Ukraine: Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

When Jonathan, a young American Jew travels to Ukraine to look for the woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis, he hires the services of Heritage Touring. His translator was Alex, a young Ukrainian whose usage of the English language is hysterical, and his driver was Alex’s blind grandfather accompanied by his nutty dog Sammy Davis Junior, Junior. The four of them hop on a car and embark on a quest that would “illuminate” their lives.

Foer knits the story with threads of complementary literary hues resulting in a pluralism of aha moments. The narrative jumps from past to present, from mysticism to reality, from Jonathan’s to Alex’s voice. While Jonathan writes the story of his ancestor’s village, often from a philosophical dimension, it is Alex’s voice the one that narrates their quest. Alex uses a thesaurus as an aid for his handicapped English, resulting in one of the most innovative resources to make humor by playing with words. I liked Alex’s literary voice so much that I caught myself hurrying through the non-Alex parts of the book. It is Alex who manifests as the true hero of this story, even though he calls Jonathan “the hero” when he refers to him in his narrative.

Alex’s incorrect use of synonyms, which hampers his ability to communicate in English, can be viewed as an analogy to the feeling of something that has been lost in translation. There are words that have no interpretation in another language regardless of how many options a thesaurus gives you. In that same way, there are types of memories that can’t be translated, they can only be remembered. Foer prompts the reader to experience things with memory, which he describes as the sixth sense of the Jewish people. After Foer introduces the question: “What does it remember like?”, everything is comprehended differently by the reader. For me this was the moment where everything got illuminated.  

As a writer, Foer is brilliant; a breath of literary fresh air. As a historian, however, he leaves some details out, like the many Ukrainians who also died protecting Jews. Perhaps it is not left out, perhaps this is stated subliminally through the interaction of Jonathan with Alex and Alex's grandfather.   

For me, a good book is one that makes you slow down when the weight of the book in your left hand is heavier than on your right hand; one that after you finish it, you can’t start another one because you don’t want to wash down the flavor it left on your emotional palate. Everything is Illuminated will leave you with the strangest of tastes, a depressing and at the same time hilarious taste which is so unique you want to reminisce about. This is, in the words of Alex, a very “premium” book.

Book available at Amazon/Kindle