Everything Is Illuminated


sorabji.com: Last book you read: Everything Is Illuminated
THIS IS A READ-ONLY ARCHIVE FROM THE SORABJI.COM MESSAGE BOARDS (1995-2016).

By sarah on Wednesday, May 7, 2003 - 11:23 am:

    whenever you're ready. discuss.





By heather on Tuesday, May 13, 2003 - 04:48 pm:

    so is anyone reading?

    i have, though it's not like i have anything to
    say about it, yet. aside from the fact that it
    occasionally cracks me up.


By Spider on Tuesday, May 13, 2003 - 04:50 pm:

    I bought it (yellow cover with purple letters -- how cool is it that there are three different covers you can get?), but haven't started reading yet.


By sarah on Tuesday, May 13, 2003 - 05:00 pm:


    i'm buying my copy after work tonight and plan to sit in the garden and read until dark. i just couldn't get back to the bookstore this past weekend.



By kazoo on Wednesday, May 14, 2003 - 10:32 am:

    Enjoying the book so far.


By semillama on Wednesday, May 14, 2003 - 11:22 am:

    I read a few chapters last night at the laundromat. I especially like so far the characterization. The story seems to be about the author's search for his roots, except told without relating any personal experience, which is the common way to do such a work. Instead, the search for roots is presented through the chpaters discussing the shtetl and the letters to the author from Alex.

    Alex cracks me up to no end. I especially take delight when he uses one word and a few pages later I realize that he meant a totally different word. the prose in the Alex chapters is a great read and really builds up that character.


By Dougie on Wednesday, May 14, 2003 - 11:26 am:

    My dog ate my book.

    No, that's a lie, but I wouldn't put it past her. Actually, with all the books and magazines I've got laying around screaming "read me", I think I'll take a pass on this round. You guys have fun though. Cheers.


By kazoo on Wednesday, May 14, 2003 - 01:07 pm:

    So, I just found out that my professor already submitted my grade and is not going to read my final paper until she gets back from her trip to South Africa at the end of the month.

    Now, do I stay here at the library and finish my paper anyway, like a good girl OR do I go home and watch bad day time tee-vee and read Everything is Illuminated.


    Anyway, one of the things I like about this book is that it engages in that kind of language-play so typical in pretentious post-modern literature without annoying the crap out of me.

    p.s. Sammy Davis Junior, Junior


By moonit on Wednesday, May 14, 2003 - 05:00 pm:

    I can't find the bloody book.

    I will do a proper hunt this weekend though


By Platypus on Wednesday, May 14, 2003 - 10:10 pm:

    let me know if you have too much trouble, i can mail you a copy.


By heather on Thursday, May 15, 2003 - 03:05 am:

    where do you work, platy? what are you like so i can ask random strangers if they are you.


By agatha on Saturday, May 17, 2003 - 05:02 pm:

    Okay, I just ordered the book from Amazon, because I had a gift certificate. As soon as it comes, I will start reading. I also ordered the new William Gibson book, "Pattern Recognition," so I would like to propose that as our next book selection.

    Any opinions about that?


By Platypus on Sunday, May 18, 2003 - 05:21 am:

    I read it while waiting for them to do something about my toe in emergency. Didn't like it all that much, but it may have been the atmosphere.

    Hrmph.

    Heather, I work at a bookstore, and it is great. I live in a land far away and filled with illicit industries, known as Mendocino County. The bookstore is in the town of Mendocino proper, but no one who works in Mendo can afford to live there, so I live in good old Fort Bragg, where dogshit on the pavement makes the front page.

    Fuck, my toe hurts.


By spunky on Sunday, May 18, 2003 - 11:22 am:

    that's what happened to you....
    what did you do?


By TBone on Sunday, May 18, 2003 - 11:52 am:

    I liked Pattern Recognition a whole lot. I'd read it again.

    When I went to get Everything is Illumintated, I also picked up Choke by Chuck Palahniuk. I'm really eager to get to that one.


By Testor on Sunday, May 18, 2003 - 01:27 pm:

    test


By Testor on Sunday, May 18, 2003 - 01:28 pm:

    test


By Platypus on Sunday, May 18, 2003 - 07:26 pm:

    Choke is great!

    I just read it. Did I already mention that? Vicondin, sorry.

    But it's still good.

    I just finished Oryx and Crake, which was pretty good. Not as good as some things she's written. But ok.


