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All the Light We Cannot See
- Narrated by: Julie Teal
- Length: 17 hrs and 1 min
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All the Light We Cannot See
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Lessons in Chemistry
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- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 2,250
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,026
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Story5 out of 5 stars 2,020
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5 out of 5 stars
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Delightful book
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Cloud Cuckoo Land
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5 out of 5 stars
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Absolutely brilliant!
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Next Level Production
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3 out of 5 stars
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5 out of 5 stars
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3 out of 5 stars
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A sublime performance by the remarkable Streep. I was desperate for this never to finish. Please share another on Audible soon.
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First audible I’ve finished
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1 out of 5 stars
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1 out of 5 stars
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3 out of 5 stars
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Twenty-five years after the end of the war, ageing British SOE operative Noah Ainsworth is reflecting on the secret agent who saved his life when a mission went wrong during his perilous, exhilarating years in occupied France. He never knew her real name, nor whether she survived the war. His daughter Charlotte begins a search for answers. What follows is the story of Fleur and Chloe, two otherwise ordinary women who in 1943 are called up by the SOE for deployment in France.
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Nisha Cantor and Sam Kemp are two very different women. Nisha, 45, lives the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband inexplicably cuts her off entirely. She doesn't even have the shoes she was, until a moment ago, standing in. That's because Sam—47, middle-aged, struggling to keep herself and her family afloat—has accidentally taken Nisha's gym bag. Now Nisha's got nothing. And Sam's walking tall with shoes that catch eyes—and give her a career an unexpected boost. Except Nisha wants her life back—and she'll start with her shoes....
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5 out of 5 stars
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Loved it
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Publisher's Summary
Winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
National Book Award Finalist
New York Times Bestseller
A beautiful, stunningly ambitious novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II, from the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr.
Marie Laure lives with her father in Paris within walking distance of the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of the locks (there are thousands of locks in the museum). When she is six, she goes blind, and her father builds her a model of their neighborhood, every house, every manhole, so she can memorise it with her fingers and navigate the real streets with her feet and cane. When the Germans occupy Paris, father and daughter flee to Saint-Malo on the Brittany coast, where Marie-Laure’s agoraphobic great uncle lives in a tall, narrow house by the sea wall.
In another world in Germany, an orphan boy, Werner, grows up with his younger sister, Jutta, both enchanted by a crude radio Werner finds. He becomes a master at building and fixing radios, a talent that wins him a place at an elite and brutal military academy and, ultimately, makes him a highly specialised tracker of the Resistance. Werner travels through the heart of Hitler Youth to the far-flung outskirts of Russia, and finally into Saint-Malo, where his path converges with Marie-Laure.
Doerr’s gorgeous combination of soaring imagination with observation is electric. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. Ten years in the writing, All the Light We Cannot See is his most ambitious and dazzling work.
Critic Reviews
“This jewel of a story is put together like a vintage timepiece … Doerr's writing and imagery are stunning. It's been a while since a novel had me under its spell in this fashion.” (Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone)
"All the Light We Cannot See is a dazzling, epic work of fiction. Anthony Doerr writes beautifully about the mythic and the intimate, about snails on beaches and armies on the move, about fate and love and history and those breathless, unbearable moments when they all come crashing together.” (Jess Walter, author of Beautiful Ruins)
"Doerr sees the world as a scientist, but feels it as a poet. He knows about everything - radios, diamonds, mollusks, birds, flowers, locks, guns - but he also writes a line so beautiful, creates an image or scene so haunting, it makes you think forever differently about the big things - love, fear, cruelty, kindness, the countless facets of the human heart [...] Doerr's new novel is that novel, the one you savor, and ponder, and happily lose sleep over, then go around urging all your friends to read - now.” (J.R. Moehringer, author of Sutton and The Tender Bar)
What listeners say about All the Light We Cannot See
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Sophie
- 20-05-2015
Stunning
This was such an exquisitely written book. I love historical fiction but sometimes they can be clumsily written. This is not one of those books. It seems like Doerr was not only writing a beautiful and haunting story, he was also writing a love letter to language. Listening to the AudioBook was like returning to childhood where Nanna would read me an enchanting story, and I had no problem weaving through the timelines after a couple of chapters. Highly recommend to those that enjoy historical fiction about the war, and to those that like intelligent fiction written in such beautiful prose. Thanks Audible!
