University of Idaho selects Idaho author’s novel as Common Read
Monday, February 23
The University of Idaho has chosen the best-selling novel "All the Light We Cannot See" by Boise author Anthony Doerr as its Common Read for 2015-16.
“We are thrilled to give our incoming first-year students a chance to read this remarkable story and to engage with our faculty about the issues raised by the book,” said Rodney Frey, UI’s director of General Education, which sponsors the Common Read.
"All the Light We Cannot See" will be the first work of fiction and the first book by an Idahoan to be selected in the eight-year history of UI’s Common Read program.
“I'm humbled and honored to have All the Light We Cannot See selected for the University of Idaho’s Common Read,” Doerr said. “I strongly believe that fiction can increase empathy in the world and deepen our experiences of life, and I'm so grateful that the committee was willing to choose a novel. And, of course, to have the book selected by a university in my home state is very special.”
Members of the Common Read committee praised the book for its ability to engage first-year students with a compelling story.
“'All the Light We Cannot See' is simply the best book I’ve read in a dozen years,” said Claudia Wohlfeil, academic resources lead for the VandalStore and a member of the Common Read committee, which made the selection. “Last year, I read cover to cover 154 books and started (but did not complete) another 50 or so,” she added.
“The minute I started 'All the Light,' I knew it was going to be something amazing,” Wohlfeil said. “The story just grabbed me and did not let go.”
The Common Read is designed to engage the university and Moscow community, its students, staff, faculty and community members in a unified intellectual activity, Frey said.
“It introduces first-year students to academic expectations, respectful discourse and community building,” he explained. First-year students will be asked to read the book as part of the requirements for their Integrated Seminar (ISEM) 101 course, part of the UI’s innovative general education program.
The Common Read is supported by the Judith Runstad lecture series, which in the past has sponsored a keynote address by the book’s author or someone closely associated with the book.
"All the Light We Cannot See" is set in the years leading up to World War II in Europe, as well as a key period after the Allied invasion of France in 1944. It tells the parallel stories of Marie-Laure, a blind girl living in occupied France, and Werner, a German orphan whose extraordinary mechanical abilities earn him a place among the Nazi elite. It was a finalist for the 2014 National Book Award and has been on the New York Times bestseller list for 42 weeks.
The book was nominated by Diane Kelly-Riley, director of writing for the UI’s Department of English, and Kenton Bird, director of the School of Journalism and Mass Media. In their nomination letter, they wrote: “Doerr’s book is a captivating story that weaves together science, music, folklore, radio, engineering, technology, history, food, coming of age, living with disability, living in industrial towns, and issues of gender and identity.”
Bird and Kelly-Riley praised Doerr’s meticulous research that laid the foundation for the novel. “Doerr deftly integrates his extensive knowledge of subjects ranging from World War II history to marine life to radio technology and transmission to what it would be like to live as a blind girl during World War II to issues of political oppression,” they wrote. “It will lend itself to discussions that will begin in the classroom and continue across campus.”
Doerr is also the author of "About Grace," a novel; "The Shell Collector" and "Memory Wall," collections of short stories, and "Four Seasons in Rome," a memoir.
About the University of Idaho
The University of Idaho helps students to succeed and become leaders. Its land-grant mission furthers innovative scholarly and creative research to grow Idaho's economy and serve a statewide community. From its main campus in Moscow, Idaho, to 70 research and academic locations statewide, U-Idaho emphasizes real-world application as part of its student experience. U-Idaho combines the strength of a large university with the intimacy of small learning communities. It is home to the Vandals. For information, visit www.uidaho.edu.