Recommended Reading: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

This novel was given to me years ago in a hardcover edition. I’ll say here at the start that I would never have picked this up in a bookstore. I don’t like the title—it sounds like a literary tear-jerker—and the cover art, while utterly appropriate to the story’s setting, gives no real hint of the tenor of the story. But books have no expiration date. And since I’d been having a hard time finding other books that appealed to me, I finally picked this one up after it had been sitting on my shelf for years.

This is an amazing novel!

Its dual settings are occupied France in World War II and Nazi Germany. Its focus is on the small and the brave, swept up in the horrible currents of war. The writing is beautiful without ever being overwrought, and while the plot is complex it isn’t hard to follow, and it all falls together in exquisite fashion.

I won’t say more about the plot, because part of the fascination of this novel is watching the story develop and come together without any foreknowledge of where it is going.

I do want to mention a technical aspect that I really admired: Almost all the chapters are extremely short, often no more than two pages, often with no transitions. This might sound awkward, but it worked extremely well for me. It kept the story moving and kept all the characters fresh in mind.

If you’ve already read All the Light We Cannot See, or if you give it a try, let me know what you think of it.

Posted on: Friday, February 13th, 2026 at 7:49 am
Categories: Recommended Reading.