An unusual style - Rated 
Chosen as a book group read, at least half the members gave up because of the language. Those of us who persevered actually quite enjoyed it.
The language is supposed to be a Ukrainian's idea of well spoken English - based on a severe overuse and misunderstanding of the Thesaurus.
This was quite cleverly done, however, and gave rise to a few chuckles throughout the book.
The story is based around a visit made by an American, coincidentally called Jonathan Safran Foer, to the Ukrainian village of Trachimbrod, to track down the woman who saved his Jewish father from the Nazis. He hires Alexander as guide and interpreter. They are accompanied by Alexander's supposedly blind grandfather as driver and a truly disgusting dog.
The narrative is revealed through letters written between JSF and Alexander as they piece together a story that is ostensibly fiction but is based on the atrocities of the war and the history of Trachimbrod over the preceding 200 or so years.
According to an interview with the author, he did make such a trip to the Ukraine but found nothing at all, no evidence of the village and no living relatives or contacts. The visit did, however, produce a rather unusual piece of fiction!
Having been assured by other reviewers that his second novel is even better, I look forward to the author's more recent book.
Mostly illuminated - Rated
Jonathan Safran Foer takes literary risks and entertaining leaps in his debut novel, "Everything is Illuminated," an amusing chunk of magical realism. It's a tragicomic experience, centering on the devastation of the Holocaust, and a modern-day quest for the past.
A young Jewish American man -- same name as the author, Jonathan Safran Foer -- travels to the Ukraine. His reason: to locate Augustine, a woman who apparently saved his grandfather from the Nazis... only he just has a photo to guide him. He's accompanied by an annoying, flatulent dog, and an old man haunted by war memories.
He also corresponds with the old man's quirky grandson Alex, and new revelations are made about both young men through their letters. And in the third story-line, we are treated to the history of Trachimbrod, an endearing shtetl full of peculiar people... which was destroyed by the Nazis long ago.
"Everything is Illuminated" seems to be primarily about the past and present, and how those two things connect. To twentysomethings now, World War II seems as distant in some ways as the Trojan War, unless brought to life by someone else's words. Foer may not have been there during the Holocaust, but his unique novel will leave you thinking and wondering about the past.
It's certainly an unconventional story. Foer has a quirky, offbeat style that gets a little off-kilter. And he bends everything from his narrative to the characters to the English language ("spleening"?). Not to mention reality -- by naming his alter ego Jonathan Safran Foer, he blurs the line between fiction and reality. Is this based on anything real? Does Alex exist? Is there a Trachimbrod? At the end of the day, none of it matters. Even if these things don't actually exist, they certainly do have real counterparts.
Foer's book is not quite a work of genius. Sometimes the fragmented, topsy-turvy narrative runs away from him. Not to mention that the in-jokes -- the flatulent dog, the Russo-American dialect -- do not age terribly well. But the humor and magical realism tinges start to fade as the Holocaust looms overhead. While the opening chapters may make you laugh, it becomes far deeper and more intricate later on.
"Everything" may not be totally illuminated, but it is a quirky, sometimes saddening book that stumbles and takes a few risks. A flawed but excellent debut.
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