All the Light We Cannot See - Anthoney Doerr

"Oh she knows
She takes his hand
And prays the child will understand
At the door they watch the men go by
In the clothes that daddy wore
Mothers pride
Baby boy
His father's eyes
He's a soldier waiting for war
Time will come
He'll hold a gun
His father's son"

      (mother's pride - George Michael, from "listen without prejudice - vol 1" )

       In my mind, while  trying to accept the injustice that Frederick had to endure, and pay a very high price for, the haunting melody of this song started playing repeatedly deeply inside of me. For, to me, Frederick was possibly the strongest, the most mature character in this wonderful novel. For his age, he knew himself well, he knew the terms of the times that he lived in ( quote "Your problem, Werner is that you still believe that you own your life") and despite the fact that he had no one stick up for him - not his parents, not even Werner - he lived life on his own terms, albeit at a very expensive price. Yet am forced to move away from  this rich composed character, for he is, but a secondary character, in this narration which revolves around Marie-Laure LeBlanc who survives the times, and ends up an expert of her own chosen pet field, and Werner Pfennig, the child genius for whom, his belief in his dreams becomes a big let down. While the narration centers around these two main characters, all the secondary characters add so much depth to our understanding of the times, that in hindsight, the tale of Marie-Laure and Werner Pfennig almost has discounted importance. Thus to me, it is the contribution from the secondary characters that nurtured  these two - Daniel, who in the only way he knows paved the path for Marie-Laure to become what she is, despite her condition;  Etienne, who once he overcame his own demons, gave the environment that Marie-Laure so needed; how the rock solid gentle giant Volkheimer,  proved a friend in his own  silent, strange way ( when reading about the traits of Volkheimer, one cannot but be convinced that he just have to be a real life character ), Jutta, who had added that sense of scepticism to Werner, otherwise so blinded with  ambition - that made this book closer to a classic.

The landscape of Paris, Saint Malo and Zollverein described in just sufficient detail to make the reader be part of it - yet not be bogged by too much detail, the breathtakingly beautiful "illustration", which makes us comprehend how a visually impaired person, come to terms with her life, and lives it fully, and the cruelty of war ( this I have not emphasized much ,since this is not the first well written account of war, and nor will it be the last ), all combine to make this a great rewarding reading experience. 

The most recent Booker and Pulitzer award winners that I read were The Golden Finch, The Luminaries, The Narrow Road to the Deep North and A Brief History of Seven Killings. Of these, I'd be challenged, if I am to select the  best among these, and I will select The Narrow Road to the Deep North, A Brief History of Seven Killings and  this book by Anthoney Doerr, and  call it a tie. However among these three, this would be the most readable - wait, possibly this is the most readable among the five books mentioned ( which is not to say that it is THE best), by some length.