Everything Is Illuminated: A Novel

Everyone raved about this book, but I hated it and gave up trying to get through it. I was especially annoyed by the affected fashion of the writing and the strange and disturbing ways the author depicted Jewish life as he imagined it was lived in the distant past in Europe. This is the type of book that "intellectuals" love to praise because of its "complexity" but I think that the average book lover would, if he or she were honest, admit was badly done.

This book was not what I expected. It was a great read, which was not unexpected, but the style and the storyline was not anticipated. My daughter recommended it, and I ended up loving it.

I started this with the hopes of it being as good as Safran Foer's second book that I read first, but am struggling to get through it. I like the plot - but the language and dialogue are just difficult. The end is worth the difficutly of the initial reading. Perserverance does pay off.

This was literary but still enjoyable to read. It explores a very heavy topic in a way that isn't soul-crushing.