Everything is Illuminated is different from most books that I have read. Even the plot is somewhat difficult to grasp until you actually start reading it. It is essentially about a boy Jonathan Safran Foer (also the author), his translator and an old man who go out to find a woman who supposedly saved Foer's grandfather from the Holocaust.
The structure of the book is somewhat odd. The story starts as if it has already passed. Everything has already happened and the story is just a series of flashbacks. I feel like this arrangement allows the author to do a good amount of reflection. Since the story isn't constantly progressing and constantly moving forward, the author has time to let his thoughts linger. Also, the POV is also somewhat bizarre. It is not consistent throughout the book. Point of views may switch with each chapter. One chapter it will be first person (Foer's translator) and the next it will be in third person. In fact, the "jumping around" of point of views confused me a great deal at first. I actually had to force myself to read the first 30-40 pages to actually start to get a feel for what was going on. After that, however, it started to become pretty interesting. Since the POV keeps on changing, the voice changes as well. For example, the translator's voice is really conversational. His English can be very choppy and he might use the wrong word at the wrong time, which can be very humorous. I love the relationship this character establishes with the reader (me). Since he is so direct and human, I actually enjoy his persona.
The last thing I observed about the book so far is that it is not so focused on being "professional." It is not your typical intellectual-sounding writing. It is loose, normal, direct. There is not much description on things. Details are not specific. The author merely states a thought and then another thought and then states a reaction to that thought and so on.
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