Book review info

everything is illuminated

Book review

Summary

Characters

reason to read

Summarry

The story begins with Jonathan, who is an American writer. He decides to visit Ukraine to find the woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis during World War II. Jonathan's trip is guided by a Ukrainian translator named Alex, who speaks English in a funny and strange way. Together, they start trip across the Ukrainian countryside. Through the book, I observed that the autor cover different themes, these are some: Identity, memory, the power of storytelling. Trough the trip Jonathan connects to his jewish rooths and try to give a reasone to his existence. He learns about his grandfather's experiences during the war and the sacrifices made by his family. The past and present get in touch as Jonathan gets deeper into his family's history. I think that the way rthis book is written is unique and experimental. The autor use different narrative techniques, including letters, diary parts, and dialogues. The language used in this books by the carachters helped me to understand their personalities and backgrounds. Alex, the translator, often changes English phrases, leading to humorous and sometimes confusing exchanges. Through reading the book I really can feel the traditions and the different landscapes of ukraine. Foer paints a picture of a country still haunted by its past, but full of vibrant characters and traditions. I feel like this book is very emotional and describes very very well the complexities of family, history, and personal identity(In the past I also had some problem with understanding the reason of my existence). It helps to question how the past shapes the present and how we can find meaning in our own stories.

Jonathan's grandfather is an very important character because through the book they explore his past life. He is a survivor of the Holocaust and he expirienced a lot of suffer in that period. Jonathan ammires his grandfather and is fascinated by his bravery. Also if he doesn't appear in the book as a living person, I can feel who he was through the stories and memories shared by other characters. Jonathan's grandfather shows resilience and shows the power and the importance of family.

Character 3: Jonathan grandfather

Alex is a Ukrainian translator who helps Jonathan during his trip. He is a funny and strange character. Alex speaks English in a unique way, a lot of times he use incorrect grammar and unusual phrases. Thanks to him I enjoyed the story more. He made the story funner, thanks to his misunderstandings and misinterpretations. Alex is also curious about Jonathan's background and becomes a friend to him. Also if he had some problems with language, he tries his best to help Jonathan in his search.

Character 2: Alex

Jonathan is the main character and the author of the book. He is a young American writer who travels to Ukraine to discover and understand his family's history. Jonathan is curious, but he knows what he wants and puts effort in it, some times he is also a bit confused. He is trying to understand his origins and try to catch the reason of his existence. Through the story, he is on a mission to find the woman who saved his grandfather during World War II. Jonathan is a person that wants to understand the past of his family so he can understand himself better. His journey in Ukraine helps him to learn about his ancestors and their struggles.

Character 1: Jonathan Safran Foer

I think this book is very nice to read, because it has several aspects that are really beautiful, I really liked how it tells the story but especially what it's about. It demonstrates the power of family and how important the past is to understanding the present. Thanks to the past we can understand our history and we can understand the reasons for the sadness, melancholy or happiness of others. It helps to question how the past shapes the present and how we can find meaning in our own stories. Then I really enjoyed this book thanks to misunderstandings and other funny parts… I recommend this book to who wants to understand a way of understanding the reason of our lives, I hope that you all will have te occasion to at least do a little try and read this beautiful book.

Reason to read

Did you ever wanted to understand more about life? why?