Rating: 
Summary: I'm sure the next one will actually be better
Review: I went into this book with an open mind despite the hype.
I wish I could definitively tell you either (a) buy this book! or
(b) don't ever read this book, but the truth is that I cannot
in good conscience do either of these things.While Foer is too writerly-tricky for his own good there is a
sense in his work that he does not have the chip (elephant)
on his shoulder that weighs down on Foster Wallace,
Eggers, Franzen, Moody, Bender, and the whole rest of
the noveau literati. Instead, there is this incredible creative
genius that makes me sure he will not be a one-hit wonder. In Everything Is Illuminated, the narrator is not a very
coherent source of information at the beginning. You
really have to piece it all together quite carefully. This is
unfortunately (no getting around it) W O R K. Not that this
kind of thing isn't rewarding. Joycean rambling aside,
it's more like Pynchon's Mason and Dixon than anything
else. Logical loops, circuitous narration, and a sort of
disastrous suprise ending combine to leave any reader
a bit jumbled by the last page. This effect is anything but
artistic. Rather than having nailed the ending, Foer
has only made me believe that next time he will smooth
out the wrinkles a little better.
Rating: 
Summary: Frighteningly Overrated
Review: I just finished this book last night. The waitress in the restaurant where I was dining noticed what I was reading and said that she had just finished it herself. We shared notes. We agreed on the following: the novel starts out very cleverly and humorously with the pidgin Engish of Alex's letters to Jonathan. As the novel proceeds, these letters become less interesting, and the content becomes exceedingly confusing. By the novel's end, neither of us really knew what was really going on. This novel was reviewed during the week in THE NEW YORK TIMES and again in the Sunday book review. The credit would seem to go to the publicist, not to the author. Somebody started the drum beating. Granted: a 24-year-old writer with any amount of literacy is a remarkable thing. However, people were saying that this novel is one of the greatest ever. I would be willing to offer these people a list of novels for their consideration. They need to get out more. The novel tries everything once, and, if the reader doesn't notice, the author calls your attention to his cleverness. Do you get it? Do you get it? Do you get it? Well, yes, but it wasn't all that brilliant in the first place. The central content of the book is something terrible, horrible, horrifying, ghastly, sickening, hopefully never, ever to be repeated on this earth, but it's all been done before, many, many, many times ad infinitum. Alex the letter writer becomes less of a presence toward the end of the book. So if as a reader you are driven to complete the novel because you are taken with Alex, you will be disappointed. I know I was, not just by this development (or lack thereof), but also by the fact that I spent precious time finishing the thing. I notice that amazon.com has this book paired with ATONEMENT as a dual buying opportunity. This kid couldn't hold Ian McEwan's Bic. He's going to have to perform much better soon to justify any Wunderkind status.
Rating: 
Summary: like peeling an onion....
Review: loved it even though it was hard going---a little talmudic in the sense that you have to go back a lot to understand what happened. I am still totally clueless as to why the father is blamed for the past---as opposed to the grandfather....
Rating: 
Summary: A Classic Writer is Born
Review: 'Everything Is Illuminated', Jonathan Safran Foyer's debut novel is far beyond anything that I would have expected for a first-time writer. The novel takes place almost entirely within the confines of the Ukraine, and his story, rumored to be semi-autobiographical, is told through the eyes of two young and very different men. The first of these is Alex, a young Ukranian boy is hired by his grandfather to be an interpreter for Jonathan, an American-- who has come seeking a woman inextricably linked to his family. What emerges is a novel that is both witty and heartbreaking at times. These characters are not only realistic, but multi-dimentional, as the author exposes their deepest insecurities and fears. Safran Foyer has not only found his voice with this novel, but he has created a voice for his characters as well.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious!
Review: If this isn't the most wonderful, craziest book I've read in a very long time. The point of view of the "voice" of this book makes it all worth while. The stories (the fantasies of his ancestors, etc) are truly entertaining. But it's the way it is told that makes it all worth while. Jonathan Safran Foer could just as easily been spewing off lemon pie recipes with the tongue of his narrator and it would been just as interesting and funny. Well worth the cover price! Get a hardback so you don't wear out the cover reading over and over.
Rating: 
Summary: I still cannot believe how much I disliked this book...
Review: First, to be clear, I'm not the reviewing type; I've never submitted a book review to Amazon.com before. However, after fighting to finish this glorified toilet paper, I can no longer remain silent. "Everything Is Illuminated" may be the worst book I've ever read. I pride myself on the fact that I always finish the books that I start...but finishing EII was like climbing Mount Everest without oxygen and finding out that my sherpa lied to me and guided me to the putrid peak of a garbage dump. It may be true that Alexander's broken English in the first few pages is a cute story-telling technique...but that's where the charm of this pseudo-post-modern failed-experiment ends. The book is most annoying when the author, young Jonathon, writes long passages of dialogue with no punctuation or character identification. I would rather read the phone book than try to figure out who's saying what again. Kathy Acker's "Don Quixote" is easier to follow than the passages in EII. It seems like Safran Foer learned three or four literary devices and was trying to show off for his English teacher (who may or may not be on acid). I must admit that I stayed up late reading this book...as I noted earlier, I don't quit on a novel...but the only reason I burned the midnight oil this time was to put myself out of the misery of continuing. I held my hope that the majority of the positive reviews may have some legitimate basis. As I read into the wee hours, however, I realized that I had been swindled. If everything is illuminated, I would prefer to stay in the dark.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonder
Review: Foer writes like an angel: At first, his novel is funny; by the end, it breaks your heart.
How did someone so young as Foer come to know so much about the heart?
Rating:
Summary: Shining Star
Review: I bought this book because I loved the cover art. ... Things I loved: the genealogic quest; the flashbacks to the imagined lives of the ancestors; ... the hilarious, artful fractured English of Alex (an Eastern-European, male Mrs. Malaprop);the blend of comedy and tragedy; the cross-generation and cross-culture relationships; the evolution of love and friendship (note, for example, the changes in the closings of Alex's letters); the impact of shame... For me, this is a stellar first novel. I haven't been able to stop thinking about is for weeks. Perhaps this is because it strongly taps into some of my own fascinations- old family photographs, origins and roots, the dark branches on many family trees. I was fascinated with Jonathan's quest, the façade and the reality of Alex, the mélange of beauty and horror, the no-win choices, and Jonathan's great-great-great-great-great-grandmother Brod. Obviously, this is not a book for everyone, but if you are adventurous, nostalgic, and/or multi-linear, give it a shot.
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant debut
Review: I loved this book. It's hilarious and sad, and wonderfully intricate. It's a complex book, which clearly some readers have trouble with, and it's incredibly inventive. I've read Marquez and Singer and Rushdie, the authors some reader think Foer has ripped off. Sure, I can see the inspiration, but Foer has made something altogether new. He is one of the only young novelists who is both expanding the form of the novel and working deeply in the emotional realm. Too often you get either experimental or sentimental. And Foer is neither. He finds an exceptional, rare balance that is for me exhilerating.
The greatest compliment I can pay this book is that it is a fun, exciting, energized read, while it also challenges intellectually and even morally. Foer is a brave writer, sure to come up with many surprises. I can't wait to see what he does next. This is a spectacular debut. Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: interesting read
Review: I too was caught up in the publicity that this book first got when it was published - and while it wasn't the best book ever -it was very entertaining and a good page turner. The first two chapters are tough to get through, but if you make it through them you will get caught up in the story and want to see how it plays out. Sad at times, funny as hell at others, introspective and thought provoking - which to me are good signs of a book.
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