Book review
This is the best book I have read this year and destined, I believe, to be a classic read for future generations. Doerr carefully weaves together the World War II stories of Marie-Laure, a blind French girl, and Werner, an orphaned German boy. Both are propelled into unexpected situations because of the war and both learn important lessons about who they are and who they wish to be.
There are hundreds of reviews here already and I do not think that any analysis I might make of the plot would further them, however, I wish everyone could know that this is so much more than a WWII story, so much more than a glimpse into the horrors of war, and so much more than an exploration of what it is to be human in an inhuman place and age.
Woven into the fabric of this novel is the story of a gem, meant to have special powers and a curse upon it. That the tale of the gem is folklore is understood by all the characters who encounter it, but the fear of its powers still haunts them and subtly motivates them. I think Doerr is asking us a question about our lives and whether we have the control of them or will cede that control to some external force. For Werner, caught up in the Nazi machine, the question is the same…can he still make his own choices or is he just a minion for the Reicht stripped of his humanity and soul? How the characters, including Marie’s father, her great-uncle, Mrs. Manec, and especially Werner’s friend Frederick, answer that question determines not only their fate but also their worth.
“That is how things are . . . with everybody in this unit, in this army, in this world, they do as they’re told, they get scared, they move about with only themselves in mind. Name me someone who does not.” This is what Werner says, and it seems true, but even within the unit acts of selflessness take place. Surrounded by evil, the light is always still there and many of Doerr’s characters reach for it despite the seemingly hopeless realities.
Great writing has impact on us long after we have closed the book. We find ourselves drawn to its ideas and recognizing them in our own lives, at work around us. For me, this will be one of those books. I expect it to reverberate far into the future.
- Goodreads rating – 4.32
- SUMMARY – Sara