"The world is the smallest thing."

I have been hearing about Jonathan Safran Foer for ages, and he is one of those authors I keep meaning to read and somehow never quite manage to get around to. I decided to break this bad habit of always skipping him and tackled his debut, “Everything is Illuminated” with some reservation. I had heard a lot about the unusual structure of this book, the postmodernist trope of the author including himself in his narrative and all that; that kind of stuff doesn’t exactly annoy me, but it does make me feel like patting the book on the head and reassure it that, yes, it is very, clever, good boy.

I ended up enjoying "Everything is Illuminated" a lot more than my cynicism had predicted I would: the story is sweet, funny, heartbreaking and moving, but I also found it rather self-conscious - which I suppose makes sense as it was Foer's debut novel.

A young man named Jonathan Safran Foer travels to Ukraine, looking for the woman who helped his grandfather escape the Nazis during WWII. He hires Alex as a translator, and Alex's grandfather as a driver: little does Jonathan know that Alex's English is not exactly up to par, and that his grandfather will only drive around with his crazy female dog (named Sammy David Junior, Junior) in the backseat and that no one in Ukraine seems to understand the concept of vegetarianism. But the trip will prove to be much more interesting and rewarding than he could have planned. Told alternatively in Alex's broken English, in letters he wrote to Jonathan after his journey and in the history of his grandfather's village that Jonathan is working on, this novel makes for a constantly surprising and often rather strange story.

As I was reading, I was reminded of Nicole Krauss' (Foer's ex-wife) "The History of Love" (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), which was her debut novel and has a similar narrative structure of three different voices woven together to make a story about loss, memory and intimacy. The two books might as well come as a set, his and hers. This was a good and entertaining read, but I think I preferred hers.

--

Eugene Hutz, the lead singer of the brilliant gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello (one of the best live musical acts I have ever seen) plays Alex in the movie adaptation, and as I read, I kept picturing his amazing face and stage presence. I have to find the movie, because I kept humming this as I read: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3SUP...

Compro muchos libros, pero suelo comprar lo que yo llamo "apuestas seguras", autores que ya sé que me gustan o autores que (por varias razones) intuyo que me van a gustar. 'Todo está iluminado' lo compré porque el amarillo fluorescente de la portada me sedujo, y ahora puedo decir que el dinero que gasté en este libro fue el más malgastado de mi vida, el que me dolió más haber gastado. Para mí, 'Todo está iluminado' ejemplifica a la perfección todo lo que está mal en la literatura contemporánea: voluntad de ser excéntrico sólo por ser excéntrico, más interés en construir personajes originales (y excéntricos) que personajes de carne y hueso, alta pretenciosidad y muchas ganas de ser considerado como un vanguardista reformulador de la literatura contemporánea, un interés desmesurado por la forma y un olvido descarado para intentar dotar de consistencia el fondo, otra dosis más de alta pretenciosidad, etc. Pero antes que nada narcisismo, un narcisismo tan abrumador que me daba náuseas. Sí, odio con todas mis fuerzas este libro.

This is one of those books that I just couldn't wait for it to be over. I didn't care for it. It was so incredibly incredibly focused on ONE thing. Because of that singular laser focus, there seemed to be a lot of missed opportunities to create something memory worthy.

I struggled to finish this one. This was really 1 star for me, but I did add a star for Alex. He kept me in and he made me smile from time to time. So 2 stars seems fair.

ისეთი წიგნია, აი, არც ტელევიზატორის ხმა რომ არ უნდა ესმათ ყურთა შენთა მისი კითხვის დროს და არც გარეშემომყოფთა ყაყან-ღაღადი, შენთვის, ედვანსირებულად უნდა იკითხო დღეყოველ, სანამ დასასრულს მიადგები და საფრანს მადლობაც უნდა გადაუხადო (ჯონათან, „მოუხადო“ თუ „გადაუხადო“? ეს ორი სულ მერევა), ასეთი იუმორისტულ-დამაბნეველ-ოდნავდამღლელ-ლამაზ-სევდიან-ტრახიმბროდული და კმასაყოფელი რომანის დაწერისათვის.

