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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 3 AUGUST 2014 37 THIS WEEK HONESTLY, I would have thought by now that despite the fact that 70 years have passed, novelists are still approaching the Second World War in different and origi- nal ways. Marcus Zuzak's The Book Thief approaches the topic through death's viewpoint, Ian McEwan's Atonement tackles the war from a very meta angle, Jonathan Littel's The Kindly Ones focuses on the war from a closet SS Officer. All of these novels twist and subvert our typical ideas of the Second World War and Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See is a new one to the list. Also I would go as far to say that Doerr has written one of the best books of 2014. It is stunning. So what is making me use hyperbole (and trust me there are more adjectives I could chuck in here)? Well, for starters the book does not really feature any battles. A village is raided and there are a couple of people wounded in action but there aren't lengthy chapters devoted to Germans and Brits being slaughtered. In fact most of the action takes place in a French Village, in a mansion. Secondly all the main characters stand out. There's the blind Marie Laure, the electronics whizz kid, Werner, Etienne the eccentric recluse and Reinhold von Rumpel, the unethical collector. Third reason? Doerr eschews tradition- al storytelling techniques - not only does the novel revolve around each character's perspective of the war but all the chapters are bite-sized chunks, ranging between a paragraph to four pages. Despite the brev- ity, the plot has got many layers and the novel is stuffed with detail. Marie Laure is the blind daughter of a locksmith, and living quite comfortably in her house in Paris. When the Nazis in- vade, she and her father have to evacuate. Eventually they settle down in an eccentric relative's house near the French coast. Marie's father is entrusted to smug- gle the rarest artefact of the museum he works at. Thus their pilgrimage and even- tual 'vacation' is a dangerous one. Marie Laure does adapt to the situation and be- gins to discover that coastal life unveils many surprises. Werner Pfenning is a gifted orphan capable of fixing radios. Some Nazi officers discover this talent and he is sent to a military acad- emy so vicious and steeped in Nazi brain- washing that he joins the army as a means of escape. He puts his tal- ents to use, which lead to discovering radio and obscure transmis- sions from France. Reinhold von Rumpel is the official artefacts collector for the Nazis (as an aside, George Clooney's adaptation of Robert Edsel's The Monuments Men for more insight on the way Nazi's used to steal rarities) and there is one particular relic which he is willing to kill for. As the novel progresses the destinies of these characters do cross and there are unexpected results - Doerr does not suc- cumb to any clichés so don't expect some sort of romance between any of the three protagonists, neither is there a chapter dedicated to non-stop gunplay. The au- thor deals with his characters in a slightly unorthodox manner, which makes the reader appreciate the fact that the plot development takes some unexpected U- turns. Although the book is an engaging read, it is enhanced by Doerr's writing style. It glides across the page like a figure skater, always elegant and never flowery. Doerr clearly believes that less is more and this economic approach results in passages being re-read simply for the down-to- earth beauty. There are paragraphs on snail shells, the act of reading Braille, ra- dio transmissions and all are fascinating. There are ugly moments as well, suchas one particu- lar episode where a boy is cruelly bullied, and even these gut-wrenching mo- ments have a poetic angle. All the Light We Cannot See is a perfect novel. It is extremely difficult to find any singular flaw with it. Clever without being pat- ronising, simple yet dis- tinctive, stylish and with tons of substance. This is one book that has to be read and will resonate with the reader for days. The caper plant is one of best-known wild shrubs in Malta. But – as is so often the case with people's relationship with things natural – the reason for this fame is less aesthetic, and more economic/ gastronomic: no self-respecting hobza biz-zejt would be complete without a dash of pickled caper ower buds! That the spectacular owers look like white-and-purple reworks frozen in mid-display is of no consequence to most people. Indeed, to the intrepid bud-pickers, one open ower is one less bud for the pickling jar; unfortunately, too few people show restraint when harvesting from nature, and cause extensive damage to the shrubs. Thankfully capers (M: kappar) are hardy plants, moreover they often grow out of vertical clis where Homo insatiens cannot reach them. On the other hand, the owers are easily accessible to their many insect pollinators. But these must make an early job of it as caper owers are very short- lived. They open early in the morning, but by noon they're already dead and wilted. 