Customer Reviews

Everything Is Illuminated: A Novel

5 star:		(129)
4 star:		(45)
3 star:		(29)
2 star:		(28)
1 star:		(43)

 

 

In in the interest of keeping this bashing brief and to the point, Foer fails to deliver the goods for the following reasons: lazy writing, ignorance of exploited subject matter, contrived characters and dramatic developments, cheap use of literary gimmicks to cover up lack of story.

Dear reader, allow me to bore and irritate you by declaring that Foer is utterly ignorant of the Russian language, Ukrainian customs, and my native city of Odessa. Allegedly, he shrugs his lack of research off with a laugh. This rather alarming habit of trivializing the importance of factual subject matter is disgusting not because it violates some objective paradigm of literary virtue, but because it exploits a grave and meaty subject while laughing off the hard work it deserves. Perhaps Foer thinks that his lazy scattering and transpositioning of English words transcends a dozen hours of mechanically generated Thesaurus entries. It does not.

Further along the same lines, the character of Alex is nothing more than a monkey sitting at an aforementioned electronic thesaurus and spitting out strings of unfunny, un-Russian, and lazy gibberish. If Foer wasn't busy trying to hack out Clockwork Orange or Catch-22, he might have spent more hours at a library or even bothered to learn some Russian to at the very least recognize speech patterns. Instead, we have a 'clever' 300 page wordplay and sketches.

Now, as for the subject itself, Foer, like so many polished young writers without anything to write about, chooses to borrow drama from someone else; not only a person, but a time. Like so many writers of little imagination, he digs in a fictional past (which he, once again, fails to investigate). So, Foer chooses to rewrite history and manipulate tragedy to infuse his story with an adequate sense of importance. WWII and the Holocaust, 2 of the major cataclysms of the modern era, are thrown into Foer's meatgrinder. This because the writer is so dry that he has to travel to another land and time - no, to invent another land and time (while affecting their reality) to spark his mind.

Oh, you might think that the story is redeemed by Foer's wicked satirical abilities. About the only scene I found funny was the potato-dropping incident in the restaurant. Shame on you Mr. Foer for butchering the English language (and not in any positive way). Shame on you for writing a fictitious piece of fictional storytelling.

Finally, a young writer with some talent. I had a conversation with a friend over how lousy a lot of these Gen-X or Post-Gen X writers are (ie: Dave Eggers,et al) and we agreed: EVERTHING IS ILLUMINATED is a creative and fun book that takes risks and delivers a solid little narrative. For a younger generation, especially, I would recommend, (but also, for any age group, and for those who love this work), in addition to: MIDDLESEX and LIFE OF PI, please look into: SIMON LAZARUS by M.A. Kirkwood. Now if anything is a fresh and deserving read it is this one. Add it to your Summer reading list.

Once in a great while, a book comes along that changes the way you look at everything: the world, love, hate, relationships, politics. Such is the case with EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED. Now, not everyone is going to warm to this novel, but keep reading: "Everything is Illuminated" is the story of a young American (also with the name Jonathan Safran Foer, but this is a work of fiction) who travels to Ukraine to find the woman who saved his grandfather from the holocaust. In the process the book tells several stories: the American's trip to the Ukraine, the story of his grandfather and the town history, his Ukrainian translator's personal struggles with family and identity, and his Ukrainian translator's grandfathers experience during the war. These stories are told in different voices, in different chapters interspersed throughout the book. Some of these work better than others, as Foer seems to have a desire to stretch into literary gimmicks that are not always neccesary. But when he gets it right the passages are as moving as anything I have ever read. His variety of voices allows a reflection on certain elements of the story that reinforces their meaning. Writing about love, personal history, death, and living on allows ample opportunity to take on issues that go to the heart of what it means to be human. It also creates the possibility of falling into a bottomless pit of reflection, over-analysis, and huge failure. This book flirts with those pitfalls at times, but never falls in. It creates scenes of incredible trauma, and manages to tell the story in a way that seems real (a significant achievement for a writer born in 1977). I am struggling to even describe the book, which speaks the complexity of the story and the skill in telling it. I am sure that my enjoyment of the book was enhanced by witnessing first hand some of the absurdity of life in Ukraine, but that is only part of the story. This is a riveting book, often spoken of in the same breath as "Bark of the Dogwood" with its odd cast of characters. A perfect companion to this book, BARK OF THE DOGWOOD, while completely different subject material, is nevertheless as entertaining. Both are great reads all 'round, but EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED is like nothing else on the planet.

What the......????? I don't know what all the critics saw in this novel. JSF is the latest "hot writer"? What is up with that? If you read the reviews, you are led like a trusting sheep,(by some of my favorite authors & reviewers) into believing that you are reading something profound. Profound? The description of the flatulent Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. (dog) ...was that supposed to be a leg slapping hoot? It is just a tragically bad, self-indulgent, psuedo- intellectual rant. This has no beginning middle or end-nothing happens. The worst of the best-selling tripe, which the publishing industry has spoon fed to a poor unsuspecting public in a long time. I am in complete shock that anyone would endorse this book in any way.

What a disappointment. So much hype yet so little follow through. I don't know what all the critics saw in this novel, but all I saw was a young, smug, pseudo-intellectual, half-talent trying desperately to show off how literary he can be without actually telling a good story. Man, you gots to save your money. Many good books out there, this ain't one of them.

