February book: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

All the Light We Cannot See 
by Anthony Doerr 

Discussion led by JM






Some back ground links to get you started:

• All the Light We Cannot See | Anthony Doerr (Author's website)

• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr review  (From The Guardian)

• All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr (Scribner)  (Pulitzer Prize website)

• All the Light We Cannot See - Reading Group Guide from the Publisher

• Book Summary All the Light We Cannot See - Cliffs Notes

• 'All the Light We Cannot See,' by Anthony Doerr -  Review from The New York Times

• 'All the Light We Cannot See,' by Anthony Doerr - Revew from The Washington Post

• The rise and rise of Anthony Doerr's novel All the Light We Cannot See - Review in The Sydney Morning Herald

What we discussed about the book:

• Did we feel the characters were fully rounded? Which ones were/were not?
• In what ways did the narrative resemble a radio play?
• What does the title refer to? What is the light we cannot see? Imagery of blindness, underground (mining, the collapsed building)
• Is there perception beyond what you can physically see? i.e. spectrum of light that we cannot see?
• What was the purpose of the Jules Verne references?
• In what ways did the book create an atmosphere of growing dread as the war approached?
• What motivated Frederick's mother?
• Did we like the style of the narraitive, with the to/fro between stories and variety of perspectives?
• Why was American terminology used in French and German character dialogue?
• What is an 'Epigraph'?
• Who were our favourite characters?
• Should the book have ended sooner than it did? Did we need to know what happened into the future?

Ratings

Range: 8 to 9.8

Average: 8.7