But I really like this book. There's some pretension, yes, but JSF is young and smart and he knows it. He hides this knowledge better than I would have been able to, in his place; he hides this knowledge a lot better than many of the other young and smart writers currently cashing checks, now that I think of it.
(Aside: If you want to read two cool books by writers who are both young and smart but who haven't been deemed literary and can thus skip literary pretension all together, check out Ned Vizzini's Be More Chill and Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower.)
Back to Everything Is Illuminated: JSF seems to be really trying to ask questions. He's interested in truth/history/story/fiction. He's interested in the rhythm of language and playing with words. He's interested in what it means to be a young man, and what it could possibly be like to be an old man. He's interested in life in general, with an earnestness that seems odd and endearing to me at a time when ironic detachment seems to be the norm.
Anyway, check it out. I'm glad I bought it, because I think it's worth reading again.
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