Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

Everything is Illuminated is a hilarious novel about the journey of Jonathan, a young, American, Jewish, writer who travels to the Ukraine in search of a woman in a photograph who might have saved his grandfather from the Nazis during World War II. When he arrives he is met by his Ukrainian translator, Alex, who’s English is far from perfect. Alex is a twenty-year-old with dreams of moving himself and his little brother to America to become an accountant. Because the travel agency his father owns was short staffed, Alex is forced to be the translator for Jonathan. Alex’s reluctant, senile grandfather was forced to be the driver. Alex’s grandfather claims to be blind so he brings along his Seeing Eye dog, Sammy Davis Junior, Junior, who happens to be very affectionate.

This book is written from three different perspectives, which keeps the pace up and makes it even more amusing. One is the book Jonathan is writing about the lives of his ancestors that takes place in a village called Trachimbrod, which was filled to the brim with entertainingly eccentric people. Another is the book that Alex is writing which tells the tale of his trip with the “Hero”(Jonathan). These parts are written as a person who doesn’t speak English well would actually write, so it is filled with misused words and phrases, which kept you entertained throughout the book. The other one consists of letters Alex wrote to Jonathan after to the trip, in which he makes suggestion about Jonathan’s book and asks for corrections in his, these letters also describe his personal life and plans to save money so he can leave the Ukraine, and his abusive father, to live in America.

Everything is Illuminated was not just a funny novel about the shenanigans of an American on a vacation in the Ukraine with a blind driver and a bad translator; it also dives into deep subjects like war, love, peace, and self-discovery. While searching for the woman in the photograph the three men find much more and learn things they never knew about each other and themselves.

I loved this book and suggest it to everyone!