CV Offline Book Club: ‘All the Light We Cannot See’
It’s not on the typical Catholic Book Club lists, but according to our “true, good, beautiful” criteria, it certainly should be.
This month, back by popular demand, please join the CV Offline Bookclub in reading “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr.
Winner of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in 2014, “All the Light We Cannot See” follows the parallel stories of a brilliant young German boy recruited from the orphanage into the Nazi army, and an inquisitive, blind French girl. Through the strange tragedies of war, they find themselves in the same town at the end of the war. While their stories weave together in a masterful way, Doerr’s command of language is still more masterful. Captivating, beautiful, hopeful, and heartbreaking, this story is not one to be missed.
Are you in? Let us know!
A few themes to keep in mind as you read:
- Continuous references to nature — both its destruction and its resilience
- Emphasis on family — or the memory of family — as an important element of the characters’ formation
- The role of conscience (usually described as “doubts” or “nostalgia.”) How do the characters form their consciences, when do they deviate from them, and what are the tugs that bring them back to the truth?
- What is the significance of light in the novel?