სრულის სიწრფელით,
ლუკა

ვფიქრობ, რაც მე წამიკითხავს, მეორე მსოფლიოს ომის დროს ებრაელების მდგომარეობაზე, საუკეთესო წიგნია.
ძალიან მომეწონა თხრობის სტილი და მთლიანად რომანის სტრუქტურა.
ფინალმა ძალიან დამაბნია და რამდენჯერმე რომ წავიკითხე, მერე მივხვდი ვისი დაწერილიც იყო.
გაუგებარი დამრჩა ალექსისა და მამის ურთიერთობა, რატომ გააძევა სახლიდან მამა. რაღაც გამომჩა გონებაში, რაღაც ადგილს სათანადო ყურადღება არ დავუთმე, ალბათ.
საკმაოდ რთული რომანია.
დიდი სიამოვნება მივიღე და ვფიქრობ, აუცილებლად მივუბრუნდები კიდევ.

ვრცლად: http://popularpopcorn.blogspot.com/20...

'Everything is Illuminated' is prize-winning Literary Fiction, which means the reader watches the characters endure the revelations of an 'Examined life' like the way one does the peeling of an onion. There are tears after true family history is finally told, and romanticizing the past can no longer be sustained. Still, history and family matter, maybe more so after searing, fully-revealed Truths makes the previous toleration of evil behavior impossible.

Many young people find themselves mysteriously mired down or stuck in emotional quicksand by ancient family issues. Obfuscation, misdirection and silence are often helpful to daily survival, but not for moving on. Moral: personal problems may actually be generational.

I, for one, vote for truth, no matter how painful.

Three stories are narrated in the book, each of varying degrees of fact, imagination and clarity, each with a beginning, middle and end, yet each is circular and eternal to human experience. Marriage, birth, coming-of-age, death - all the parts of a family's myth which in being passed down becomes a romantic fable of palatable continuity - until the real past is told. Myths create nations, as well as families, and hidden history. We almost never see the one-off mirroring of images, either, probably because we mistake the reflected image for someone else.....

A Jewish-American man, the author/character Jonathan, or 'hero', hires a local Ukrainian travel agent and Gentile translator, Sasha, and a driver, Sasha's Grandfather, in 1997, to help him find the small Ukrainian village where Jonathan's grandfather was born. Jonathan is writing a fictionalized story based on his research and family myths about how the small village of Trachimbrod was established in 1791, and along the way, learning about his grandfather's life before the tragedies caused by the Nazi genocide of Ukrainian Jews in 1941. The Safron family can trace the beginning of their family back to 1791, so Jonathan's fictional story, told in alternating chapters, is an imagined version of what happened in 1791, based on his grandmother's tales and actual research. However, while Jonathan Safran confirms details of the few things he had known about his Jewish grandfather and his great-great-great-great-great-great-great ancestors, the search for a woman in Jonathan's grandfather's photograph from 1941 brings unexpected family revelations for the somewhat playful and adolescent Sasha.

Sasha writes and speaks in an incredibly fractured comical English in alternating chapters which becomes surprisingly apt in the often incomprehensible process of transmitting information between speakers of different languages. Jonathan has encouraged Sasha to speak and write letters in English, asking him to make a story of his family and Jonathan's visit. Sasha does so because he hopes to visit America when he has saved enough money, but in the process of writing, he grows up as he comes to terms with his own history and that of his family.

The writing to me seemed like almost post-modern styling, but the book is saved completely from that sterile process of authorial wit by placing flashy word construction into the mouth of a young and exuberant Ukrainian speaking appealing, if fractured, English. The effect is comic, although tragedy eventually sobers everybody up, especially us, gentle reader.

Ah, the enduring Romance of tradition, continuity, family - until Truth sucks all the air out of the room.

This book is making me smile, even laugh. And why? Over and over again, JS Foer supplies fractured English from his Russian hero that is down right funny.

I was in pain from laughing so much during the first part of this book. I've never enjoyed a "non-native" English speaker's writing so much. Although it gets less funny and more serious as it progresses, and it occasionally treads on the unclear / confusing side of things, I think that's just part of it: you aren't supposed to fully understand everything that's happening. All in all, one of the most memorable books I've read in a while.

2.5 stars.

Everything is Illuminated is the tale of a young writer traveling to eastern Europe in order to find a woman named Augustine. It is a tale about a young woman named Brod, and her battle with and against love and sadness. It is supposedly a heart-wrenching tale that ties together past and present, and inevitably illuminates everything.

The experimental writing style of this book was its strength. If one enjoyed it, one liked the book. If one didn't, one didn't like the book. I was apathetic toward the entire novel - sure, the pathos pulled me in a few times, and yes, I laughed at Alex's humor, but I didn't love anything. There were some brilliant tidbits, but at times it felt like Foer was trying too hard to be inspirational.

