from goodreads |
Have you ever gone through a period where you feel distracted. It is hard to keep your focus and you flit between projects like a butterfly. That's how I feel right now. I seem to be flitting between household projects, church projects and different books.
It's weird when you are not able to just hunker down and get one thing done and then move on to the next. It's like you are juggling a billion balls and making sure none of them drop. Hopefully I'll be able to get out of this pattern soon as it can be quite stressful at times. But, that's the fun thing about life. Things are always changing, it doesn't stay stagnant for long. (At least that is my life, especially with young kids.)
Synopsis
This is a beautifully simple and lovely story that follows two primary characters. The first is Marie-Laure. A girl who lost her eyesight at age six and lives in Paris with her father, a key maker that works for a Museum. The second is Werner, an orphan who lives in a children's house in Essen. He has a raw talent for building and working with radios.
The book shows us their experience during WWII. Though they live hundreds of kilometers apart, their tales are compatible and interwoven through their love of knowledge.
My Thoughts
What a magical and wonderful story. I really enjoyed this book. The era and locations in which this book was set are of great interest to me and I felt that this author gave great justice to the history and societal happenings of the time. You get a glimpse at the complex nature in which Europe found itself, without being bogged down by names, dates, and overloads of other data.
I really loved how we get to see the characters before the war and then get the opportunity to watch them evolve as the war goes on.
I loved the character of Werner. I felt for him. The author did a beautiful job at showing Werner's confusion and stalled behaviour. Werner's inability to react to and understand the mean, nasty and inhuman actions that went on around him gave voice to those in Nazi Germany who were in the same position. It would not have been an easy position to be in. You know something is wrong but you are not sure what to do about it. Risk your life or safety, or put up your blinders.
The story of Marie-Laure and Etienne was heart-warming. It was great to see them come together and emerge from their shells. The juxtaposition of Marie-Laure's action and Werner's inaction was very interesting. Though Marie-Laure is physically blind she sees truth and right and acts on it. Werner can see yet he puts on blinders.
I wish we knew more of the thoughts and background of Volkheimer. He seems like a sensitive soul I would have liked to know better. There were a few other little frays that I would have liked to see wrapped up or know about, such as what did Frederick's father do? Was he high up in the Nazi regime? I know that everything can't nicely wrapped up and that the not knowing makes the story realistic to the time period, but it would still have been nice to know.
While I do like happy endings, and in my dream world, no one would die, this did not happen and yet I felt satisified. Sometimes when characters die it seems senseless and ridiculous. (Thinking about Divergent series.) In this book it made sense and in some way made the story seem more complete because of it.
This book is definitely a must read. I found it to be lovely. I now want to live in Brittany in a 6 story home. I think visiting St. Malo will be on my bucket list. I would also love to see the models that Marie-Laure's father made as well. What a thoughtful man he was. What a sweet story this is.
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