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17 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Clare Cotton
- 21-09-2016
<br />As good as it gets. <br />
I could not put it down. A WW2 story with a difference.
The characters beautifully drawn. A story that totally engaged me. Written e
with humanity and great sensitivity. A great deal to reflect on. The narrator's voice was perfect.
This is as good as it gets.
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Mike
- 06-11-2017
boring
struggled to finish this boring book. It was hard to follow when there was little dialogue between the characters. most of it is in third person or narative.
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 25-10-2018
great book, hard to listen to.
read this title for a book club. was very excited to get stuck in after reading all the reviews. the narrator however was very difficult to listen to - this was a pretty major down fall. I ended up reading the hard copy instead.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Deb
- 12-03-2016
All the Light....... I enjoyed to hear
This story was brilliantly written. I was captivated.
Reader was excellent and kept me listening late into the night.
Marilyn and her Father and Uncle were so interesting with characters interwoven in a story that brings the life of France before and during the War to life.
The German children used for Hitler's demonic reign brought me to tears with the hardships they endured during their training.
Living in Australia we really have no idea of how hard it would be to live in a war torn environment. For that I am glad!
This story is a must read and I am looking forward to reading more from this author and hopefully with the same reader.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Bob
- 14-05-2015
Exceptional Book
I love this book. Gentle people in a a violent time. The story captivating. the reader was fabulous and did the book proud.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- RCF
- 13-09-2015
Long and tiresome
Bloated and self indulgent. Might read better than it sounded, however, as I disliked the reader's monotone and poor French pronunciation.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Joel
- 03-02-2016
A lasting impact
It's been 4 weeks since I finished this book and my mind still turns to it daily. The vivid imagery, the characters, the simply exquisite style of Doerr ...I was, and still am, immersed it all.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Judith
- 15-10-2016
Distracting narration
The story was ok, but the repeated mispronounciations by the narrator were an irritating distraction.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Isabelle
- 27-10-2015
A slow-burn story
Long and sometimes tricky to keep up with (due to the jumps back-and-forth in the timeline) it is still a fantastic read!
The story unfurls slowly, with a delicious use of language. The narrator is one of the best I've listened to.
It's a slow-burn narrative, and once the stories start to converge, it becomes highly enjoyable.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Adele
- 23-12-2014
Mispronunciation sure, but buy it anyway!
All the Light We Cannot See is a well balanced gem of a book - beautifully written descriptions and dialogue. Most of all I loved the diverse and complex relationships. The humanity of all the characters was deftly captured, and the many and varied forms of love.
A few words were noticeably mispronounced and it was a little disruptive when that happened. I got the impression that the reader was aware of some of them opted to persist rather than introduce inconsistency. Ideally those mistakes should have been spotted and corrected before publishing. However, aside from these relatively infrequent glitches I loved the narration - it was unobtrusive, understated and sensitive. I was totally engaged and had no difficulty distinguishing one character from another and certainly experienced a wide range of emotions along with the characters.
I would encourage anyone who loves really good literature to listen to this beautiful story.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lydia
- 23-05-2015
An exceptional novel.
If you could sum up All the Light We Cannot See in three words, what would they be?
Haunting.
Exquisite.
Multifaceted.
What did you like best about this story?
That it was told from perspective of 2 individuals, on opposing sides of the war.
The fleeting touch of romance toward the end.
What does Julie Teal bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
The narration transfixed me. I thought it was excellent.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
Diamond sparkles in the dark.
Any additional comments?
