Everything Is Illuminated

OMG. If you don't laugh out loud and also find this a most unusual read, I'll be sad.

An interesting young writer with a different point of view. I saw a tragedy from an unusual perspective.

The movie version of this book is my FAVORITE movie, which speaks volumes since I did not have a favorite movie for 36 years until I saw this. The movie was based on this book, which is part memoir, part family history. I am eagerly anticipating its arrival from Amazon.com.

I had to give this book a try because I loved the movie so much. However, I found myself skipping over certain parts of the book so that I could read only the Ukrainian, Alexander Perchov's, story and letters to the protagonist...dubbed "hero" by Alex...however, the "hero's" part was tiresome and didn't add anything to the story at all, according to my own taste. ...more

I had to give this book a try because I loved the movie so much. However, I found myself skipping over certain parts of the book so that I could read only the Ukrainian, Alexander Perchov's, story and letters to the protagonist...dubbed "hero" by Alex...however, the "hero's" part was tiresome and didn't add anything to the story at all, according to my own taste. What is most enjoyable is the language of Alex in his story that he attempts to write about what has happened to him and his family and also in his letters to Jonathon. A book description calls it "a sublimely butchered English. An example from the opening: "My legal name is Alexander Perchov. But all of my many friends dub me Alex, because that is a more flaccid-to-utter version of my legal name. Mother dubs me Alexi-stop-spleening-me!, because I am always spleening her. If you want to know why I am always spleening her, it is because I am always elsewhere with friends, and disseminating so much currency..."   hide