Customer Reviews

Everything Is Illuminated

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The eccentric and attention-seeking graphics of the bookjacket convey the idea that this book is fresh, daring, kooky, and inventive--and the book is all these things! But it is also serious and thoughtful, touching on universal themes and the essence of what makes us human. With young "heroes" who are sometimes both earnest and sweetly vulnerable, the book contains moments of profound melancholy, as well as deep sadness, behind its bravado and its finger-snapping brio.

Jonathan Safran Foer, a character bearing the same name as the author, is looking for the woman he believes saved his grandfather Safran from the Nazis. Traveling to the Ukraine, he meets Alex Perchov, a young man representing a Ukrainian travel agency which specializes in taking tourists to the sites of vanished shetls. Alex, a not-quite-fluent translator, and his "blind" grandfather, who serves as the driver, travel with Jonathan to the site of Trachimbrod, his family's village, collecting stories and legends which will help Jonathan learn about his family and his Ukrainian Jewish heritage.

Parts of the book are a bit sophomoric. (How many farting dog jokes does one need? And do we really need to know the details of Grandfather Safran's 132 mistresses?) The fictional Jonathan's letters and comments as he writes a novel about his trip are an artificial device for dealing, perhaps, with the author's uncertainties and/or heading off criticism, while the chapters he includes for Alex's review, are, of course, the actual chapters of this book. And Alex's misuse of language, while often very funny, begins to pall after numerous repetitions.

But these are minor criticisms in view of the author's immense achievement in dynamically presenting two young men as they explore who they are, where they come from, and how they fit in the world. As the sought-after story of each boy's grandfather emerges, the depth and breadth of family relationships and cultural history become clearer to character and reader alike. The dramatic and moving conclusion clearly establishes Foer's credentials as a brilliant new talent. Mary Whipple

Jonathan Safran Foer takes literary risks and entertaining leaps in his debut novel, "Everything is Illuminated," an amusing chunk of magical realism. It's a tragicomic experience, centering on the devastation of the Holocaust, and a modern-day quest for the past.

A young Jewish American man -- same name as the author, Jonathan Safran Foer -- travels to the Ukraine. His reason: to locate Augustine, a woman who apparently saved his grandfather from the Nazis... only he just has a photo to guide him. He's accompanied by an annoying, flatulent dog, and an old man haunted by war memories.

He also corresponds with the old man's quirky grandson Alex, and new revelations are made about both young men through their letters. And in the third story-line, we are treated to the history of Trachimbrod, an endearing shtetl full of peculiar people... which was destroyed by the Nazis long ago.

"Everything is Illuminated" seems to be primarily about the past and present, and how those two things connect. To twentysomethings now, World War II seems as distant in some ways as the Trojan War, unless brought to life by someone else's words. Foer may not have been there during the Holocaust, but his unique novel will leave you thinking and wondering about the past.

It's certainly an unconventional story. Foer has a quirky, offbeat style that gets a little off-kilter. And he bends everything from his narrative to the characters to the English language ("spleening"?). Not to mention reality -- by naming his alter ego Jonathan Safran Foer, he blurs the line between fiction and reality. Is this based on anything real? Does Alex exist? Is there a Trachimbrod? At the end of the day, none of it matters. Even if these things don't actually exist, they certainly do have real counterparts.

Foer's book is not quite a work of genius. Sometimes the fragmented, topsy-turvy narrative runs away from him. Not to mention that the in-jokes -- the flatulent dog, the Russo-American dialect -- do not age terribly well. But the humor and magical realism tinges start to fade as the Holocaust looms overhead. While the opening chapters may make you laugh, it becomes far deeper and more intricate later on.

"Everything" may not be totally illuminated, but it is a quirky, sometimes saddening book that stumbles and takes a few risks. A flawed but excellent debut.

Having seen the film, I anticipated that, as is so often the case, the book would be much better. I was disappointed. There are the tragi-comic moments between Jonathan and Alex, and certainly there are poignant and touching moments as well, particularly when Jonathan reaches Trachimbrod. But, as other reviewers have said, the book has its odd places as well that were distracting and frustrating. Farting dogs, detailed descriptions of sexual conquests, and the corrospondence between Alex and Jonathan were particularly rough going. The discussion of Russian (and Ukrainian) anti-Semitism and the relationship between Alex and his family were spot-on descriptions of my memories of Russia, which was a strength.

In all, I have very stong, very mixed feelings about the book. Foer is a great writer, and does so with wit and an artist's eye for detail. However I could have done without some of the literary devices he used. In the final analysis, I thought the film was superior to the book, which was disappointing.

I have a book review blog that reviewed this book on February 2, 2009:
[...]

