Everything Is Illuminated

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Foer

"Jon-fen" Foer, as Alex calls him, is apparently Jewish. But he doesn't appear that way when he gets off of the train. Now, whether he is a jew or a Jew, I'm not so sure. I'm not really so sure what the difference is, to be honest. Alex's character is very humorous, with his English language not quite up to date with idioms. But that quality is endearing, and even "Jon-fen" finds it amusing enough to keep incorporated in the story that Alex is translating for him. In leaving these mistakes in the story as comic relief, Alex begins to learn the art of English slowly, and is then able to contribute his ideas and suggestions as to where the story should lead next.

Alex also begins to be more and more interested in the American life and dreams aloud of moving there with Little Igor and leaving his father behind.His little brother is patronized, but respected in certain facts. His clumsy habits and black eyes seem a bit too frequent, though. And Alex himself leads quite a lavish life...or so we think for a while. It turns out, after one of many confessions in this book, that Alex actually keeps to himself, does not enjoy the bar atmosphere, and has not been "carnal" with many girls.

At one point of the book, being a bit over 60 pages into it, I thought that I would rather here a story about Alex's life than Foer's story; however, now that I have finished the book, it is interesting to see that all of these stories belong to the same people. This is a case of several stories having a common factor and coming together in the end to make a profound observation. One of the observations was that Alex's grandfather was "not a bad person...[he was] a good person who [had] lived in a bad time." (p. 227)
The grandfather's character changed from simply being a blind man that, in reality, could see...and drive for that matter. He had no tolerance for jews and had very little patience with everyone else. As we discover Augustine, or the embodiment of her, we discover a part of the grandfather that has been hidden by his silence. A murdering of a best friend created a huge shock when I read the confession. The history being brought into the storyline really cleared up the confusion as to what all was happening to contribute to his decision.
We know that there are festivities surrounding the brod, with string stretched from the rabbi's house to candles to endless amounts of objects about the town. We know that parades are being prepared. And we know about the illumination of Trachimday in the town. But it is not until page 267 that the historical events of that time, the events being ignored in papers, were the end of the world (in Trachimbrod) in writing. This book is almost written with a technique opposite of foreshadowing.

The dream list that Foer writes about caught my eye, however. It is interesting to see others' interpretations of what the subconcious produces.