Rating: 
Summary: Let's get serious
Review: Much has been written about the cleverness of this book and the mangled English of one of the narrators. Let me add to the verbiage: how far can one joke stretch? There's a lot of desperation among readers of 'serious' fiction. The thought of a literate, ambitious young author willing to take chances and make fun of sacred cows (the holocaust in this case) has proved to much. Well, I may be desperate, but I'm not going to lower my standards. I found this book tedious to read, much like the experience of watching someone else's precocious child 'entertain' party guests: fun for a moment, but soon causing a feverish hope that the clever child can be sent to bed, so the adults can talk. And let's be honest: the skewering of 'sacred cows' has become so common that the term itself is without meaning now. There's nothing brave in doing so -- it's become a standard literary, and marketing, conceit.
Rating: 
Summary: A powerful, but unusual, book
Review: Not since "A Clockwork Orange" have I read a book that contains such unusual writing that becomes an important part of the story. The sections supposedly composed by the young Ukrainian are oddly phrased, as if by a person struggling to understand English as a second language, and the first few sections with this type of writing was a struggle. Eventually, however, reading it became almost second nature, and the story flowed very well. And what a story it is! We have a history, of sorts, of a Polish/Ukrainian shtetl from the 18th to the mid-20th century, interspersed with a search by a young American writer for his family's roots, connected with the long-suppressed tale of guilt by the Ukrainian's grandfather. It, at times, seems very complicated, but it all comes together. The writing is first-rate, and it involves the reader deeply in the story. We become quite close to the characters, and care very deeply about them all, even the supposedly minor ones. There is comedy, farce, tragedy, love, sorrow and forgetting, and almost the entire gamut of human emotions. This is not an easy book to get into initially, but persistence will pay the reader great rewards.
Rating:
Summary: What?
Review: I thought this was one of the worst books I've ever read. It seemed more like an exercise in self-indulgence and at times wondered if the author wasn't under the influence of various substances - throwing in sentences at random and ideas as they seemed to appear in his consciousness. Admitedly I finished the book after each painstaking page - I kept hoping "everying would be illuminated" by the end. But I was left a little angry at having wasted so much time with these people I didn't like or care about in the least.
Rating: 
Summary: An extraordinary imaginative romp
Review: The imaginative scope of this ambitious and highly entertaining novel takes your breath away, but its extraordinary ambition ultimately dooms the conclusion to failure. The energy which fuels the parallel narrative voices peters out towards the end as the author attempts to neatly tie up not only the numerous narrative strands but the unanswerable historical ones as well. But Foer's is a genuine, prodigious talent; and the book stirs not only the mind but the funny bone, and catapults the American Jewish novel firmly into the Twenty-First Century. Bravo.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: I think Everything is Illuminated is an amazing book. Imagine, a book about the Holocaust that will make you laugh out loud. Jonathan, a young American writer decides to travel to the Ukraine to learn, perhaps, about the woman whosaved his grandfather's life, helping him escape to America during World War II. He doesn't speak Ukranian, and thus must hire a translator and a driver to take him to the village where his grandfather hid before escaping. This is where the hunor comes in. The translator/guide is also a young man, one with a bizarre knack for just missing the meaning of all of the English words he has learned. He tells his story, as Jonathan tells the story of his ancestors. The translator's story is incredibly funny, and Foer demonstrates a marvelous mastery of the English language to be able to mangle it so well. Jonathan's story has a bit of magical realism thrown in--babies born from rivers, that sort of thing. If that is not for you, perhaps this isn't the novel for you. The translator's story, well, for the most part, that is pure comic relief, until he is forced to face demons of his own. Everything is Illuminated is a moving and unique tale. It is fresh and full of life and somehow manages to make you laugh and cry on the same page.
