Book Review: Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

With only a yellowing photograph in hand, a young man - also named Jonathan Safran Foer - sets out to find the woman who may or may not have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Accompanied by an old man haunted by memories of the war; an amorous dog named Sammy Davis, Junior, Junior; and the unforgettable Alex, a young Ukrainian translator who speaks in a sublimely butchered English, Jonathan is led on a quixotic journey over a devastated landscape and into an unexpected past.

This book walks a very strange line in it's storytelling. I listened to the audio book and one moment found myself weeping in the car as a character recounts how the Nazi's marched into her village and dragged all of the Jews out into the town square, and how horrifying it was to watch her whole family murdered... Then the next moment I'm yanked from my sadness by a very bizarre (and adult) tale about how the author's grandfather used his dead and limp arm with the ladies... You can go from totally sad and horrified to being totally confused and mortified in an entirely different matter-in seconds!

Still, it was a very colorful and interesting tale, and I especially enjoyed the parts (in butchered English) told by Alex, the young Ukrainian translator. He was my favorite character, and it was hilarious to hear how he explained things differently than the main character.

Rating: ★★★★★