Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer.  (Published in 2002. The Edition: Harper Perennial (2002)) I'll be honest.  When I first started reading this book I was confused and frustrated by the way that it was written.  However, I soon realized that the authors purpose was for the readers to feel as though they themselves were Alex's friend.  I felt as though I were Jonathan himself reading the letters and stories that Alex wrote to me.  And what Jonathan wrote himself was what Alex was talking about and criticizing.  So for the most of it, I will say that I enjoyed reading it after a while.  But it was hard for me to understand a majority of what was happening because I am not Jewish or know much about the Jewish language and culture.  However, it explained itself as the novel goes on and I soon grew attached to the characters, Alex and Jonathan, and to see what had happened to their friendship and their lives, when they were together and apart. **SPOILERS AHEAD**

Now at this point I would mostly talk about the major and minor characters, but there are way to many characters in this one to talk about the minor ones.  So I have decided to talk about three major ones.  Alex, Grandfather, and Jonathan.
Alex to me is living a lie most of the book.  When I first started reading, I was under the impression that he was this handsome ladies man, but then through reading his letters you see that he is just a normal guy.  I understand the need for this lying as it makes you want to be like this man, and it is only when you found out that he is just like you that you can completely fall in love with his character.  His relationship with his young brother, Little Igor, was heartwarming and made me wish that I had a younger brother who could look up at an older sister.  However through reading Grandfathers first and last letter to Jonathan, I believe that Little Igor was shown in a little bit more light and it also showed the larger picture of Alex's family life which he deemed necessary to leave a majority out. 
Grandfather to me seemed like a crazy old man, much similar to my own.  It was very easy for me to fall in love with his character.  I could tell that he had something to hide about the war, as he was so reluctant in the first place to be the driver for Jonathan.  I did not think that what had happened would have been his reason behind secrecy, and when I was reading through it,  even though he had already said "And I murdered him", I secretly wished that there would be a turn of events and he would just say "they are all in the synagogue".  But of course (much to my and Alex's dismay) we had to read about his sell out of his best friend.  It did make a lot of sense to his character and how he does not talk much throughout the novel.  I would have enjoyed learning more about Lista and his conversation that day.
Now Jonathan plays a very major role, even though besides what we have read from Alex's description we know nothing about him.  He is the one who has written the stories about his great-great-great-great-great-grandmother (I hope that is enough greats) and all those who came before him.  Also he is the reason this story has began, because he is searching for this woman Augustine who saved his Grandfather.  There's not a lot to say about him and how I feel, but I need to mention how I was only getting half of the conversation between him and Alex, and I most definitely am, and wanted to read more into what was really being said.  But I believe that he wrote it this way in order for the story to speak for itself.

Now, even though the story is written and about one named Jonathan Safran Foer, does not mean, in anyway, that they are the same person.  This story is not at all based on his relatives lives, even if there are names that are somewhat similar, and even as writing that I don't believe they are.  He originally started writing this as thesis for Princeton, which only continued to grow into the size of a novel.
The title I was a little confused about, but then I read of people making love during Trachimday and how they light up when they are in love.  I loved reading the part about seeing the lights from space, and I constantly throughout reading it would look out for the oh-so-subtle words of "everything is illuminated".

In the end, it's not my favorite novel, but I did quite enjoy reading it and I believe that when I read it a second time, that I will be more open at the beginning and find more meaning throughout the entire novel and hopefully will soon find more enjoyment when reading it.

Happy Reading!