Everything is Illuminated

I just finished Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. Wow. Truly wow. I haven't read such an orignal, interesting, intriguing, thought-provoking book in a very, very long time. It's not the type of book that flows easily, in fact at times during shot-gun dialogue where the main character was translating between English and Ukrainian, I was confused as to whom was actually speaking. The time period also changes causing me to make a mental shift. However, it's one of the few books that I will eventually read for a second time. This is the type of writing that will make other books seem ordinary and droll.

Part of the book is written by Alex, a Ukrainian teenager, whose English is unconventional and I'm sure he always writes with a thesaurus nearby! Passages made me laugh out loud! It was fun to figure what words he really should have been using. "It was rigid to converse." Huh? Oh! "It was hard to talk about it,"!!! He is also a funny, compassionate character, bragging about his nonexistent sex life and showing such pride in his younger brother, Little Igor.

But the book isn't just a comedy, it weaves in family history, love stories, heart-wrenching decisions and Nazi invasions. At times it got so intense, I had to put it down and take a little break.

The thing that really got me about the book was how raw and original it was. It was like listening to a very early Springsteen song - passion and energy pouring out in his voice, lyrics, his person. Foer was only 24 when he wrote Everything is Illuminated. Raw talent full of passion. It's amazing that someone that young can write like that, but maybe only someone that young can write like that. Springsteen is much more refined now. He's still passionate and full of energy, but it's different. Experience and maturity has changed his style. 

I haven't read Jonathan Safran Foer's latest book, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I'm curious to see what affect experience and maturity has had on his writing. I hope time and experience haven't polished his edges and muted his imagination.