Everything is Illuminated is ostensibly about the author's search for a woman, pictured in a photograph, who saved his grandfather's life during the destruction of Trachimbrod, a remote Ukranian village, by the Nazis during World War II. However, the story of his search, as narrated by his guide, Alex, is interwoven with the fantastical history of the shtetl itself, and with the story of Alex, his family, and their connection to the story of Trachimbrod.
The book begins by introducing Alex, who has been hired as a translator and guide for "the hero" Jonathan Safran Foer, writes in broken English filled with malapropisms and mistranslations. Along with his blind grandfather, who acts as chauffeur, and the overly-affectionate guide dog (or, as described by Alex, "seeing-eye bitch") named Sammy Davis, Jr., Jr., Alex makes money by guiding Jewish-American visitors wishing to discover their roots in Ukraine. Early on, the narrative makes much of the cultural differences between the hero and the people he meets in rural Ukraine, who are confounded by his awkward appearance and his vegetarianism, among other things. As the story continues and the group gets closer to finding Trachimbrod and the mysterious old woman who lives nearby, it becomes clearer that Trachimbrod, and the one woman who remains tied to the town, have a special relevance to his grandfather.
The journey of Alex, Jonathan, and company into the past alternates with the baroque history of Trachimbrod itself. It begins with an incident in which Johathan's ancestor Brod is cast into a river as an infant, is taken in by the shtetl and adopted by Yankel, a lonely man. The two form a close bond, though both keep secrets from one another. The narrative follows Brod, her eventual husband "the Kolker," and her descendant Safran, who is revealed to be Jonathan's grandfather, and maintains a magical realist tone. Eventually, Safran's story dovetails with that of the old woman.
The most notable aspect of the book was the significant difference between Alex's narrative and the history of the town. Alex's story is peppered with humor, and deliberately written in a form of broken English; though it is difficult to write mangled English in a way that doesn't come across as condescending or stereotypical, the voice is unique enough, and Alex's mistakes are memorable enough, that it works. In contrast, the historical chapters are written in a more old-fashioned, removed manner, creating an almost fabulistic feeling.
One thing I found interesting about the book was its emphasis on language, and the ways in which reality is crafted by the people who write or speak about their histories, or are charged with preserving memories. For example, Yankel's real name is never revealed, and he adopts the name of the man his wife abandoned him for. Instead of telling Brod the truth about her adoption, Yankel crafts a fantasy of a loving wife and mother who died, and the fantasy comes to supplant the truth in his mind.
Another major theme of the book is the idea of love, as various characters find themselves in circumstances or relationships which might be considered as loving, but which the characters themselves refuse to classify or recognize as love. Brod in particular describes herself as unable to experience love for anything or anybody, but, through the descriptions of her life with Yankel, it feels apparent that Brod loves her adoptive father. The meditation on the difference between love as it exists in one's mind and as it is evinced by actions is interesting, and informs the relationships between characters, including the friendship that grows between Jonathan and Alex as they correspond.
I enjoyed Everything is Illuminated; it is worth reading for the prose, the fantastical storytelling, and the memorable characters.
No comments:
Post a Comment