#9 in Historical fiction
All the Light We Cannot See
- 544
- Pages
- about 10 h
- Reading time
- Series 2023
- On screen
- NYT bestseller · 91 weeks on the list, peaked at #1
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
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Our view
Doerr’s war novel alternates between a blind French girl in Saint-Malo and a German boy gifted with radios, and its real strength is the prose: lyrical, precise, rich in sensory detail. Some readers find that the alternating chapters and the non-linear structure unfold very slowly, and that the characters, the villain above all, never fully come to life. A good choice for those who read for language and atmosphere rather than plot.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
All the Light We Cannot See is a 2014 war novel by American author Anthony Doerr. The novel is set during World War II. It revolves around the characters Marie-Laure LeBlanc, a blind French girl who takes refuge in her great-uncle's house in Saint-Malo after Paris is invaded by Nazi Germany, and Werner Pfennig, a bright German boy who is accepted into a military school because of his skills in radio technology. The book alternates between paralleling chapters depicting Marie-Laure and Werner, framed with a nonlinear structure. The novel has a lyrical writing style, with critics noting extensive sensory details. The story has ethical themes, portraying the destructive nature of war and Doerr's fascination with science and nature.
On screen
This book has been adapted for the screen once.
- SeriesAll the Light We Cannot SeeIMDb
Adaptation data: Wikidata · On screen →
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.4 across 1,593 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 91% of the weight and the score stays at 8.5 — the Historical fiction average of 8.0 barely moves it. A further +0.10 comes from the small bonus for major awards.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.6 | 83 | 5% |
| Hardcover | 8.4 | 1.5K | 95% |
Frequently asked
How long is All the Light We Cannot See?
It has 544 pages — longer than 68% of the ranked books in Historical fiction.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Historical fiction — and a score of 8.5, the closest to this book.
