---
product_id: 64725153
title: "All the Light we Cannot See: The Breathtaking World Wide Bestseller"
price: "3619 kr"
currency: ISK
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reviews_count: 7
url: https://www.desertcart.is/products/64725153-all-the-light-we-cannot-see-the-breathtaking-world-wide
store_origin: IS
region: Iceland
---

# All the Light we Cannot See: The Breathtaking World Wide Bestseller

**Price:** 3619 kr
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## Description

All the Light we Cannot See: The Breathtaking World Wide Bestseller : Anthony Doerr: desertcart.in: Books

Review: Heartbreaking, mesmerising and such a plethora of emotions..!! - When I saw it, I was hugely skeptical about it, but given the time the author has spent writing it (10 years... yes you heard me, Anthony Doerr took 10 years to research and complete it), I thought it is worth giving a try. Set at the time of World War ||, this book speaks volumes about what a war brings forth, how cities are razed to ground and rebuilt, and how the world changes, how the ideologies, people, nations are torn and reborn again. It is a heartbreaking, yet a soulful narrative of destruction, but with an insurmountable fortitude and resilience. Amidst the war, the story shifts in turn between - Marie Laure, a blind girl in France and Werner Pfenning, a young boy in Germany and how their paths eventually cross later in the book. I have read several books on World War ||, and frankly, after reading "The Book Thief", I had my doubts on this one, as I find Markus Zusak incomparable when it comes to descriptions, characters and the story as well. But, to my surprise, Anthony Doerr has done every bit of justice to his characters and what seems to be a vague way of story telling in the beginning(France and Germany alternately occurring in the chapters), it turns out to be a magnificent way of introducing the characters, and keeping them alive in the reader's mind till the very end. Marie Laure - the blind french girl will make your heart race when she loses her sight and learns to see the world through her father's conscious efforts. Thanks, to the remarkable description by Anthony Doerr, you will actually see her freckled face, counting the storm drains with her cane on the road, as she goes left and right remembering the paths, enjoying the sound of molluscks, feeling the smell of the ocean. Your heart will ache when she wonders why people call her brave, while all she does is get up every morning and live her life. Isn't that what they all do? Yet, she radiates a strange kind of hope that almost always lingers around her. Werner Pfenning, the young German boy with white hair and lean stature, slightly reminds me of Rudy from the Book thief,but he is very much different from him in the way he thinks.How his inquisitive mind is passionate about the varied possibilities of science, but how his heart remains kind even in the most brutal times. The other characters are so meticulously crafted, be it Marie's agoraphobic uncle Etienne Le Blanc with a wealthy mansion, with his stout, stoic yet benevolent house keeper Madam Manec or be it Werner's cautious sister Jutta Pfening, and his friend Frederick, the young boy who is ecstatic about birds and "who sees what other's can't see..". But, above everything, what amazes you in the entire book is the plethora of descriptions, of the cities, the streets, the people, their clothes, their food, their anxieties, their fear, their conflicted minds, every bit as real as you can touch and see. A must read for those who love the kind of stories they can feel under their nerves and can keep them up at nights.
