Monday, November 30, 2015

Online Book Club: All the Light We Cannot See

Current Book: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr


Discussion questions:
  • Discuss how the radio plays a major part in the story and the time period.
  • The narration moves back and forth both in time and between different characters. How did this affect your reading experience?
  • Whose story did you enjoy the most? Was there any character you wanted more insight into?
  • When Werner and Jutta first hear the Frenchman on the radio, he says “Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever." How do you think this phrase relates to the overall message of the story? The title?
  • What did you learn or realize about blindness through Marie-Laure’s perspective? Do you think her being blind gave her any advantages?
  • Marie-Laure suggests the open-endedness of the end of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is intentional and meant to make us wonder. Are there any unanswered questions from this story that you think are meant to make us wonder?
  • What do you think of the author’s decision to flash forward at the end of the book? Did anything surprise you?
  • Discuss the themes of good versus evil throughout the story. What do you think are the  lessons that these characters and their stories teach us?