Rating:
Summary: Funny, magical realist, tragic novel
Review: _Everything is Illuminated_ is the first novel by Jonathan Safran Foer. It's quite a striking performance, beginning as a very funny tour de force and modulating toward tragedy by the end. It's told in three threads. One is a series of letters from Alex, a young Ukrainian man, to the author (who is called Jonathan Safran Foer). Alex recalls some of their adventures when Foer visited the Ukraine, and discusses their parallel writing projects, which they seem to be passing back and forth. The second thread is Alex's writing, which is an account of Foer's visit to the Ukraine. Foer, called "the hero" in this thread, is searching for his grandfather's home village, destroyed by the Nazis in 1942, and also for the woman who helped save his grandfather's life. Alex and his own grandfather are appointed by Alex' father, who runs a tourist agency, to act as translator and tour guide. The third thread is "Foer"'s writing, a very magic realist account of the history of Foer's grandfather's village, Trachimbrod, from the time of the mysterious appearance of Foer's several greats grandmother in the river Brod up to the time of the massacre. The sections narrated by Alex are, at the outset, extremely funny. Alex writes in a fractured English clearly influenced by a thesaurus -- he's always using improper synonyms, such as using "rigid" for "difficult" (because "rigid" is a synonym of "hard" which is a synonym of "difficult".) ... The story winds inevitably towards shattering revelations about the Nazi massacre, and about what happened to both Jonathan's and Alex's grandfathers at that time. This all works very well, though the tonal shifts are almost dizzying, from the wacky tone of the early Alex chapters, to the utterly weird magical realist presentation of the history of Trachimbrod, to the terrible events during the War, and to Alex's maturation and eventual decisions about his future. The characters, Alex in particular, are perfectly portrayed. All in all, a fine fine first novel.
Rating:
Summary: Worth reading, but not perfect
Review: This novel is worth reading for Alex's story and voice alone, but in the tale Safran Foer spins about the shtetl he sometimes seems overimpressed with his own cleverness. Then again, maybe I'm just not used to reading magical realism. But Alex is a character we can love for his humor and admire for his courage and compassion, so the novel is overall a good read. A note for audiobook fans: I've been impressed with my exposure to Recorded Books products so far, and this reading is no exception. The use of two narrators, both of them highly capable, is different but appropriate here as it keeps the listener on track with this novel's two separate plot strands.
Rating:
Summary: brilliant novel
Review: This is one of the best novels I've read in the past few years. It is both incredibly entertaining and also a significant literarly accomplishment. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard reading a novel, or for that matter cried so hard. But also I finished the book in awe at the many serious issues Foer manages to raise through such a fun and lively story. It's all the more miraculous becuase he is so young.
I waited a while to read this book, put off somewhat by I all the media hype, but I'm glad I finally got around to reading the book. Now I can't stop talking and thinking about it. Foer is a real talent to watch. The critics--in this case!--are right.
I suggest you find out for yourself, read the book....
Rating:
Summary: Clever and creative though not perfect
Review: I was impressed by this book. It's very true that it's not grand and awe-inspiring but for a debut and especially for a young writer,there is a terrific amount of clever language, thinking and a boldness that really kept me interested. The language of the narrator, Alex, really gets the book going on an intriguing path and the intertwining stories with their zany characters and link to the characters' personal histories keep the story moving along. I will agree that things started to get a bit messy towards the end and the last chapter was the least involving- I was pretty ready to end it up by then. But for the majority of the book, I really enjoyed its spirit- Foer was not afraid to be playful and also to touch upon a few interesting issues. I think there is enough originality to warrant a good read, just don't be expecting an intellectual masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Tell me why I liked it so much!
Review: I just finished "Everything is Illuminated", and although I don't feel as though the book "illuminated everything" for me, I feel a sense of excitement having read this book. Why? I'm not sure. It was funny in parts, and quite engrossing in other parts, also rather frightening in others. But the stories never seemed to gel. I'm not sure I understand what is was all about. But that didn't stop me from loving this book. The writing was brilliant, the characters interesting and the style inventive. Don't read this if you like straight narrative and obvious plot. This book is definitely a matter of taste.
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