January Book Club: All the Light We Cannot See

So weird! Turning off the Wi-Fi the day before my loans expire always works for me! In fact, I gotta go do that cuz my loan expires this week!

 

Uh oh! I am only on page 75 and just got a reminder from my library that the book will be due in 3 days. If there's a waiting list, then I can't renew it. Now I'm suddenly eager to read it! I've been slow getting into it. And now I've just reached the part when they're becoming aware of how close the war is and it makes me sad. I might not keep reading if I weren't participating in a group. I love historical fiction, but WW2 in particular hurts to read about (not for personal reasons. Maybe because it seems more real than events of longer ago . .. ?)

 

page 127 so a fair bit to go. Won't read anymore of this tread until I am more than half way. It is picking up, but I am still not sure if I like it or not. Very flowery language , for a description of something that was truly horrific.

 

Ok... so I finished on Sunday and I REALLY need to talk about this book. Can we start another thread and label it clearly with SPOILERS? I just really want to talk about it before I forget everything.

 

I've started and I am really enjoying it. So well constructed and I'm a sucker for stories set in either of the world wars. Thanks for getting me to start it, I've been seeing it everywhere and now I know why...

 

Okay! I'm going to post spoilers in my next reply... so don't read on if you haven't finished yet!

SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

 

SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

I'll start by saying that I really enjoyed this book. I was completely sucked in after I got past about the 20% point and didn't want to put it down.

I finished the book on Sunday morning and I really felt like there were some MAJOR plot points that weren't resolved. I'm okay with leaving a book open ended and making you imagine the next part of the story (even thought it's not my favorite) But in this book, I really felt like we deserved a flashback to let us know what happened to Werner. Did I miss something? There was like a one line reference to his death by Volkheimer about him saying "maybe I shouldn't have left him that way, but what did it matter since he was already dead" What? For a book that goes back and forth between the two time span to clarify things, I really thought up until the last page that they would do that and clear that up. I feel Werner deserved that closure. Also, I think I know what happened to the Sea of Flames diamond, but not really. I think one of the end chapters was supposed to allude to the diamond being left in the under sea kennel with the snails, but I'm not clear if Werner went back for the house and took out the diamond and left it there on purpose or did he drop it when he opened the house or what. Again, since that diamond was such a key detail in the book, why couldn't the author make it a little more clear on what happened.

Finally, I think I know what passage you're talking about that was un-needed Crystal... the part where the Russian soldiers came into Frau Elena's apartment? Totally abrupt and un-necessary. I know that kind of thing happened, but I don't feel like that particular chapter was believable or well written.

Okay... that's it for now. Help me out here. Am I the only one feeling like the book was great with the little bits of the puzzle being presented throughout the books and then just not finished?

 

Karen i think it was said that werner was taken to a prisoner of war camp then he became ill, unable to eat and died? I loved the ending, i think the ambiguity kid of worked. Ilove having everything tied up neatly but for this story i enjoyed the way it ended

 

While I agree that is wasn't particular well written I do think it was believable (sadly very believable). It showed that the war wasn't as black and white as portrayed until then. It showed that evil came from other places/people than just Germany. I feel like the rest of the book is very anti German when truth was that while they may have started it, they weren't the only bad guys. I've seen estimates that goes as far as to say that 2 million German women were abused by Russian soldiers during the occupation. The war didn't end with Germany surrendering.

Up until this point the story was quite neat for lack of better words. Yes people died in all sorts of horrible ways but even Werner's dead is written as an almost poetic experience. Honestly I found that disrespectful to all those that died.

Was it needed if we look at the book in general? I think so because if we were to be reintroduced to Jutta at the end, we needed some kind of inkling of what she went through to make her a believable character. I really missed Jutta in large parts of the book as the voice of reason. Like Werner said; Perhaps she was right all along.

 

i agree with you jeanet, whilst the scene was horrible i also thought it was necessary to show that all sides suffered and all committed acts that were shameful during this period.

 

I skipped over your questions for now, Crystal, but will come back to them when I have more time. I wasn't as offended/shocked by the Russian soldier scene, and it took a minute for me to think what you were all talking about as the "unnecessary scene." Looking back from that perspective, I do agree it may have made more sense if there were previous flashbacks from her POV.. I guess I'm still on the fence about it..

As for the location of the diamond. It totally bothered me, too, that it never came out and said it. But then I decided it wasn't important.. that wasn't the point of the story. I do like to think that if Werner did go back for it he either left it there, or took it, intending to give it back to her one day. I liked the idea of him being loyal to his inherent goodness that way. Not knowing reminded me a lot of Titanic where only Rose knew where the sapphire was and then it was lost for good.. (IDK, maybe that's a stretch, my brain's not really working today, lol...)

Oh - and yes, Crystal, you were right about Werner's death stepping on a mine. I just really had such high hopes for the two of them meeting up again..

