Book Review: 'All The Light We Cannot See' by Anthony Doerr

"Open your eyes and see what you can do with them before they close forever."

War Stories have a different place in my heart. All the suffering and pain, I wonder whether it is worth it. Everybody loses the war in the end. All The Light We Cannot See is one such story. Not a great one, but a good one indeed.

Set in the time of World War 2, the story is the coming together of two worlds. It shuffles between the world of Marie-Laure, a young girl in Paris, and Werner, a German boy, at a time when both the countries are at war. Marie-Laure, who became blind early in her childhood, lives with her father in Paris. He works for the National Museum of History in charge of its numerous locks. The other world belongs to Werner, a German boy and an orphan. Enthused by science since childhood, he is very skilled at repairing radios and was appointed to the brutal Hitler Army to detect and destroy the enemy's broadcasting messages. 

With Germany's invasion of Paris, Marie-Laure and her father runs away to the town of Saint-Malo and carry with them the most precious and mysterious jewel of the museum. Their worlds kept coming slightly closer to each other until in Saint-Malo, where they finally collide. And damn! That is one bury in the pillow moment. 

The short chapters, poetic writing and characters are very compelling and keep the mind flowing. It also brings out the technological, political and emotional baggage of war. However, the thrill of the entire novel got lost in the disappointing end, when it became monotonous and bland.