuming drive toward a common goal. World War II isn’t unique in this, but because of the Nazi push toward control it feels that way. All the Light We Cannot See shows humanity as the hidden, protected thing we value most.

Setting

The author Anthony Doerr does this in a few ways. First, in the person of Marie-Laure and her position as a protected store of value. Second in the character of Werner, the orphan with a technical mind that impresses a senior level Nazi officer.

We know about the ugliness of war, it’s everywhere in the bombed cities and starving citizens. But also the beautiful and transcendent exist in the midst of it. It’s never completely destroyed despite the best efforts of conflict. Beauty must be kept hidden though. It’s too important to treat casually.

Such is the story of the Sea of Flames diamond from the museum where Marie-Laure’s father (Daniel) works as a locksmith. He’s detailed to a fault and skilled at hiding small objects in models he builds. He does this for his daughter, who is blind, and prides herself on unlocking the secret hiding spot for trinkets. He creates miniatures of the city she lives in, first Paris and then Saint Malo. It’s a practical game designed to teach her how to find her way by counting drains in the street.

Separation

They are forced to flee Paris as the Germans threaten to take over the city. They hide out with her uncle, Daniel’s brother Etienne, in the coastal city of Saint Malo in France. He’s a recluse who hasn’t stepped outside his mansion since the Great War. He was a radio broadcaster who sent signals across the country with his massive transmitter. Etienne is a picture of the loss and devastation of war. His broadcasts are meant to communicate with his brother who was killed in the Great War. “…I thought that if I made the broadcast powerful enough, my brother would hear me. That I could bring him some peace, protect him as he had always protected me.” (page 161).

Etienne’s radio becomes a transmitter for the French resistance despite his initial reluctance to have any part of it.

Werner and Jutta are brother and sister at an orphanage in Germany who hear the educational broadcasts Etienne created before the war. Werner is an orphan in Germany with a gift for assembling radios and fixing broken parts. It’s a skill he parlays into a position at a school for kids from connected families in the third Reich. The school prepares kids for battle and separates the soft kids from the tough. It’s here that he again, distinguishes himself as an intelligent pupil and gets special placement with an officer who devices a way to triangulate radio transmission and find the location. 

Through Werner’s school experience he sees the cruelty of a wartime footing. The sensitive souls are beaten in submission by the pliable. It’s a necessary transition that turns Werner’s stomach, for a while. His sister Jutta’s voice, the voice of conscience against the Nazi regime.

Arrangement

The book was written by Anthony Doerr in 2014. He got the idea to set the story in Saint-Malo (France) after visiting the city and marveling at how, despite its drastic reconstruction since the war, it still looked ancient. He alternates characters throughout and uses short chapters to keep the reader engaged. I don’t know why this works better than long chapters but it seems to. The story jumps forward and backward a little bit, but never gets confusing. We instinctively understand the timeline and the characters’ places in it. But there is pain, loss and unanswered questions. 

We all like a tidy wrap up with novels but we don’t get always get them. Such is the case in war. It’s grief, acceptance and then new beginnings. Doerr wants us to feel the unfairness and the uncertainty of life on a daily basis.

Characters

The museum that Daniel and Marie-Laure in Paris sent one courier with the famous Sea of Flames diamond to hide it from the Nazi treasure hunters. They also sent multiple fakes. The idea being, no courier is sure which of them carries the real thing. But all are required to hide it. Von Rumpel is the Nazi collector who searches for the diamond after failing to get it from the museum in Paris. He represents the banality of evil and how greed destroys the soul. He's not inherently evil, he loves his family but becomes obsessed in his pursuit and it overtakes him.  

Another character that undergoes a significant change is Frederick, a student at the school Werner attends. He’s a gentle soul with the mind of a scientist. School is very difficult for him. He’s not as athletic, or brutal as the others. Although he is pragmatic about the difficulty, the training is designed to create warriors not scientists. He’s not up to it and the kids are merciless toward him. His character represents the death of innocence and wonder. Only cold killers are allowed to go forward. If you’ve seen Full Metal Jacket, you’ll think of Vincent D’Onofrio’s Private Pyle.

Conclusion

All the light's theme is the connection we seek to those around us, and how we survive without becoming monsters. The “light” we can’t see is about the humanity that animates all people. We can’t see it in war. Our objectives are to survive and protect. In the same Marie-Laure can’t literally see, war closes off our ability to see beauty and worth in others. It closes off our ability to explore for the sake of learning about the natural world. What kind of life would Werner lead if not for the school and the war? But even in the darkness, light gets through. Marie-Laure still reads her braille books and learns about radios from her uncle and problem-solving skills from her father. She represents the light of humanity even without the ability to see.

It's over 500 pages but reads very quick. I recommend it with the caveat that it’s quite dark in spots. Never gratuitous, but the entire story is set in wartime and that mean death and man’s inhumanity to man.