Recommended to fans of historical fiction and books written in a unique way. Also, to fans of malapropism. I highly recommend Everything is Illuminated to fans of malapropism.

Here's one passage I liked:

The beach was beautiful last night, but this did not surprise me. I love sitting on the edge of the land and feeling the water verge me, and then leave me. Sometimes I remove my shoes and put my feet where I think the water will approach to. I have attempted to think about America in regard to where I am on the beach. I imagine a line, a white line, painted on the sand and on the ocean, from me to you.

*review cross-posted on my blog, the quiet voice.

Jonathan Safran Foer has magical powers.
No, really he does.
Look I'll prove it.
He can make anyone who reads his books spontaneously vomit adjectives in great abundance.
Proof?
The cover of Everything is Illuminated.

Let's examine the evidence:

Gripping, entertaining, dazzling - The Evening Standard
Outrageous, extraordinary - Financial Times
Hilarious, exhilarating, moving - Jewish Chronicle
Serious, funny - Herald
Powerful, shocking, harsh, sincere - List
Spectacular, funny, brilliant, moving - Observer
Showy, smart - Susan Sontag
Startling, original, comic, tragic - Nicci Gerard
Extraordinary, brilliant, shattering - San Francisco Chronicle
Glittering - Mark Lawson
Bold, exuberant - Daily Mail
Subtle, profound, fantastic, bold, imaginative - Boston Globe
Funny, brilliant - Esquire
Effervescent, reckless, vibrant, playful - TLS
Astonishing, shattering - Independent

See, the covers are spattered, inside and out, with a veritable adjective pebble-dash. Proof, Mr Safran Foer that you are not the only person in possession of a Thesaurus and that even the people at Esquire and the Daily Mail have one too.

Jon-fen is searching for a woman who saved his Grandfather during World War II. To find her, he has travelled from America to the Ukraine. He has only a photograph and a name. He had a map but that was eaten by the bitch. He is helped, and hindered in equal measure by Alex and his Grandfather who is responsible for the bitch. The bitch is a seeing-eye dog called Sammy Davis Jr, Jr. The inclusion of the dog is for humorous purposes. Jonathan is in the Ukraine to uncover a part of his family history, however his presence forces Alex's grandfather to examine his own past too. Alex acts as interpreter and guide and puts his own inimitable spin on the English language. Told in three parts with three separate voices, sadly none of which belong to the bitch, the tone of the book alternates between melancholy, mirth and malapropisms.

This book is difficult to categorise and many people have tried to cram it into the box marked holocaust. Others have said, no it belongs in the box called love. Or family. Or remembering. Or war. Or semi-autobiographical. Or biographical. Or atonement. Or lost. Or old country.

Does it really need to go in a box? Lets just put it on top of the box and see what happens.

Strano, ma bello; o bello, ma strano. Non saprei quale dei due aggettivi mettere prima.

Non me lo aspettavo così: autobiografico, ma narrato per la maggior parte dall'amico ucraino, con vari intermezzi forniti da lettere e narrazioni pseudo storiche (c'è molto realismo magico) che riguardano il destino dello shtetl Trachimbrod attraverso i secoli.

C'è molto ebraismo, utile per capirlo un po' di più e impersonarsi meglio coi personaggi.

Sebbene disorientante però questa commistione di stili porta a un romanzo molto toccante (e non potrebbe non esserlo quando poi l'unica conclusione possibile è lo sterminio nazista).

Niente male comunque riuscire a costruire una storia commovente partendo tutto sommato da episodi autobiografici; bravo Safran Foer.

My knowledge of the English language is only based on movies and music (I have never studied it properly). Although I understand a lot (and where I don´t understand I´m not shy of using a dictionary), I have the feeling that I cannot relate to the apparent general opinion about this particular book, at least according to the "praise to" pages right at the beginning.

So, I do not agree with those saying this book is "extremely funny" (Observer). I sensed at times that there was some funny misuse of the language (if you read the first page, you will understand why). Susan Sontag says "Made me laugh a lot" (The Times Literary Supplement). Maybe it was just my sense of humour...

I could relate to this: "It´s hard to get through the first chapters of Everything is Illuminated (...)" (New York Times Book Review). They intented it as a compliment, I see it so because of my struggles with the English language - I just needed some time to get used with the different styles of the different voices.

I am glad I finished this book. Sometimes I felt the author is trying too much, I had other ideas about the structure, but I´m not the author :-). Now I can hardly wait to dig into the secondary literature!

And I want to watch the movie as well.

I would surely recommend this book to the fellow readers. :-)