All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Masterfully and beautifully written historical fiction taking place in the early 1940s as the horrors of the 2nd World War unfold in Europe. This is a fairly long novel (500+ pp.) with short chapters that read very fast. Anthony Doerr is uncanny in his ability to sustain the initially parallel but increasingly interwoven life stories of the two main characters throughout the novel until its climactic moment.

As far as a literary work is concerned, I think that was the one, unique feature of Doerr's prose in All the Light We Cannot See. Coupled with an amazing writing style and powerful gift to create visually poetic images that will stick with you for a long time on the one hand,

"That first peach slithers down his throat like rapture. A sunrise in his mouth." (p. 471),

and viscerally unsettling ones on the other,

"...and disappears in a fountain of earth." (p. 484).

All the Light We Cannot See will break your heart and haunt you after you turn the last page. Two young lives, much too young, thrown into circumstances equally much beyond their control. Providence? Destiny? Luck? It doen't matter what you think of it in the end. The reality is that the effects of war linger far too long after it's over. Even today, if we pay a little attention we might actually get to see 'All the Light We Cannot See.'


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Stupid Cavs!

The Firing of Coach David Blatt

Some of planet earth's biggest egos are found in pro sports and nowhere is this truer than American professional sports. It could be argued that that's why American pro athletes get paid the big bucks, to compensate for their outsized prima donna selves. Whether they are the super players the money is supposed to justify is beside the point. 

The authors of this article have done a great job describing what has been a sour and shocking news throughout the NBA community in the last 24 hours, dished out to us via the Cleveland Cavaliers - the firing of their latest coach, David Blatt. While the analysis is thorough spanning all the way back to the summer of 2014, Coach Blatt's firing MAKES NO SENSE. The Cavs went on a trip all the way to the NBA Finals last season against the Golden State Warriors and, boy, was that a series! Remember, they played without K. Love and Kyrie Irving due to injuries. The story might have been quite different had they been healthy. Oh, and it was Coach Blatt's FIRST season as an NBA coach. Not bad. 

This season so far? The Cavs are in the number 1 position of the Eastern Conference and are definitely the favorites in the east to make it all the way to the Finals again, now with K. Love and Kyrie Irving back in the roster. So yeah, let's fire Coach Blatt! 

Now, I understand that there are certain dynamics that may alter the end results the organization wants to achieve, in this case a championship, and it must ensure they have everything at their disposal from staff to players to coaches in order to do so. But scapegoating a coach with an impressive professional resume as Blatt's because the team players are upset just shows you the perennial and ironically, at the same time, perishable values governing professional sports organizations of which the Cleveland Cavaliers is nothing but one more example. I'm a basketball fan. A good chunk of my life has been taken up with watching NBA ball since the early 80s. I appreciate this beautiful game, but I'll tell you this- nothing is beautiful in this life without humility. 

I hope Lebron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers make it again to the NBA Finals. I even hope they win the championship under their new coach Tyronn Lue. He certainly seems to have a promising career ahead of him as an NBA head coach and should count himself fortunate to have such players as the ones he currently has. Unfortunately, his first game as the Cavs head coach, a home game no less, was a tough loss tonight against the Chicago Bulls. I'm not superstitious, but let's hope this is not an omen for the remainder of their season. 

Terminating Coach Blatt in such a manner has left me as a fan with a very bad taste in the mouth. It may be that the Cavs take a turn for the better or for the worse after this sudden change. Well just have to wait and see. Somewhere down the line there will be the GS Warriors or the San Antonio Spurs to be reckon with. And for the looks of it if they actually make it into the playoffs and then into the Finals, the Cavs will be in for a good lesson regardless of who's coaching them. 

Mi Pasado Presente

te fuiste
como todos los días de nuestro pasado
en un día lluvioso
que confundió nuestras lágrimas con su danza

ahora ese pasado es mi presente sin ti
y aunque ya no hay tantos días nublados
sigue lloviendo en mí

camino con tu sombra agarrada de mi mano
y me pregunto si mi alma te acompaña
mientras duermes, cuando ríes, cuando callas

convertida en la gran pregunta
dejaste atrás mi puerta abierta
anhelando escuchar la voz
de tu regreso, pero te fuiste

sin respuesta, sin aliento
me dejaste mi pasado presente

Contigo adentro

Lo siento, vida mía
ya se ha puesto un poco el sol
en su marcha cabizbaja y silenciosa
va cargando un gran dolor

Nunca temimos juntos sus caricias
cuando en su más exquisita dulzura
tomados de la mano, vida mía
le abrimos nuestra alma a la llanura

Pero ya se siente un poco el frío, vida mía
¿A dónde se habrá ido el fuego de mi aliento?
Y, ¿quién nos traerá esa larga luz de la mañana?
Si fue hace sólo un momento que nuestros ojos se abrieron

Abrázame, vida mía, tengo sueño
parece ser que mi corazón se ha cansado
tal vez tu sangre corriendo por mis venas me despierte 

y contigo nuevamente adentro me vea renovado