I don't like to hear again and again from the past, from how badly Nazi-Germany was and how blinded the people were by this .... Man. It's not that I haven't dealt with our National socialistic time, but after having this period of history over and over again in class, I wasn't really eager to read so many books about it.
- For all of you, who still think that all Germans are National socialists or want to ignore their past - they don't. They dealt with it and are still doing it today, with being as far from these dangerous ideas as possible. We are educated enough to not fall for the same (stupid) crap again. I just wanted to make sure, to say that aloud. -
Well, this is a book about the Second World War. You've probably read some books, seen the Movie "Private James Ryan" and have dealt with this dark chapter of the world's history.
I don't know exactly, what it is - but this book was as light-hearted as it was heavy. The story of Werner, a young German boy, and Marie-Laure, a little, blind French girl, drew me in. I fell in love with the way the author wrote it and feared and hated everything the same time.
The Second World War was awful and disturbing and terrible. This book is beautiful enough, to be as realistic and thoughtful as possible without ruining the real story.
Werner is really good with radios. He and his sister, who grew up in an orphanage, listen to broadcasts talking about physics and math. He can fix any radio and when he fixes the radio of someone who mattered - he got to apply to the elite school for the nationalistic youth. At the same time, Marie-Laure and her father flee from Paris. Her father has one of the biggest treasures of the Museum of Paris with him and guess what? Yes, there is a crazy National socialist hunting it down. But don't mind that part, concentrate on Marie-Laure and Werner Pfenning.
Werner makes friends with a boy, Frederick, who loves nothing more as watching birds. And with every passing day they both have to endure a nightmare of drill, classes (where they learn all about the ideology of "purity of blood") and basically: brainwash.
Marie-Laure is now living with her uncle in Saint-Malo (France) and the Germans are already all over France. She knows about her uncle's housekeepers secret (Resistance, which is terribly dangerous) and awaits the arrival of her father, who just wanted to be back in a few days. He is not coming back. Ever.
Werner and Marie-Laure will meet twice and that's enough to make me cry again. He was never pleased with what the National socialists are doing but he wanted to be dutiful and more important: wanted to learn more about radios and technology. Marie-Laure loved to read and had her really own view on the world. Those are two children, entangled in something so awful and just ... stupid called war, so that they lose so much.
I should probably bring some more structure into this post but I can't. I loved this book and I've already given it to a good friend of mine to read,because I think it's more up-to-date than you might think. Refugees from the Middle East are fleeing because they endure war and who are we to deny them? And all this because a few people have a very stupid and narrow-minded view of how the world should look like. This book reminded me of how valuable one single life is. This is important because you forget that 200 people dead means 200 people with families, friends, acquaintances and that means 200 people less to embrace their lives.
Read the book. Trust me.
Title: All the Light We Cannot See
Author: Anthony Doerr
Pages: 530 pages
Published May 6th 2014
Rating: 5 out of 5 ★ (duuh.)
Picture from here.