UK Book Club discussion

This is the thread to discuss All the Light We Cannot See. Remember to write SPOILERS! at the start of your post, if you intend to go there ;)

Happy Reading...

This one's been on my to-read list for a long while, so I'm looking forward to it (and I have been avoiding the Netfix series until after I've read it!)

Oh my,
"Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle, Frau Elena?"
that is going in my commonplace book. Wonderful.

Sort of SPOILERS.
Loved this book. The sense of destiny as characters came closer together. I know it could seem contrived, but somehow avoids it through good writing and plot development.
And I guess I just like to believe that sometimes things are just meant to happen.

I started this and didn't finish so feels like a good idea to pick up again for this month. I'm still struggling with it a bit though. I completely appreciate that it's really well written and I like the 2 sides of the war being explored in one novel, but I am still finding it a little boring (please no hate for this!). Just being honest and wondered if anyone else is experiencing this?

Don't worry Amanda, it's ok not to get on with the book. Life would be very dull if we all liked the same things!

I have just started. It's early days, but I'm enjoying it so far...

Just started as well….

Literally just started this today…🤞

Amanda Knight wrote: "I started this and didn't finish so feels like a good idea to pick up again for this month. I'm still struggling with it a bit though. I completely appreciate that it's really well written and I li..."

Yes totally agree. I read it a whilst back and enjoy reading other peoples views and to see what others like/dont like etc but for me this was just average.

Maybe a couple of SPOILERS ahead....

I just finished All the Light We Cannot See yesterday.

It took me a few chapters to settle into reading the present tense. Margaret Atwood often writes in the present, as did Hilary Mantel, and they both use it very effectively. I think it works here to make you feel as if you are experiencing the events, with the characters, in real time. I felt this was particularly effective as the tension mounts in Saint Marlo, with von Rumpel getting ever-closer...

I really enjoyed the writer's rich description and his characters. The slow build allowed time to really get to know them, so I felt the loss at each death or disappearance.

My only real criticism is the ending. I feel he should have ended it with the end of the war (or with a very brief coda) - crisp and clean. Instead it looses momentum and peters out by going first to 1974 and then 2014. I could see what he was trying to do, but I felt it lessened the impact. Still, it will get 4 stars from me!

I was surprised it won the Pultizer Prize in 2014 - most Pulitzer-winners are (perhaps not surprisingly) set in, or focused on, America. Plus they are often rather worthy. This I found to be more accessible.

Now I should see how the Netflix series measures up...

I read a short sample on kindle…too short to say if I was going to enjoy it or not. However, I have to say it didn’t inspire me to spend £4.99 to find out….maybe I will pick it up again another time.

I read this a while ago and really enjoyed it. It took a while to read, but some scenes have remained in my mind. It was so full of incident and detail.

I enjoyed this read. I liked the slow pace and build up, the descriptions of things, the world building in the book is excellent, a wonderful way to use the way the girl uses objects, sewer drains, to navigate the city but also describe the landscape. Very clever. I liked all the back stories, but felt the search by the German officer a little contrived, perhaps lacking in detail. The ending came quickly, a jump of a few decades, it caught me off guard, almost as though the publishers deadline had suddenly arrived and the author needed to finish there and then. But I enjoyed the read and will have no issues recommending the book to people. I might have a look at the film on Netflix now. Or is it Prime?

Paul wrote: "I enjoyed this read. I liked the slow pace and build up, the descriptions of things, the world building in the book is excellent, a wonderful way to use the way the girl uses objects, sewer drains,..."

It's on Netflix, Paul.

thank you Liz

Have finished it now….distracted by other reads!

Thought it was a brilliant book. The characters he creates are so full of colour and life and the narrative he weaves although familiar in one sense is quite a unique perspective. I think it’s interesting how the two streams of the book converge.

He manages to convey the contrast between those that suffered for standing up against the Nazis and the struggle for those that wanted to but didn’t. And the sense of fear …but guilt that was inevitably caught up in all that.

I agree that the book petered out a bit at the end….the climax was undoubtedly the end of the war.

Overall though a book that I really enjoyed.



Has anyone watched the Netflix series?

Allan wrote: "Have finished it now….distracted by other reads!

Thought it was a brilliant book. The characters he creates are so full of colour and life and the narrative he weaves although familiar in one sen..."

So glad you enjoyed it too, Allan. I still haven't watched the series, I'm curious to see how it compares...