Review: A literary marvel - The book is placed in a war-torn France and Germany during the third Reich. Its a story of a blind girl Marie-Laure LeBlanc who lives in Paris. Her Papa is a locksmith in the Museum of Natural History in Paris. Though constantly dealing with her physical handicap she grows up in a loving family. To make is easier for his daughter to navigate the streets of Paris Marie’s father creates a small model of the city which allows Marie-Laure to feel her way into the city. This family of two has to move to the coastal city of Saint-Malo to Marie’s great-uncle’s house to flee a German occupied Paris. But, the war eventually reaches them in the quiet, sleepy city. On the other hand is an orphan boy in Germany called Werner who has a way with radios. He lives in the Children’s home with his sister Jutta until an officer recognizes this prodigy and opens the door of the elite military school for him. The raciological exams where Werner’s eye colour is gauged “against a chromatic scale on which sixty or so shades of blue are displayed” and hair colour assessed using “thirty or so other locks clipped to a board” only amplifies the peculiar ways in which the Nazi Germany functioned. From this school he is sent to the frontlines to weed out the radio transmissions of the Allies. In this melee is a treasure hunt for the Sea of Flame, a precious stone which is widely believed to harbor the curse which although protects the beholder but brings misfortune upon everyone the beholder loves. Marie-Laure prays that her “Papa hasn’t been anywhere near it” when infact her father is one of the three men charged with protecting this stone. The story opens in 1944 in Saint-Malo where Marie-Laure is hiding in her house in the face of Allied bombings while Werner is trapped in the ruins of the Bees Hotel. Though most of the story takes place during WWII, the narrative still goes a lot back and forth. The stories seem unconnected on the surface but a fragile thread always wounds it all together. One such connection is a radio transmission that Werner and his sister used to listen to as kids and this broadcast was done by none other than Marie-Laure’s grandfather. The story always seems on course for the collision of the paths of these two individuals. The entire book is spent in expectation of the meeting of the protagonists and the result of this meeting. Like most other books about WWII this book is loaded with suspense, dread and horror in equal proportions. To make it easier for the reader Doerr makes the chapters very short (some chapters are less than a page long) while keeping the number of characters to a minimum. It provides a picture of the war from both sides, both Axis and Allied and the horrors of the war as experienced by the innocent French as well as the Germans. The decades after the war and the specter of war that hangs over the survivors is yet another one of the gems the book touches upon. This book doesn't have the reality of Anne Frank’s diary but has the dreamlike expectation of young love, it neither has the innocently ethereal beauty of The Book Thief but a severely intricate plot. In a world full of WWII narratives, this book certainly holds its own. The book is tragic yet it gives you hope and the story is indeed about all the light we cannot see in the darkness which we believe engulfs us. A must read, entirely absorbing and absolutely un-putdownable.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Country of Origin  | United Kingdom |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (233,796) |
| Dimensions  | 12.9 x 3.4 x 19.8 cm |
| Generic Name  | BOOKS |
| ISBN-10  | 0008172420 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0008172428 |
| Item Weight  | 294 g |
| Language  | English |
| Net Quantity  | 500.00 Grams |
| Paperback  | 544 pages |
| Publisher  | Fourth Estate (10 December 2015) |
| Reading age  | Customer suggested age: 15 years and up |

