Reviews

Everything Is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer

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exterus's review against another edition

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challenging funny mysterious

3.25

amybeth1's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

marlowek's review against another edition

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5.0

I loved the author's unique writing style, but If I hadn't already seen the movie a couple of times, I think I might not have been able to follow the book. There is one important difference in the plot between the book and the movie, and in the book it makes much more sense (I'm not going to give it away).

cheetahpig's review against another edition

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4.0

This book is amazing and original. It's been a long time since I read a novel that so creatively and successfully experimented with traditional story-telling methods to arrive at something far greater than could be achieved with a standard novel. This book is alternately set in 1791, 1942, and 1997, and it chronicles the life of a Jewish village in the Ukraine. To add a level of meta/autobiographical fun, the author, Jonathan Safran Foer, is one of the characters in the novel, and he embarks on a journey with a motley assortment of characters to try to find out more about his family history. The book is not very long (276 pages), but Safran Foer manages to pack an amazing amount of detail and richness and character development into such a short space. The most amazing thing is that the author was only 25 years old when he wrote this book, but for all the wisdom and wit in the story, you would think someone twice his age had written it.

If you like Holocaust stories, or historical fiction, or funny books, or incredibly sad books, or refreshingly original stories, then this is the book for you.

illgiveyouahint's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

The book is really hard to get into, but I was willing to give it a chance, however when the author started describing

Spoiler

how all the men in the village wanted to fuck the 14-year old girl

I started to really hate parts of the book. Then he continued with

Spoiler

talking at lengths about how all the women wanted to fuck that 10 year old boy with his dead arm

and just WTF man. Who wants to read that? Why would I want to read that, and why did you put so much focus on that. I think there were parts that were good. When we got to the topic of the war itself, it was good, but just I couldn't enjoy the book because of all of THAT. So yeah. In the end, I was pushing myself to finish it faster just so I can get it over with and focus on something more enjoyable.
I'm also questioning if I actually want the book at my home, or if I'll try to sell it.

Content Warnings