"A very good novel split into sections that go back and forth. One narrated by a Ukranian who cannot speak English very well, but it improves as he keeps studying. He works as a translator with his Grandfather for his father's touring business that allows tourists to find old places their ancestors once lived, etc. And he narrates the story of "the hero" and his search to find a woman who saved his grandfather in World War II. Other sections are the hero's writings of his own family history from a terrible wagon accident in a river by his very-great grandfather to the same river many years and generations after during the war. The other sections are letters as the two characters send their writings back and forth across the ocean and comment on each other's lives. It is a great novel that has you feeling for everyone in it, even "the bitch, Sammy Davis, Junior, Junior." (Shhh: One part made me cry.)"
[From Facebook's "Caught Reading: Summer Project 2007"]

Although I cannot remember exactly which part made me cry, I do know that I am still in love with this book. The idea of a personalized tour through your own family history fascinates me. The Hero is trying to find the woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis during World War II. However, his tour guides don't come off as professional at first glance. Alex is a Ukranian obsessed with the club scene and still learning to speak English, which is an important fact since he is working as translator. It's a family enterprise: Alex's father owns the tour company, and Alex's grandfather is the nearly blind van driver who is extremely protective of his "seeing eye bitch," a horny dog named Sammy Davis Junior, Jr. As Alex leads the Hero through the countryside to learn more about family history, Alex is also getting closer to his grandfather. This story line is a very entertaining one, enough to make a movie starring Elijah Wood, but the movie leaves out my favorite parts. Intertwined with this narrative are the writings of the Hero about the story of his ancestors. While searching for the woman who saved his grandfather, the Hero writes the narrative of his family's history leading up to the story of that grandfather. The historical excerpts from the city of Trachimbrod are all shocking, engaging, lovable, disturbing, and all together memorable. I just can't get over the amazing love story of the Hero's ancestors, but also the amusing workings of the tour group as they trace through the Ukranian countryside where millions of treasures lay buried in jars.

The amazing balance of detail and simplicity makes Foer's writing accessible to all types of readers. The intricate plot that he weaves also makes it enjoyable for all. There is seriously something for everyone in this novel, and the writing style helps prove this. The author has a distinct style for the separate sections of this novel and because of this, I do not get confused by the plot jumps, and can keep reading and enjoying the journey.

Foer's novel is a great search for knowledge that ends up illuminating more than what was originally sought after. When looking for a good read, you will definitely get more than expected from this work. And in a good way. That is the only way I can think to describe this book. I definitely recommend this novel for everyone! It will definitely stay with you. It is a must read before anyone can call themselves a "well-read person."

"You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend."
-Paul Sweeney

The contemporary scenes in the book, narrated by the Ukrainian interpreter, got me through the book. The scenes from the past were weird and self-indulgent. The book comes together as you move through it, but I'm not sure it's worth the journey.

Jonathan Safran Foer's use of the English language is beautiful. While he has a very different style of writing and it may take a little while to get into it, I don't see what there is not to like. I'm not sure which I liked better- this or his "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," but both are worth the read. A review I could write could not do this work justice. I laughed. I cried... It's a good book.- Lauren

Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer, is the first book I've read this year. It was a gift to me in September 2010, and it is only now that I have had the time to sit down and get into it. I think that some things are worth writing, and some are worth reading, what Jonathan Safran Foer has created, is both these things.

It took me a good 40 pages to really start to want to read this book, but after that I was hooked. Set in the Ukraine, it is a little bit reminiscent of the Ukrainian tractor book that was popular in recent times. The book touches on a whole range of themes, from love to death (all the usuals), but the language and the story are like nothing I've ever read before. It is brilliantly written. Safran Foerhas an uncanny and enviable way with words. The passage below is without a doubt my favourite from the book, but there are countless sentences and phrases that deserve to be noted, and read again at a later date.

"If we were to open to a random page in her journal - which she must have kept and kept with her at all times, not fearing that it would be lost, or discovered and read, but that she would one day stumble upon that thing which was finally worth writing about and remembering, only to find she had no place to write it." p80: Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer

I bought this book because I LOVED the movie. I still prefer the movie over the book...it lost me in the long and, as another reviewer noted, really tedious descriptions of the sexual escapades of some characters. Really ruined the book for me...I was unmoved and turned off by the whole "useless arm' scenario...just didn't get it. A lot of description of the characters in the shetl killed the charm as well. Very unlikable types in many ways. The most enjoyable and moving were those scenes that were also covered in the movie...the search for Trachimbrod, the diaglogue between Jonathan and Alex - quite brilliant. Would have been better as two separate books.

A modern masterpiece. These charmingly, quirky characters will stick in your mind long after reading this wonderful novel. The hysterical narration has great fun with butchering the English language in inventive ways. This book reads like 2 or 3 (maybe more) great stories all rolled into one deliciously complex novel. When you're going to write about something as terrible as the Holocaust, humor is brilliant way to delicately approach it. This book blew me away. A novel written this beautifully comes along no more frequently than once per decade, if that often. 4-1/2 stars.

did this kid really have penguin print his book to look like it's one of their old classics?

even the book jacket is as superficial as the book in this instance.
wow.