Everything Is Illuminated: A Novel by Jonathan Safran Foer
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Book Reviews of Everything Is Illuminated: A Novel
Book Review: Mostly illuminated
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Book Review: Everything is Illuminated
Summary: 4 Stars
This was a hard book to get in to. It's nothing like the movie, and yet exactly like the movie. That Jonathan Safran Foer does not "collect family things" in the book was a disappointment. I am puzzled as to why and where they came up with that for the movie.
Everyone said this book is so good, but I didn't really like it at first. Alex's broken English was comical, but I didn't connect with the story. However, halfway through I got really into it.
This book is written in many different styles; there is one side of a letter-conversation between Alex and Jonathan (Alex's side), there is Alex's recollection of the events of their search, there is the story of Jonathan's ancestors. There are parts written in dialogue and stream of consciousness as well. Much of the book is anachronistic and confused. I found a lot of nonsense in it that I couldn't place within the context of the story. But there is also some very painful beauty in this story, and some wonderful truths.
Some particularly good lines:
"Everything is the way it is because everything was the way it was. Sometimes I feel ensnared in this, as if no matter what I do, what will come has already been fixed."
"Everyone performs bad actions... A bad person is someone who does not lament his bad actions"
Book Review: Everything Is Illuminated
Summary: 4 Stars
Just started it but its pretty good so far. My co-worker recommended it to me.Book Review: Literary Flair and Exuberant Creativity Do Not A Novel Make
Summary: 3 Stars
Spread across the different editions of this book there are three camps of reviews. (A) The-omigod-this-is-brilliant camp, (B) the This-is-an-insult-to-Ukranians (and/or ignorant of Ukraine/WWII/history/language) camp, and (C) The YES-FOER'S-GOT-TALENT-BUT-THIS-BOOK-DOESN'T-HOLD-TOGETHER-AMIDST-THE-FLAIR CAMP.
For me, the clear choice is C. I certainly am impressed that an author as young as Foer (was) could write this book. He evinces tremendous dexterity and creativity as a writer. He is bold and inventive. And like a circus performer, he can juggle many odd-shaped and strange objects in the air with only a rare drop.
But, like the other C-camp reviewers, I found that the juggling and circus show ultimately took over the novel. There was too much "look at me" by the author and not enough substance to the novel. The novel was buried beneath layers of writing, if you will.
As the book went on it took me more and more effort to pick up the book and turn the pages. With many other reviewers I agree that the wildly funny broken English gets to be a tad old and a bit of a hindrance after a while. And, with some others, I felt that the magical realism of the old shetl bogged down. I got very tired of the shetl, its goofy accidents, and its wild (hetero-male oriented) sex... this impacted the outcome of the novel, because I felt less connected to these people, whose victimhood at the hands of the Nazis (and Ukrainian goyim) is meant to provide the combustion of the entire novel. It almost works, in a "Life Is Beautiful," Roberto Benigni sort of way. And I certainly was moved by the genocidal imagery. But literary flair again interrupts here. For example, in one of its most important narrations of the Nazi murders, by the Ukrainian grandfather, is done in a heavily stylized stream-of-consciousness.
Several of my fellow C-camp reviewers note that the absurdly laudatory praise for this book (book of the year from a few quarters) is unwarranted and sets the book up for a real letdown. Some also noted that Foer has big-time connections in the elite literary-publishing world--thus, they imply, some of his reviews and attention might be a bit hyped up personal networking and by savvy business insiders. I myself was certainly drawn to the praise from on high, and feel a bit cheated in the process. And, with my other C-campers, I do feel that Foer--so young, and so gifted--is one to watch. Next time we'll afford him less of the benefit of youth, and try not to crown him a Great Novelist prematurely. We'll try to let him find his own voice--hopefully one that does not impede the path of the novel.
Book Review: Avant-garde Isn't Everything
Summary: 2 Stars
Jonathan Safran Foer is a genius. How do I know this? Because the Times of London and The San Francisco Chronicle tell me he is. Only 25 when he penned his debut novel, EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED, I have read glowing blurb after blurb by the intelligentsia regarding Foer's incredible talent and brilliance. A child prodigy, most certainly. So I picked up this book expecting to experience the blinding road to Damascus. . .
Look, is Jonathan Safran Foer talented? You bet he is. Does he write well--with emotion, power, and wit? Most assuredly. Was his POV from the young Ukranian Alex, who narrates this tale in hysterically funny broken English, clever and innovative? You better believe it. But great writing and humorous narration only take the story so far--and when the author decides its time to let the narrative shine on his own writing devices and props, well, that's when I get off the Foer bandwagon. Sentences running four pages long (sans punctuation) and two or three pages of nothing but ellipses (. . . . .) do not impress me in the least. When I read a piece of literature I want to be overwhelmed with flowing and brilliant prose--not gimmicks.
That the author was 25 is noteworthy, yet as I read this story about two families--one Jewish, the other Ukranian--on a parallel journey of discovery, as I read Foer's observations about life, about love, I come to one incontrovertible conclusion: These are the musings of a twenty-five-year-old. Nothing wrong with that, but if I want to see what a young adult thinks about the complexities of love I can always go to myspace or facebook. You can find the same kind of "she was in love with the concept of love" purple prose there.
While EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED is about, well, illumination, Foer didn't even bother to resolve his two story threads--especially the Jewish family, where he himself was the main character. One particularly dire inner family conflict was never really vetted or explained. Overall, this is a whimsical, farfetched, uneven novel, featuring the author swooping in from his eclectic trapeze. Yes, it's definitely outside the box, but nobody seems to know where the box went.
--D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning
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