One of the best novels I've listened to.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Robyn
- 09-04-2017
Wonderful
A little difficult to keep track of the story as it jumps between characters as well as time but excellent story
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 14-01-2018
Great story of loss resiliance and courage
Doerr creaates memorable word images of places and people . He weaves a back and forth tale that keeps the reader engaged. it is hard to stop listening.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mariechen
- 29-05-2017
Enjoyed it the second time too, but a little less
Would you consider the audio edition of All the Light We Cannot See to be better than the print version?
Not really. I read the print version a year ago and I enjoyed it a lot. I got it on audible because I loved it enough to read it again, and because I thought my blind father would enjoy it a lot.
And he did.
But I didn't like it as much as the print version. There are many factors that could have contributed to it, but I guess this is just not the kind of book I like to listen to in audio, if I have a choice. People like my dad don't have a choice, and they learn to love all sorts of books in audio.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Jutta! (Werner's sister)
She probably could have been characterised a bit more thoroughly, but I enjoyed the way she thought for herself, and the way she supported Werner all the same. I would have liked to know her.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
In this reading, not really for me.
For my dad, it was when Marie-Laure walks away from the house near the end, and when she walks towards safety. He felt it was poignant, and also very realistically written from a blind person's perspective of navigation.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Blanca
- 22-02-2017
Wonderful reading. Poetry in capital letters.
A historic view of our world, it helps us understand the ordinary and extraordinary life during ww2
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- etienne van de Merwe
- 24-11-2023
Magnificent !
Such an elegant mastery of the language. Sight in the minds eye. taste in the mouth, sound in the heart, tears in the soul.
wow truly wow!
Thank you!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Sue
- 08-06-2023
Too tedious
I just couldn’t finish the audio book. Read the origional which I found hard going but the audio is even more difficult to get through.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- buyer
- 20-12-2022
Beautiful
Worth every minute - catch every word. Crafted by a master. Held my attention all the way even after 45 years of reading ww2 books.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tom Dawkins
- 29-11-2022
An extraordinary book
This is one of the best books I've listened to. Lyrical, lush, and very moving. A unique story extraordinarily well told, it moves back and forth in time following two young people swept up in a world gone mad, this book grabs hold of your heart and doesn't let go. I've only just finished it and already I miss it. The reader is perfect.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- JF7588
- 06-02-2015
Despite the narrator
Technically exquisite writing - esp from the close pov of the blind girl - and the research a little too heavy to always convince as the characters' knowledge and not the writer unable to resist sharing his long hours in the library, but a story both epic and intimate, sustained and sincere, if sentimental. The narrator is almost comically inadequate. That she struggles with French and German words I can understand - but English, too? Navvies, noted in a review above, is a favourite, but her pronunciation of 'extravagance' is the best, and may outlast the memory of the book itself for me. Wasn't anybody at the recording listening to her? These errors were so numerous I decided to make them added pleasures, but, yes, the writer and the readers deserve better.
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107 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- bignewshound
- 10-04-2016
THE WORST NARRATION I HAVE HEARD BY A PROFESSIONAL
If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?
Great novel - almost a masterpiece but no one should have to suffer this narration.
What was one of the most memorable moments of All the Light We Cannot See?
Julie Teal's mispronunciations: 'Pistol Packing Maar Maar' - hilarious. As if read by a gawky public schoolgirl. So many mistakes. Embarrassing. The producer was not fit for purpose. The talent was miscast. And she clearly DIDN'T PREPARE. She just turned up and read it. BADLY. 'd think twice about casting her again. JCA, take note.
What didn’t you like about Julie Teal’s performance?
It was an insult to the novel. Re-voice it. Julie Teal cannot do this type of narration.
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
All the above for the right reasons reading it ...and for the wrong reasons listening
Any additional comments?
