.ReviewTime.
Everything is Illuminatedby Jonathan Safran Foer
This book is not everything that I hoped it would be. I had heard that the book was inspirational, that I would love it. “Well,” I thought after closing the last page, “I didn’t love it.” I enjoyed it, of course. Foer has an intensely creative brain. His stories are bright, brilliant little gems. Trachimbrod is a town that I can see and picture with its horribly lengthy history (all of which is recorded by every member of the town), its vibrant characters (ranging from melancholy to sex-fiend), and the relationships (whether it be between lovers or father and daughter) that are formed.
The novel is aware of its own existence, its writers, it even seems to be breathing air. Meta fiction is not a bad thing, I must add. Some people don’t prefer it, and I can quite understand that standpoint, but it can be done well…as long as it’s not done in pattern. Unfortunately, Foer has us go from one point of view (Sasha’s), to the next (Johnathan’s story), and then the third (letters from Sasha to Jonathan). This cycle isn’t broken and it does not change, which is a bit disappointing. Clearly Foer believed this was the best concoction for his novel, but this kind of repetition limits how each voice (all very powerful, mind you) can develop.
Furthermore, the devices that Foer uses are a bit unnecessary. Two words, such as, “I will,” do not need to be repeated in italics for two pages. The liberal in me thought, “Wasting paper…” while the artist in me thought, “I guess that…looks interesting…no, no, it doesn’t.” I understand the intention of the words, but if they are of such significance why need to repeat them so? Surely Foer is good enough of a writer to find another way to emphasize the words and make his readers simultaneously empathize with his characters. Other things, such as the Book of Dreams and History of Trachimbrod, make more sense to me. The entire book is about recording history, so it is a natural tactic to flow into books and records. But then (another device) there are certain words done in CAPITALS, some done in italics, and then some done in BOTH CAPITALS AND ITALICS. I find this aggravating and there is no NEED for it.
The hiccups aside, I was moved (or disturbed…I’m not sure yet) by this novel. I am hesitant to read anything that has to do with the Holocaust, and I imagine many people have the same reaction. In High School I read a history book about the Balkan States after WWII. I distinctly remember a section about Romania during the War. Jewish people were sent through cattle slaughter houses, as if they were meat to be cooked the next evening. I had nightmares about it for weeks. Anne Frank, The Devil’s Arithmetic, Night, and many others were used constantly throughout my English education. My Grandfather liberated concentration camps, and so I have the pictures of dead bodies to prove it. The pictures are now in the Holocaust museum, where they belong, and I am partially glad that I may never see them again.
I often wonder if trauma can be not only personal or cultural, but historical. Can we transmit feelings into one another and pass them down through history? The Jews in Everything is Illuminated are said to have a sixth sense: memory. They are so infatuated with memory, not to mention an almost physical reaction to it, that when they perform an action it is as if they are performing the action as their mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and so forth, have done. Of course, this particular section of the novel is humorous, but it is essential to the book. We must remember.
My reaction to the Holocaust, and I won’t lie, is that I want to go running out the door. It’s as if, when presented with this horrifying reality that we did not even have a part in, we feel that we must escape the room of truth immediately. What Foer does is close the door before we are able to get out. He has presented us with a very likable and readable novel. We don’t want to stop reading, and when the horrifying part comes we all take a deep breath and continue. If we try to run to the door, we realize there is none and that we must continue reading, continue writing, and keep remembering.
array of colorful, as well as black and white, photography.
for their creativity and sarcasm.