## Images

![All the Light we Cannot See: The Breathtaking World Wide Bestseller - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41QHGDEK1pL.jpg)
![All the Light we Cannot See: The Breathtaking World Wide Bestseller - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41mM8CImVGL.jpg)
![All the Light we Cannot See: The Breathtaking World Wide Bestseller - Image 3](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41ymIAJzT8L.jpg)
![All the Light we Cannot See: The Breathtaking World Wide Bestseller - Image 4](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51TDrktfXKL.jpg)
![All the Light we Cannot See: The Breathtaking World Wide Bestseller - Image 5](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81fm6W2eMTL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Heartbreaking, mesmerising and such a plethora of emotions..!!
*by S***A on 18 February 2017*

When I saw it, I was hugely skeptical about it, but given the time the author has spent writing it (10 years... yes you heard me, Anthony Doerr took 10 years to research and complete it), I thought it is worth giving a try. Set at the time of World War ||, this book speaks volumes about what a war brings forth, how cities are razed to ground and rebuilt, and how the world changes, how the ideologies, people, nations are torn and reborn again. It is a heartbreaking, yet a soulful narrative of destruction, but with an insurmountable fortitude and resilience. Amidst the war, the story shifts in turn between - Marie Laure, a blind girl in France and Werner Pfenning, a young boy in Germany and how their paths eventually cross later in the book. I have read several books on World War ||, and frankly, after reading "The Book Thief", I had my doubts on this one, as I find Markus Zusak incomparable when it comes to descriptions, characters and the story as well. But, to my surprise, Anthony Doerr has done every bit of justice to his characters and what seems to be a vague way of story telling in the beginning(France and Germany alternately occurring in the chapters), it turns out to be a magnificent way of introducing the characters, and keeping them alive in the reader's mind till the very end. Marie Laure - the blind french girl will make your heart race when she loses her sight and learns to see the world through her father's conscious efforts. Thanks, to the remarkable description by Anthony Doerr, you will actually see her freckled face, counting the storm drains with her cane on the road, as she goes left and right remembering the paths, enjoying the sound of molluscks, feeling the smell of the ocean. Your heart will ache when she wonders why people call her brave, while all she does is get up every morning and live her life. Isn't that what they all do? Yet, she radiates a strange kind of hope that almost always lingers around her. Werner Pfenning, the young German boy with white hair and lean stature, slightly reminds me of Rudy from the Book thief,but he is very much different from him in the way he thinks.How his inquisitive mind is passionate about the varied possibilities of science, but how his heart remains kind even in the most brutal times. The other characters are so meticulously crafted, be it Marie's agoraphobic uncle Etienne Le Blanc with a wealthy mansion, with his stout, stoic yet benevolent house keeper Madam Manec or be it Werner's cautious sister Jutta Pfening, and his friend Frederick, the young boy who is ecstatic about birds and "who sees what other's can't see..". But, above everything, what amazes you in the entire book is the plethora of descriptions, of the cities, the streets, the people, their clothes, their food, their anxieties, their fear, their conflicted minds, every bit as real as you can touch and see. A must read for those who love the kind of stories they can feel under their nerves and can keep them up at nights.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A literary marvel
*by T***E on 9 April 2016*

The book is placed in a war-torn France and Germany during the third Reich. Its a story of a blind girl Marie-Laure LeBlanc who lives in Paris. Her Papa is a locksmith in the Museum of Natural History in Paris. Though constantly dealing with her physical handicap she grows up in a loving family. To make is easier for his daughter to navigate the streets of Paris Marie’s father creates a small model of the city which allows Marie-Laure to feel her way into the city. This family of two has to move to the coastal city of Saint-Malo to Marie’s great-uncle’s house to flee a German occupied Paris. But, the war eventually reaches them in the quiet, sleepy city. On the other hand is an orphan boy in Germany called Werner who has a way with radios. He lives in the Children’s home with his sister Jutta until an officer recognizes this prodigy and opens the door of the elite military school for him. The raciological exams where Werner’s eye colour is gauged “against a chromatic scale on which sixty or so shades of blue are displayed” and hair colour assessed using “thirty or so other locks clipped to a board” only amplifies the peculiar ways in which the Nazi Germany functioned. From this school he is sent to the frontlines to weed out the radio transmissions of the Allies. In this melee is a treasure hunt for the Sea of Flame, a precious stone which is widely believed to harbor the curse which although protects the beholder but brings misfortune upon everyone the beholder loves. Marie-Laure prays that her “Papa hasn’t been anywhere near it” when infact her father is one of the three men charged with protecting this stone. The story opens in 1944 in Saint-Malo where Marie-Laure is hiding in her house in the face of Allied bombings while Werner is trapped in the ruins of the Bees Hotel. Though most of the story takes place during WWII, the narrative still goes a lot back and forth. The stories seem unconnected on the surface but a fragile thread always wounds it all together. One such connection is a radio transmission that Werner and his sister used to listen to as kids and this broadcast was done by none other than Marie-Laure’s grandfather. The story always seems on course for the collision of the paths of these two individuals. The entire book is spent in expectation of the meeting of the protagonists and the result of this meeting. Like most other books about WWII this book is loaded with suspense, dread and horror in equal proportions. To make it easier for the reader Doerr makes the chapters very short (some chapters are less than a page long) while keeping the number of characters to a minimum. It provides a picture of the war from both sides, both Axis and Allied and the horrors of the war as experienced by the innocent French as well as the Germans. The decades after the war and the specter of war that hangs over the survivors is yet another one of the gems the book touches upon. This book doesn't have the reality of Anne Frank’s diary but has the dreamlike expectation of young love, it neither has the innocently ethereal beauty of The Book Thief but a severely intricate plot. In a world full of WWII narratives, this book certainly holds its own. The book is tragic yet it gives you hope and the story is indeed about all the light we cannot see in the darkness which we believe engulfs us. A must read, entirely absorbing and absolutely un-putdownable.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
*by K***A on 4 May 2016*

A book that carries you away to another world in a different time as only excellent books can. Must read.

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*Last updated: 2026-03-08*