Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
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Book Reviews of Everything Is Illuminated
Book Review: A wonderful Jewish tale, but there's something I'd like to menschen...
Summary: 4 Stars
Foer's first novel introduces a brazen and audacious writerly voice in much the same way as Zadie Smith's White Teeth.
Chutzpah is the word to describe Foer's approach- where much of the novel is written in Alex's hyperbolic malapropisms (Ukranian who gives a solid whacking to book-learned English literacy). The author's conceit is exposed in the way Alex accurately meets his verb cases while corrupting the vocabulary in a paradoxically pitch perfect way. As such, there's total transparency that the author not Alex is behind this literary legerdemain.
When Foer writes for himself- the beautiful fabulistic telling of shetetl existence through the centuries - his talents are truly exposed. Unfortunately, one of the key plot turns has too much "Sophie's Choice" to it. Contrivances are something Foer is addicted to and I believe it does take away from the novel. You can see the tendency to go post-modern on us (writer's equivalent of going "postal") and whereas I haven't read his second novel, I have picked it up to see many empty pages- c'mon let's not kill more trees for no reason!
I haven't read all the other reviews but clearly Foer is influenced by Isaac Bashevis Singer and in certain respects his stories of European Jewish shetetl life are almost as redemptively humanistic and humorous as Singer's. I suspect, however, that Foer's shortcomings will reveal themselves in his future writings; that his wizardry with language will be snuffed out by his conceits.
Book Review: A truly original work
Summary: 4 Stars
At first it feels like a stunt, but as you delve deeper into it, you find its cadence and then you are fascinated. This combination travelogue, with a comic translator, a "blind" driver and a very confused American and history of Jewish town destroyed by the Nazis, is an amazing tapestry of fractured English, magical realism, and real emotion. Foer reinterprets his own experiences in the Ukraine as a twenty-year old looking for some information about his grandfather's own escape from Trachimbrod into an incredible journey where the truth is not in the research, but in the story's words. Written in an oddly compelling combination of letters between a fictional Jonathan and his translator Alex, with excerpts from "Jonathan's" imaginary history of Trachimbrod (The only real problem I had with the work. Jonathan's tales of Trachimbrod lack the originality that is found throughout the rest of the novel. They just sound like some stories that Singer decided were too boring to tell.), EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED is a wonderful example of how creative language can be and how the truth is what we make of it.
Book Review: A lot of book in a small package
Summary: 4 Stars
When I try to explain how this book is written to my friends, they give me a look of "It sounds like too much to bother with..." And on the surface, it sounds as if it might be, but the book is managable even as it tells 3 different (but same) stories at the same time. I wanted to read the book before I saw the film as movies seem to spoil the experience of a book. However, this might not be a bad book to read if the movie piqued your interest. The film leaves out most of all of the back story that leads up to the present time search for a town that is no longer on the map and a woman who is no longer of this earth. As other reviewers may say, I was a little confused by the ramifications of the ending. I'm giving this a 4-star rating, but would really like to give it a 3.5. Some points of the story seemed to not be fully realized or were out of place. However it was an ambitious story that was well-done.Book Review: 4.25 stars
Summary: 4 Stars
I read Foer's work in reverse order: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close first, with his debut Everything is Illuminated second. I enjoyed the former so much, that I suppose I was subconsciously hoping for an exact replica of the book I had read previously. Which is completely stupid, I am aware. So, for that reason alone, it took me a while to get into it. The beginning remained a bit confusing, until I got into the flow of Foer's distinguished writing once again. Then it was a breeze.
I cannot wait for another read by him. They make me think, they make me feel. They are unconventional, and superior in getting the point across. I feel indebted to Foer for his work. Thank you, from a reader. You should become one.
Book Review: Interesting Use of Language...
Summary: 4 Stars
I had been very excited to read this after watching the movie. The movie is certainly different than the book (which made certain points of the book confusing to me), but I do think the book was much better. I have certainly never read a book with this type of structure before and I greatly enjoyed the fusing of these three stories into one. I really enjoyed it, though I did like the movie quite a bit as well. The use of language is really what sets this book apart from others.