Rating: 
Summary: One of the better "promising young author!" books I've read
Review: Is this book as life-altering, world-illuminating and soul-ticklin'-good as everyone says? I don't think so. Is it a good read? I'll venture a "yes."This would make a perfect "discussion group" book, because there are enough interesting passages/themes/enigmae to last for hours of literary yadda-yadda. The novel seems to be stitched together from fragments of three books: letters from Alex (a Ukrainian translator whose English is absolutely HILARIOUS - just that is worth buying the book) to the "hero" (named Jonathan Safran Foer); Alex's narrations of how they spend time in Ukraine searching for Jonathan's ancestral history; and magical-reality stories, fragments of life in 18th, 19th and early 20th century Ukraine, in a tiny, forgotten town without a definite name. There are some truly funny parts in this book. There are also some strikingly sad/disturbing parts in it, especially when the narrative gets to the Holocaust. This is to be expected, and, honestly, I don't think JSF did anything new with his take on the Holocaust. Not that the story isn't heart-breaking, but then, what Holocaust story isn't? One thing I enjoyed was JSF's presumption of basic understanding of the Holocaust on the part of the reader. It assumes that a reader is intelligent enough to understand the book, which is a nice change. I loved the lively writing style of Alex's narrations; I thought the whimsical, slightly off-beat style of the Ukrainian stories were slightly less enjoyable. For a first novel written by a guy in his early twenties, this is extremely impressive, and most people I know would probably give it at least six stars. Judging the book on its own merits, however, I would say it's good - yes, very good. But brilliant/transcendental? Maybe I gotta read it again.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the strangest and funniest books I¿ve ever read!
Review: The story is so incredibly rich. The passages are uproariously funny but become somber as the history Trachimbrod is revealed. The story weaves back and forth between the past and present but in a unique way which draws each closer to the other. Many points of view show how relationships can be strengthened or allowed to falter by how well each individual lets himself become involved with one another. Judaism seems to be treated in an irreverent manner and yet is given a subtle dignity. A very few parts of the book had lines in which the action was not entirely clear. However, with this author's masterful creation, I forgive him that lapse. Or perhaps it was just me?!
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, imaginative and wholly original!
Review: This story is a wild ride--Jonathan Safran Foer recreates the English language to tell a tale as funny as it is horrifying! A simple plot is emphasized in the telling. JSF spins magical realism along the lines of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This is a VERY quick read--you won't want to put it down!
Rating:
Summary: Why are you reading this review? Go read the book!
Review: As it is printed on the back cover, this book is, indeed, "Brilliant." This is the best-written and most moving book having anything to do with the Haulocaust that I have ever read. Despite claims by some that the book does not "illuminate" anything, I beg to differ. If you pay close attention to the plot and the characters, the whole story is drawn to a end by the final page of the novel. Whether or not you will be happy with that ending, I cannot say. Foer's style is incrediable, telling three parallel story lines with an alternating chapter systen reminiscent of Faulker. But enough of my babble. Stop reading this review, and read the book yourself. Run, now!
Rating: 
Summary: What?
Review: This is another book I just did not get. I am starting to feel like a bonehead, or an intellectual midget. This guy is supposed to be some young superstar, but I think he'd be better off waiting tables. I thought Alex was funny, but I tired of his goofy English after about 2 pages. Okay, JSF, we get how clever you are, and how ha-ha-ha funny. Nope, this one wasn't for me. I guess you can't win 'em all.
Rating:
Summary: A fantastic book
Review: I really loved this book. I had resisted reading the hardcover, since I had heard way too much about the book and author. But I'm glad I finally gave the book a chance. It is really amazing. It's entertaining, funny, even hilarious, but also incredibly sad and moving and thoughtful. Jonathan Foer is an incredibly talented young writer. This is a book that opens up so much for discussion. So I suggest that if you have a book group it would be a perfect choice. I highly recommend this incredible novel.
Rating:
Summary: Book is Over Praised
Review: I do not understand how so many respectable book reviews and customer reviews are giving this novel the highest of praise. How can anyone give this book such a high review when no one at the conclusion can feel as though everything is clear (illuminated)? Many customer reviews say that they had to go back to the book a 2nd time to try and reread it to better grasp the direction the book was taking. To me, nothing is more frustrating to finish a book and feel as though I need to go back, because I didn't understand it. The two stars it earns are largely from the humor the book does have in the character of Alex, a Ukrainian who wishes he was a youth of American culture. The passages he 'writes' were hilarious at times. It is a different sort of book and styled in a unique fashion. I am glad I read it, and am planning on looking through the internet for any discussions/interpretations to better 'illuminate' my understanding. If you like a concrete, readable story, this is not for you. If you want to read very slowly and stop and think and try and interpret what is happening(while getting confused often) then it may be of interest to you.
Rating:
Summary: 7,000 Stars for this book
Review: This is one of the most amazing books I have ever read. It is truely brilliant, as so many critics have said. It's hard to say anything about it as it moved me so profoundly. Just read it.
Rating: 
Summary: Something didn't click...
Review: I understand that there are many authors who have won phenomenal awards for writing books using prose that's not as common as plain old English. And though I'd like to think that I can read what critic's would hail as "stunning", "sophisticated" and "stylish"....by Chapter 3, instead of sinking my thoughts into the characters, I was ridiculously lost. Instead I found myself rereading sentences to try and decipher what on earth he was talking about, who was saying what and where the hell was everyone now. Thinking I couldn't be this illiterate, upon re-reading the 3 chapters, I still couldn't wrap my head around Foer's style of writing. I'm all for artistic expression but if I have decipher a book in order to enjoy it, I'll take a "simple" book anyday compared to this run. And may I ask, is there such a word as spleening?
Rating:
Summary: Overrated? Surprisingly, no.
Review: It's a pity that there was so much hype about this book, and in particular the relative youth of its author. Books that are publicized in that way tend to be bad, but for some reason I decided to read this one anyway. That turned out to be fortunate. I should note here that I'm writing this less than an hour after finishing the book. It is entirely possible that in a couple of days I will realize that it is deeply flawed and downwardly revise my review. At the moment, however, it seems to me to be a masterpiece. (I wish I could come up with a more original term than that.) Foer has many interesting things to say about fact, fiction, truth, falsity and history, and the differing parts of the book are securely connected emotionally and thematically. The structure of the book is a bit unusual, but only in ways that serve the novel. It seems a bit egotistical at first for the author to put himself into the book, but much less so when you consider that he is not the protagonist. He exists in the book mainly by implication, and the author is always there in that way. The only problems I have detected so far are fairly minor. Alex's broken English is a bit gimmicky, but I have to confess that I enjoyed it, and in any case it mostly disappears after the first few chapters. All the intentional anachronisms tended to get on my nerves. More importantly, the chapters involving Foer's (fictional) grandfather seemed to contain less worthwhile information than the rest of the book. Still, the book is definitely recommendable, and manages to be a page-turner of sorts to boot. Jonathan Safran Foer has a website at (originally enough) www.....com, where he sheds a bit of light on what is fictional in this book and what isn't.
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