Read Between the Wines discussion
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Everything is Illuminated
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Love Sammy Davis junior junior.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS MEANSyet.
you will. this books has some very funny parts.
Running to the library to pick this up tonight.
Sorry i have been so quiet -I have been waiting for the latest book club books from inter- library loan. Still plan to read them, just a bit late! I would like to know which of the last 3 months books you feel are 'unmissable' just in case i have to make a choice? Apologies if i am on the wrong thread, thanks, Keryn
There are no wrong threads, Keryn! I'm just glad to have people participating. I think everyone will probably have his own opinion on this, but for me, I loved each of the last three books we've read a lot. If I were to pick two, maybe I'd pick Capote and Bradbury? But honestly, they were all good, even the Pessl.
Okay, I just finished this and I have to say, I don't think I'm the greatest JSF fan in the world. I remember reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close a few years ago, and being kind of disappointed with that, as well, but at the time I tried looking past what I didn't like about it, and I still gave it three stars. (I was more forgiving back then, probably because I didn't want people who looooooove Jonathan Safran Foer to think I'm an asshole.)But now I don't care. I think JSF's critical acclaim is incredibly bloated. This book is trite, cutesy, and irritating. I thought EL&IC was trite and cutesy and now I can actually say EL&IC is the better book!
Two stars for this nonsense, guys. Sorry. I liked parts of it, including some of Alex's English translations and the really dramatic revelation of Alex's grandfather toward the end of the book (which I genuinely thought was heartfelt), but the rest of it was "meh" at best.
Of course, I'm still interested in talking about it if anyone's reading it. Conversation is always good.
Oh, which means by definition, Everything Is Illuminated is officially my least favorite book of all the books I've read for Wine Club, which is 16 at this point.
it would have been better told exclusively through Sammy Davis junior junior's POV.
Hahah!
despite or because of the focus on flatulence? we may never know.
I'm glad I skipped this one. Prison intrigue sounds more appealing.
I like when she 69'd JSF.
This is an interesting read. I start to hate it and then laugh at loud....after putting it down, I don't want to pick it up. But then I pick it up and don't want to put it down....confusing....is anyone else reading it? Just read about Sammy Davis Jr Jr's flatulence issues.....and 69?!?!
I do like SD Jr Jr and his blow jobs. But I just thought overall this book was a little too "cutesy." Even with the serious content. I finished itl ast week but it turns out I'm not the biggest Foer fan ever.I still might read his nonfiction book about vegetarianism, though.
Ok. Just finished and I have to say I didn't hate it. There were some very difficult parts to read but I did enjoy the stories of Brod and Safran. I'm confused though (view spoiler)
Brod was born WAY before the war. Like centuries before. It was a simple accident and it set the stage for, in many ways, giving that Jewish village its identity and a cultural quirkiness that would extend through the generations of its inhabitants.When you say "Safran," do you mean Brod's husband, The Kolker? You don't mean the other Safran, JSF's promiscuous grandfather, right? You mean the guy with the saw sticking out of his skull.
The part where they found Brod was in the very beginning of the book, Sue, right? Did you find the book got easier to read after that? Maybe you just needed to acclimate to the writing style.
Yes. When I read the beginning, I was ready to give up but did get somewhat acclimated...I guess? No I liked the story of the promiscuous grandfather too! (view spoiler)
Yeah, remember he was married to Zosha or whatever her name was? And he slept with her sister the night of his wedding? And had a ton of affairs, one of them long-term with that gypsy lady (although I think that might have predated his marriage to Zosha)? Anyway, that's the woman who died in the river during that German raid on Trachimbrod, so she was not Jonathan's grandmother. Presumably he remarried afterwards and was (hopefully) more faithful the second time around.
I thought Zosha was his first wife and he did sleep with many women but that was all before he got married (up until the day of, I know!) but then he fell in love with Zosha. Now that you say that, I guess he did survive when I thought he died but then he would not have had grandchildren unless one of his previous mistresses had a baby. Hmmmm...forgot about that.....well I'm glad we could still discuss the book even though you hated it! ;-)
Hah, I guess I didn't realy hate it. I hated certain aspects of it, but there were certain things I suppose I liked.But yeah, you're right. He did ultimately fall in love with Zosha, and Jonathan's grandmother never really gets discussed very much so we kind of almost forget about her, but it is implied that he remarried after her death, which he'd have to have done in order to have fathered Jonathan's mother. (I bet he had a few stray bastard children along the way, though.)
message 28:
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Jason, Cabernet Sauvignon
(last edited Feb 02, 2014 02:03PM)
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rated it 2 stars
The grandmother is mentioned in one scene during which they watch the Armstrong moon landing on TV. And also, I think Safran (his grandfather) died shortly after they emigrated to the United States. So when Jonathan joins up with Alex, his grandmother is still alive but not his grandfather.
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