I read this book as part of a summer book group. I'm not exagerating when I say that everyone in the group resented the time we spent trying to understand this novel. One member of our group even read it for another book group and their entire group was equally perplexed. None of us could understand why this novel was so well reviewd. Good luck to all who attempt to understand and learn from this mess!

Hard to read - hard to keep interested because of the lack of signposts -where am I now?? Derivative of experimental novels of the 30s and 40s. Holocaust used as a device, which is the most despicable part of this warmed over hypersexualized "Fiddler on the Roof." This writer needs a great deal of maturing, a lot more editing, and a huge dose of humility, which cannot be gotten when a first novel turns out to be so overhyped. Some parts are funny but the jokes are one long note, and some parts are almost insightful, but he never follows through. All in all, a bust. Let's see his fourth or fifth novel.

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.

Foer's "Everything is Illuminated" has three main threads of narrative. Our first narrative comes from a young Ukranian man, Sasha, who is working as an interpreter for a visiting American while his grandfather is working as his driver. The American is Jonathan Safran Foer, a "character" we only see through the eyes of Sasha. Foer's decision to put himself in his own novel as a character at first seemed a bit iffy- I thought it would just end up grating on my nerves or becoming farfetched. Despite my fears, Foer manages to make his own presence in the novel work. His characterization of his fictionalized self is neither too self-deprecating nor too self-centered. Foer has come to Ukraine to find the history of his family and the town they lived in, a town that is mysteriously absent from maps. One of the ballsiest narrative tricks Foer does is to give Sasha a not-too-perfect grasp of the English language. Sasha's imperfect English is a big source of the humor in the novel. His slips are also sometimes the most poignant parts of the story; his grasp for language sometimes mirrors that inward grasping that all the characters are going through as painful memories and truths are being dredged up.

The second thread of narrative is told in a more straightforward prose style. This is the story of Foer's family and their mysterious origins in a Ukraine. It is also the story of a town, a love story, and a story about WWII. I won't go into the details of the plot, to leave you the pleasure of discovering it for yourself. I'll just say that this narrative reminds me of the fairy-tale like stories of Gabriela Garcia Marquez and other dream-fiction writers.

The third, and my personal favorite, thread comes in letters from Sasha to Jonathan. Apparently, as Jonathan is writing the narrative of his family, he is sending each piece of the story to Sasha for review. These sections of the novel are delightful in their acknowledgment of the blurry line between fiction, fact, history, and memory. Sasha's remonstrations of Jonathan's factual errors, and his protestations against certain turns in plot, all point to a questioning of the possibility of capturing truth or history in any concrete way.

One weakness in Foer's novel, in my opinion, was his occasional over-the-top "experimental" prose style. Sometimes it seemed like he ripped technique right out of the pages of e.e. cummings collected works.

Besides some small flaws, Foer's novel is a fantastic achievement for a writer so young. But try it for yourself! Pick up a copy. Another book I need to recommend -- completely unrelated to Foer, but very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition" by Richard Perez, an exceptional, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.

Foer's "Everything is Illuminated" has three main threads of narrative. Our first narrative comes from a young Ukranian man, Sasha, who is working as an interpreter for a visiting American while his grandfather is working as his driver. The American is Jonathan Safran Foer, a "character" we only see through the eyes of Sasha. Foer's decision to put himself in his own novel as a character at first seemed a bit iffy- I thought it would just end up grating on my nerves or becoming farfetched. Despite my fears, Foer manages to make his own presence in the novel work. His characterization of his fictionalized self is neither too self-deprecating nor too self-centered. Foer has come to Ukraine to find the history of his family and the town they lived in, a town that is mysteriously absent from maps. One of the ballsiest narrative tricks Foer does is to give Sasha a not-too-perfect grasp of the English language. Sasha's imperfect English is a big source of the humor in the novel. His slips are also sometimes the most poignant parts of the story; his grasp for language sometimes mirrors that inward grasping that all the characters are going through as painful memories and truths are being dredged up.

The second thread of narrative is told in a more straightforward prose style. This is the story of Foer's family and their mysterious origins in a Ukraine. It is also the story of a town, a love story, and a story about WWII. I won't go into the details of the plot, to leave you the pleasure of discovering it for yourself. I'll just say that this narrative reminds me of the fairy-tale like stories of Gabriela Garcia Marquez and other dream-fiction writers.

The third, and my personal favorite, thread comes in letters from Sasha to Jonathan. Apparently, as Jonathan is writing the narrative of his family, he is sending each piece of the story to Sasha for review. These sections of the novel are delightful in their acknowledgment of the blurry line between fiction, fact, history, and memory. Sasha's remonstrations of Jonathan's factual errors, and his protestations against certain turns in plot, all point to a questioning of the possibility of capturing truth or history in any concrete way.

One weakness in Foer's novel, in my opinion, was his occasional over-the-top "experimental" prose style. Sometimes it seemed like he ripped technique right out of the pages of e.e. cummings collected works.

Besides some small flaws, Foer's novel is a fantastic achievement for a writer so young. But try it for yourself! Pick up a copy. Another book I need to recommend -- completely unrelated to Foer, but very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition" by Richard Perez, an exceptional, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.