I love this book. It is almost a masterpiece. But how can Anthony Doerr, his agent and his publisher have allowed this abysmal narration to be released. It is laughable at times and pitiful at others. I counted 11 mispronunciations in the first 90 minutes. What was poor Julie Teal's producer doing. Not listening to the recording, clearly. Absolutely awful. She's a great actor but - like quite a few TV actors - Anna Chancellor is another - dreadful as a VO and audio artist. So sad where there are some really great narrators out there who know how to do it. Please Please get rid of this version and get a competent performer to re-voice this. At least this shows that this kind of work is not easy. Too many sub-standard people are now muscling in on this. Audible is partly to blame. Please, install some quality control. You are important enough now to take a stand on behalf of your customers.
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94 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MB
- 05-10-2014
Great story, woeful narration
Would you listen to All the Light We Cannot See again? Why?
No, the narrator makes too many jarring errors of pronunciation.
What didn’t you like about Julie Teal’s performance?
Too many mispronunciations. For example, navy - in a passage describing how huge trees were cut down to make masts for ships - the French & British navies become "navvies". Seriously - why didn't someone stop her? So many mistakes I found myself calling out the correction "Not 'straff' - STRAFE!" Just hope I didn't do it on the train.
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84 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nicola
- 17-11-2015
Fabulous story, marred by distracting narration
Would you consider the audio edition of All the Light We Cannot See to be better than the print version?
Haven't read the print version but many times wished I was reading it myself to avoid the many jolting mispronunciations by the narrator. They were very distracting and such a shame as it spoilt the flow of the story for me. So, no, I'd recommend the print version for that reason!
What was one of the most memorable moments of All the Light We Cannot See?
I loved the story, the characters and the vivid settings. The account of Werner's schooling at the hands of the Third Reich was really chilling, especially the victimisation of his friend Frederick.
Would you be willing to try another one of Julie Teal’s performances?
No I don't think so. She has a lovely clear voice and I trusted her to tell the story, but there were just too many bizarre errors in pronunciation.
Any additional comments?
A wonderful book that deserved better attention to detail in the production of this audio version.
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41 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- uccellina
- 24-09-2016
Tedious
Turgid prose plus distracting narration make this a painful listen. Those who like redundant adverbs/adjectives crammed into every available space and have nostalgic thoughts of a British ladies with apparent social aspirations might enjoy it.
As a rule, I don't mind eccentric pronunciations but these are constantly shifting (e.g. Marie is variously pronounced Mary, Murray, Marray etc.) and therefore confusing and distracting. Many pronunciations of foreign words are outright incomprehensible and rather a lot of English words read with great affectation. These factors would be outweighed by an otherwise strong performance or a great book but this felt like a book read aloud in a classroom with the pronunciations a jarring distraction. The mind can never sink in to enjoy the story.
I don't think I would have loved this book if I'd read it myself - it's bloated - but the narration really killed it for me.
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33 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Claire
- 10-02-2016
Two sides to every story
Would you consider the audio edition of All the Light We Cannot See to be better than the print version?
No. Although it is very well performed, and the act of listening to this time-shifting and disorientating novel relates very well to the experience of the story's blind heroin, who has to rely much more on her other senses (particularly touch and sound), I think this is a novel better read in print as the point of view changes rapidly from segment to segment (there are no 'chapters' as such) and it's easier to immerse yourself in the written word in this case: so much of the novel is interior thoughts rather than dialogue, which somehow feels more personal when read by yourself.
What other book might you compare All the Light We Cannot See to, and why?
Any war literature - All Quiet on the Western Front for its German perspective, and even a touch of Anne Frank in the tale of Marie Laure as she is confined to the indoors for a large part of the novel, and is constantly in danger of discovery for her household's role in the Resistance. It has a touch of fantasy with the folklore surrounding the diamond, and it could also be viewed as the tale of an orphaned young girl during occupied France.
Which scene did you most enjoy?
I fear I shouldn't say due to spoilers, but I really liked the way the time shifts gradually revealed missing details to the reader without losing any sense of the tension the characters experience.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
I liked hearing Werner's interior thoughts, especially that he just wanted to stay in that moment and that place for a thousand years, knowing he would want nothing else.
Any additional comments?
