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Liked It2 of 2 members found this review helpful “"My legal name is Alexander Perchov. But all my many friends dub me Alex, because that is a more flaccid-to-utter version of my legal name." |
Didn’t Like It2 of 2 members found this review helpful “Another "must-read" that I could have lived without. Foer is undoubtedly a very talented, skilled, writer, but the whole thing plays out more like an overlong conceptual short piece. The back and forth of the narrative (between Perchov the Ukranian and Foer's "novel-within-a-novel") made me weary...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“This was a VERY slow read for me but I really enjoyed myself! Once you get into how the story is told it really starts to flow. Reading from Alexander's point of view made the book for me, he was hilarious! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants a change of pace and is looking for something quirky and different. ”
Mallory W wrote this review yesterday. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Lovely. Hard to get into and follow at first, but about halfway through you start to love it, and if you read it a second time you'll understand the beginning. And it's worth all of that.”
Sarah wrote this review 3 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“The style is way beyond the story. It's definitely worth reading just for the form. Sometimes, it's the form, and not the content, what's important.”
david v wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
0 of 1 members found this review helpful“The simplest thing would be to describe Everything Is Illuminated, Jonathan Safran Foer's accomplished debut, as a novel about the Holocaust. It is, but that really fails to do justice to the sheer ambition of this book. The main story is a grimly familiar one. A young Jewish American--who just happens to be called Jonathan Safran Foer--travels to the Ukraine in the hope of finding the woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis. He is aided in his search by Alex Perchov, a naïve Ukrainian translator, Alex's grandfather (also called Alex), and a flatulent mongrel dog named Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. On their journey through Eastern Europe's obliterated landscape they unearth facts about the Nazi atrocities and the extent of Ukrainian complicity that have implications for Perchov as well as Safran Foer. This narrative is not, however, recounted from (the character) Jonathan Safran Foer's perspective. It is relayed through a series of letters that Alex sends to Foer. These are written in the kind of broken Russo-English normally reserved for Bond villains or Latka from Taxi. Interspersed between these letters are fragments of a novel by Safran Foer--a wonderfully imagined, almost magical realist, account of life in the shtetl before the Nazis destroyed it. These are in turn commented on by Alex, creating an additional metafictional angle to the tale.
North Shore Country Day School English-10 wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
If all this sounds a little daunting, don't be put off; Safran Foer is an extremely funny as well as intelligent writer who combines some of the best Jewish folk yarns since Isaac Bashevis Singer with a quite heartbreaking meditation on love, friendship, and loss. --Travis Elborough, Amazon.co.uk ”0 of 1 members found this review helpful“"He doesn't eat meat? Is he sick?"”
Alexandra S wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Everything is Illuminated is a really enjoyable book: it's not a chore to get through, the characters are endearing and funny, and the lack of linear plot line enhances the novel rather than takes away from it. I laughed out loud several times (a rarity with novels I read) and will be recommending it to friends.”
Colleen S wrote this review Saturday, November 28 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Funny, sad, thought-provoking, honest. A wonderful read.”
Jenn R wrote this review Friday, November 20 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
0 of 1 members found this review helpful“I wanted to read this book because it seemed very interesting from the title as well as the summary on the back of the book. I also got an encouraging recommendation from one of my friends to read it. I was sure i would enjoy it but that was not actually the case.
ANNIE S wrote this review Thursday, November 12 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Everything is Illuminated is about a young American jewish boy who’s grandfather participated in the Nazi insolvency of Trachimbrod, Ukraine. Having his life set out for him, he stores his treasures and experiences in plastic bags as well as other unnecessary things. He finally realizes that he should do something else before his life crumbles too soon. He searches for just the right idea. He decides that he wants to search for Augustine, the woman who saved his grandfather’s life. Leaving his home with only rumpled ripped old pictures of her and his grandfather, maps, cigarettes and his beloved plastic bags, he sets out on a journey that will change his perspective on life and family forever.
This book is enjoyable to people if they are not interesting in reading a typical book. It’s written in two settings from his search for Augustine. It’s also very historical, revealing facts about the Nazis and Ukraine, although some are entirely fictional. It almost seems biographic in some points. This wasn’t my favorite book because it was too factual and dragged out. The author was also descriptive.”
“Honestly, this book really disappointed me after having so loved Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. This book deals with important, tough issues through a number of viewpoints the way the other does. Trying to figure out why I have reacted so differently to this one, I think it may be the format used, wherein the book is a book being constructed by two different people, neither of which we get to see in a more organic form. In ELaIC, I came to care deeply for the different characters, all with their own problems and unique habits. Everything is Illuminated has not made me feel that way. The movie, which I watched a while back was amazing though. It made me feel what I think the novel should have. I’m not going to get rid of my copy of this book; it may come to mean more some day later in my life.”
Christina F wrote this review Tuesday, November 10 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
