All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr: A 15-minute Summary & Analysis

By Judith Hillman Paterson author of "Sweet Mystery: A Book of Remembering," (FS&G, 1996) The twenty-one essays collected here are so engaging (and sometimes heartrending) that I read them straight through like a novel. Coming from diverse points of view, the writers tell of the challenges, disappointments, and occasional downright abuse they encountered as young pastors struggling to fit their youthful hopes into the religious organizations they’d been called to serve. The collection is anchored by essay #6, by Editor James Ellis III. Though he admits younger clergy can be as materialistic and hidebound as their elders, his own bête noir surfaces in conflicts with the “old guard," conflicts for which his seminary training did not prepare him. In the end, his faith stands firm as he concludes that “instead of chasing after power and wielding it recklessly, we [the young] who are called are to leverage our position for the betterment of the vulnerable.” In a final word that comes at the end of the book, he prays that God will use it to “help lift the veil of secrecy and untruth from vocational ministry and from Christianity more broadly.” I hope so too.

I wanted to see what all the fuss was about and why the book was so popular and widely praised. Our book discussion group picked it and I found myself quickly sympathetic to Marie-Laure and Werner. It was intriguing to me how tactile Doerr made the images, so much so that as a reader I felt I could almost feel what Marie was feeling, both emotionally and how she used her sense of touch and hearing to cope. There were a couple of places where I got mental whiplash as to when the story was taking place and which character was the focus. Nevertheless, I thought it was time well spent.

Historical fiction is my favorite genre to read and I belong to a local historical fiction book club that reads some really great selections. As this genre can have some complex reads within in, I often look for a Summary & Analysis book or companion guide to go along with the book that I am reading and loved this one for "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr. There is a lot to keep track of here and this Summary gives a great analysis of the book's characters and themes to help keep things straight. Definitely recommend.

This book was chosen by my book club. Having lived through the second world was period , this made it too morbid . Guess with the world in such a state I need to spend my time reading books that transport my mind to pleasanter things.

I can't say whether this is an accurate summary of the book because I didn't read it, but it seemed overly brief and disjointed. What I can say is that there were many grammatical and/or spelling errors that were very distracting and interfered with the flow of the story. Inexcusable.

Is gives an overall summary of the book, themes, and description of characters. This does not give a summary of each chapter or listing of all characters. I bought this because I listened to 2/3 of the book on tape and knew that I missed things. I wanted to make sure I filled in gaps before I read the rest of the print book. I would have liked a little more detail and chapter by chapter summaries.

I was disapointed that it didn't comment on the symbolism and writing style and historical time of the book.It is just a synopsis chapter by chapter and is only good for someone who has never read the book and wantsto catch up before a review or test. It gives you no feel for the excellent book this is.

Good alternative to reading the book if in a hurry. The authors convey some of the feelings of the two main characters and give good descriptions of the surroundings. After reading the summary I decided not to read the book. Too much pulling on the heartstrings.