Readers find Anthony Doerr's 'All The Light We Cannot See' enlightening

Ten avid readers attended our first Between The Line Book Club for 2015. Under discussion was Anthony Doerr's novel All The Light We Cannot See. This novel set in Europe has as it focal point the year 1944. It traces events both prior and post this point in time but as several of our readers commented it always returns to this pivotal point.

The novel tracks the lives of Marie-Laure LeBlanc, a blind French girl who lives with her father, the Master of Locks at the Museum of Natural History in Paris, and Werner Pfennig a German orphan whose aptitude for all things mechanical earns him a place at a brutal German military academy where his talents further radio technology. Their jouneys eventually intersect in a quietly satisfying manner although radio waves had already intertwined their lives for years.

Though a war-time novel, Anthony Doerr concentrates on the conflict's devastating impact on people no matter which side they are on.

One of our readers commented on the balance and parallels provided by the stories of the other characters. As the title suggests, light in a multitude of forms infuses the novel. Many readers commented on the precision and freshness of Anthony Doerr's language. While reading this novel many of our group found themselves stopping and re-reading a phrase or sentence just for the sheer pleasure of doing so.

One of our readers was reading the novel for the second time and the beauty of its structure really impressed her. She commented that the threads of the novel balanced and counter-balanced each other producing a graceful symmetry. Another of our readers thought it was slow in places and therefore jumped a few chapters sparking a spirited reaction from other readers.

Overall our group enjoyed this novel and generally rated the novel between 8 and 9 out of 10 which reflected  the genuine quality of this read. Some of our readers felt that they could happily read All The Light We Cannot See again as it was beautifully written, cleverly constructed and multi-layered thus offering new facets on further reading.

Overall it was a stimulating lively discussion which got our 2015 Between the Lines Book Club off to  an enjoyable enlightening start.

BTL BC kicks off this Thursday at GWL!

Happy New Year Everybody!

All those routine events are starting to kick back in and Christmas is relegated to the deep past!

Hope everyone is enjoying "All the Light We Cannot See"  - I'm still trying to dissect the title.

Looking forward to seeing you all on Thursday. We might be a bit nomadic this year so if we're not in our usual spot, just go for a bit of a wander.

Looking forward to catching up! If you have any suggestions for further Book Club Set purchases bring those along too please!

Happy reading!