At the beginning of the novel, I feared it would unfold like a Dan Brown - too much jarring American-english, impossible situations too heroically overcome - but the characterisation and themes are too intense for that to happen: the horrors of WW2 are always shocking and gut-wrenching to read about, and several incidents in this novel offer no exception (spoilers: the Vienna incident; Frederick, his Mother; Volkheimer's actions; Jutta and Fray Elena's horrific ordeal; Daniel leBlanc's pitifully optimistic letters to try to protect his daughter; all the loss of life), so it's no fluffy, escapist read.
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24 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- d t
- 12-07-2020
Ignore the nonsense about the narrator
The sort of people who bothered to whine about the narrator's pronunciation are the sort of people who say "Pareee" rather than "Paris" and "I'm better than you" than "Hello." Ignore them. It's a moving book about the war, the experiences two characters have on the Opposing Teams, and the inevitable conjunction of events towards the end.
I remember the book, and how gripping it was. I also remember putting up curtains as that's what I was doing at the time. I don't remember the narrator being bad because try as I might, I'm simply not petty enough.
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17 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Carol
- 28-10-2014
Page turner, but overwritten.
Is there anything you would change about this book?
Yes, oh indeed yes! Why can't some Readers be bothered to check basic pronunciation in foreign languages? It is so sloppy and unprofessional. Sometimes a Reader gives a consummate performance and one is left breathless with admiration for their mastery of different voices, for their fluency and, above all, for their managing to pronounce names and words from other countries and their languages correctly. But this is not the case with Julie Teal. Her ignorance is astounding. Surely she has heard the word 'Führer' pronounced elsewhere? Or commonplace French forenames such as Etienne? If not, then the producer, or someone should take the trouble to correct her, or she should take the trouble to find out. It can absolutely ruin a book and is thoroughly irritating.
Would you be willing to try another book from Anthony Doerr? Why or why not?
Perhaps, as the story is quite good, though pretty trite at times, and definitely overwritten. It is superfluous to give two or even three adjectives to qualify so many of the nouns. 'Less is more' sometimes!
What didn’t you like about Julie Teal’s performance?
Her pronunciation above all. However, it wasn't her fault that the short, choppy style in places makes it very hard to carry the story along with any fluidity. But her voice and register range is very limited and she makes far too little differentiation between some of the main characters' voices.
Did All the Light We Cannot See inspire you to do anything?
No!
Any additional comments?
I did enjoy some of the incidental detail woven around gemmology, radio transmitters and receivers, the works of Jules Verne and so forth.
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16 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr. Brendan Hayes
- 26-07-2014
Wonderful, absolutely wonderful
Where does All the Light We Cannot See rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
It's up in the top five. My book club - I'm 7 years in this book club....... - voted it the best book we had ever read..... Now!
What other book might you compare All the Light We Cannot See to, and why?
I suppose "The Girl who Dropped from the Sky" covered a similar epoch.
What does Julie Teal bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
i'm a convert to audiobooks because of the acting/voicing talents of the narrators/actors/actresses. It's like the difference between a b/w and 3D colour movie for me. The narrator is a huge contributor to the enjoyment of the book.
If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
Historical Fiction at its very best
Any additional comments?
Now I'll have to ensure I visit St-Malo sometime soon in the future, to see the actual geography being writing about. I wonder does no.4 Rue Voberelle exist....???? Will I be able to resist walking the beach and looking in the ocean for the sea of Flames.......
I want to thank Anthony Doerr for his talent. I searched the internet for a way to contact him to personally thank him for this book..no luck...so I hope he gets to read my thanks here.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Pest of Buda
- 09-09-2018
4 hours too long
I wish I liked this book more, it had a good story which flowed long nicely. It's not fantasy, and it's not a love story, it's a historical tale of struggle and desperation during World War 2. What I liked about this book was that it didn't take any sides and showed the unfairness from both camps. However, it really does go on too long. Imagine a whodunnit movie where two hours go by until the viewer finds out whodunnit. Well, then imagine another two hours where the viewer is subjected to how the whole cast live out their lives after the event.
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