415. CAPER GREEN IDEA OF THE WEEK 317: BUY FRESH FROM THE FARMER – Summer is a great time to enjoy fantastic fruit, veg and more, direct from local farmers. Apart from supporting local producers, it's also good news for the environment - less air miles and often less packaging. A raft of measures which aims to make Europe use resources more wisely was announced in Brussels recently. The European Commission's 'Circular Economy Package' covers a broad spectrum of resource-related areas including materials, food, buildings and waste disposal. However, it lacks concrete measures in many areas, according to the organisation, and fails to take into account all the resources Europe consumes. A major flaw in the proposed target for improving resource use means only on the weight of materials Europe uses is currently taken into account, and not the huge amounts of land and water inherent in the production of these materials. The proposals do not give a full picture of the resources Europe consumes. The plans fail to address resources, like land and water, contained in the products we consume. If Europe is going to take resource overconsumption seriously then it needs to start measuring all the land, carbon, water and material it's responsible for consuming – and making plans to reduce these in absolute terms. Europe is a net importer of resources and is dependent on resources from other countries, including many poorer, lower- consuming countries. This overconsumption is linked to pollution, deforestation, climate change, land-grabbing, human rights abuses and other environmental and social problems. The failure to take account of water and land footprints, has led to poorly thought- out policies in areas such as biofuels and fracking. Footprints are a measurement of the land and water consumed domestically within Europe plus the land and water imported within products such as food and clothing, minus the land and water exported. The failure to include these footprints will prevent Europe from becoming more resource efficient, according to the organisation. The European Commission's proposed 'resource productivity indicator', linked to Gross Domestic Productivity (GDP) fails to give a clear picture of overall consumption. This results in distorted calculations, making countries with high GDP appear more resource efficient than they really are. Circular economy must focus on land and water Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us www.foemalta.org. You can also support us by sending a blank SMS donation on 50618070 (€4.66) or 50619223 (€11.65). By Robert Pisani WWII through different eyes From dancing next to John Travolta and Olivia Newton John in 'Grease', to playing the lead role in 'Fame', Antonia Franc- eschi who has won Lon- don's Time Out Award for "Outstanding Achieve- ment in Dance" will now be presenting her exciting choreography at Pjazza Teatru Rjal on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 August. A troup of six dancers from The Royal Ballet, Ram- bert, Ballet Black, Ran- dom Dance and The New York City Ballet will be ac- companied live by pianist Yoshiko Sato, cellist Johan Stern and violinist Richard Wade. Just Dance presents a programme inspired by Gershwin`s classic piece `Rapsody in Blue` where he brilliantly engages and invites the listener with his urban sounds mixed with the unmistakable classi- cal inventions to a place of optimism and hope. Just Dance presents works by various composers includ- ing Allen Shawn, Zoe Mar- tlew, Richard Lumsden and the pioneer of solo violin Von Westkoff. Antonia Franceschi who has also choreographed several works for Ballet Black, London Contempo- rary School, The New York Theatre Ballet, and most recently for Mara Galea- zzi and Roman Pajdak of The Royal Ballet, will also be giving two master classes of 90minutes each on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 August at 11.00am. For more information contact brigittegauciborda@pjaz- zateatrurjal.com Just Dance will be held on Saturday 9 August and Sunday 10 August at 9.00pm at Pjazza Teatru Rjal, Valletta. Tickets are available from www.tick- etline.com.mt or the Em- bassy Cinema Valletta. Tickets will also be avail- able at the door. Find AFD Just Dance on Facebook. Just Dance - the frailties, passions and humour, energy, rhythms and tempos Text and photo Victor Falzon