 

I just finished the book! I'm reeling a bit. It's a heavier topic than I usually choose to read about. It bugs me at the beginning of books that switch back and forth between different dates, but at the end I marveled at how it came together like a mystery being solved. Jumping all the way to the present at the end and talking about how we're surrounded by messages in the air so why not spirits of people we knew is a beautiful thought.

I, too, would like to understand better what and why Werner kept the house but not the stone. (Just read your post @sm_amber It reminded me of Titanic too!) I was really shocked when he died. The romantic in me thought he and Marie-Laure were going to end up together.

As for the questionable scene, my opinion is in the middle. It did feel a bit out of place but I see the point in bringing Jutta back into the story since she plays a big part in the end. But I don't think it was written well, and she could have been brought back into the story in another way.

 

Oh boy I am so glad we can talk about this book now because it has been festering inside me for weeks now LOL It is definitely a story you want or need to talk about due to its strong horrific back story.
Yes, Werner was placed in a prisoner of war camp and was in a medical tent when he suddenly got up walked out of the tent (How that happened in a prisoner of war tent I dont know but..) and walked into a field where he was introduced to a land mine. I have to say the end of Werner was so abrupt and shocking that i actually went back and reread it to make sure that what happened really did happen! I was somewhat peeved that he was ended so quickly and without warning. I too was hoping for that happily ever after with him and Marie Leure'.
As for the diamond I was under the impression that he left it in the underground secret hideaway she liked to go to. I felt like he dropped it into the water but I dont recall it actually saying that. I remember wondering at the end when he met his untimely death if he actually did not send the diamond back and his death was a result of his being in possession of the diamond. Of course if the diamond was not safely enscounced in the little house I am sure in a search upon his capture it would have been discovered?
I think for me one of the more shocking parts was the scene in which the soldiers shot the mother and child. I was again in shock and disbelief. Yet, in the following scenes I got the feeling that Werner himself had shot the child but when I read the actual scene I thought it was one of the twins who shot her? Was I wrong there? The flashbacks he was having were maybe guilt involved and maybe that is why it made me feel as though he saw himself shooting and killing her.
I either read the part as I was falling asleep or missed where it gave an update on Marie Leure's father. Was he killed or did he die of Influena? Or was his where a bouts simply left unknown? I remember her going to the train station and sitting and waiting in hopes that he would arrive (Is that correct or did I misread that?)
I saw the scene with Jutta, Frau Elena, and the girls was more evidence that no one escaped violence and how people came to accept that they would meet with violence. The girls never put up a fight they never attempted to hide or run and they didnt try to stop the Russian soldiers from attacking them. Frau Elena offered herself to them as a sacrifice of sorts knowing that despite her efforts the other girls would still be raped as well. Almost gave up?? The scene to me almost seemed questionable because in my mind and maybe its just the way i pictured Frau Elena in my head but i saw her as much older then the girls and with the girls being closer to the soldiers ages I would have thought that the soldiers would have forced themselves on the younger girls first no matter what. Maybe because of it being war time the soldiers simply didnt care?
Frederick was amazing to me. He was still so full of light when he entered the Nazi Army and I hated seeing that light crushed. He tried so hard not to lose himself in all the violence around him and his punishment may have been the worst of all. This line by Frederick said it all: “Your problem is that you still believe you own your life.” Frederick figured it out early on and Werner still believed that his choices had been made on his own.
Now what about Madame Manec the "Cook" or help at Etiennes? Was she brave or what? I was applauding her as she sprang into the role of unlikely resistance member. LOL She cracked me up especially since i saw her as the matronly figure. She was spectacular! Full of fire and gumption! I was so sorry to see her pass.
I truly enjoyed the book even when it made me cringe and caught me off gaurd.

 

Oh, Frederick! How could I forget about Frederick!?!? *sobs*

 

Oh I can't believe I didn't mention Madame Manec! Yes! She was awesome and I was so sad when she died.

Okay... I remember Werner getting up and walking out of the camp, but I somehow missed entirely that he was blown up by a mine. I'm going to have to go back and read that bit again. That actually helps me a lot to know HOW he died. I missed that part and I thought they just left it open ended and I thought that was so weird for one of the two main characters.

Marie Laure's Dad was inprisoned in a hard labor camp. They left the "how" he died open, but really I'm sure they just worked him to death and that German guy that was hunting the diamond I'm sure beat he until he got what he wanted and that probably brought his end around sooner rather than later.

The part about the Russian soldiers scene that really bugged me was that we were so wrapped up in the back and forth between Marie and Werner and it felt like they shoved that in there without any lead in or context and then it was so short and then back to Werner and Marie Laure. I have read a lot about this war, so I know that the Russians were especially brutal and that this kind of thing happened a LOT. It just felt off to me the way it was written.

Loving being able to talk about this with others we jsut finished too!

 

... oh and Fredrick. That was just awful, but you knew someone so innocent could never survive without something like that happening. I hated that part!