By Spider on Monday, May 19, 2003 - 10:30 am:

    I've read the first chapter of Everything Is Illuminated -- I think the style, mimicing someone looking up words in an English-Ukrainian dictionary -- is very cute.


By semillama on Monday, May 19, 2003 - 11:34 am:

    I'm enjoying it. I've reading it in bits in pieces, since having Kazoo around, i have better things to do than read. I'm not sure if she is taking the book with her today when she flys out to Boston, if not, I will likely finish it this week.

    I really like the interaction between Alex, his gradnfather and the "hero" and am trying to figure out if there are parallels between that and the relationship of Yankel to the rest of the shtetl in the other story arc.


By kazoo on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 08:42 am:

    I didn't take the book because I still have papers to write and that would just be another distraction to deal with. I did underline a few things that I wanted to post about. I'll have it finished next week sometime.



By Book worm on Thursday, May 22, 2003 - 03:00 pm:

    read books,then eat them.


By semillama on Thursday, May 22, 2003 - 09:18 pm:

    Holy crap. I'm nearly finished, and now the book is breaking my heart, sort of. It's really fantastic how he slowly changes the tone of the novel but at the same pace throughout the three narratives.


By semillama on Saturday, May 24, 2003 - 02:27 pm:

    I just finished it.

    Hot damn, that was a great first pick.

    The rest of you better start posting, i want to talk about it but don't want to spoil it.

    It's one of those books that you end up thinking about at times when you aren't reading it. Trying to figure out meanings and wondering if the meanings you are pondering reallyexist in teh book. And feeling like you get it but maybe you didn't sso you need to think about it some more.

    It left me with the same feeling as I had after seeing the movie "Spider".


By agatha on Saturday, May 24, 2003 - 04:39 pm:

    Hold the talk, hold the talk!

    My book just arrived in the mail yesterday. Has anyone else noticed that Amazon is getting really slow in their deliveries lately?


By sarah on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 10:33 am:


    i'm almost there. give me a couple more days.



By patrick on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 12:45 pm:

    web service in general has done to shit agatha.

    amazon, flowers.com, drugstore.com, babiesrus.com, pealriver.com


    places ive ordered from in the last 4 months that have fucked up our order or taken at least two weeks to get to us.

    Its no better than mail order


By eri on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 01:16 pm:

    I have actually had pretty decent luck with mail order lately. The last order arrived within 3 business days and the order came in perfect (and it wasn't a small one either).


By semillama on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 02:00 pm:

    Speaking of mail order, where the hell is that GPS unit I ordered, dammit?! I'm hitting the field tomorrow!

    I think we should extend the finish date of the book since Agatha hasn't gotten hers yet. I'm looking forward to discussing it.


By Spider on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 02:26 pm:

    In March, I ordered a book from Amazon.com that was supposedly usually shipped within 3-5 days. Well, by early May, it still hadn't gone out in the mail! So I cancelled the order.

    Other than that, I've had the usual kind of service (i.e., satisfactory) from online sellers. I *love* the fact that you can buy used books and CDs from Amazon so easily -- I save so much that way.

    I suddenly became obsessed with Chris Cornell's voice over the weekend, so I just ordered 3 Soundgarden, 1 solo project, and that Audioslave CD used from Amazon -- the bill came to under $35 with shipping!


By BIGKev on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 08:09 pm:

    Yes, an extension is good.... I have finally got a job and am busy learning/catching up... so not much time for reading for pleasure right now....


By Amazon on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 09:23 pm:

    o.k. so we fuck up now and then.


By TBone on Saturday, May 31, 2003 - 11:10 pm:

    I recently won an item on ebay and paid via BidPay money order.

    That was May 19, and he still hasn't recieved it. The process of tracking, cancelling, and replacing a money order is hideous and complex.

    And it's going to take at least 2 weeks for the package to get here from Russia once they finally do get the money order. Bah!


By TBone on Saturday, May 31, 2003 - 11:11 pm:

    Oh, and I finished the book a while ago. I'm ready when you folks are.


By agatha on Sunday, June 1, 2003 - 03:24 pm:

    I'm on like page 20. I'm behind in every single thing in my life. Bah.


By Spider on Monday, July 14, 2003 - 05:36 pm:

    So....we gonna talk about this thing or what?


By semillama on Monday, July 14, 2003 - 05:50 pm:

    Guess not? I would have to have a copy at hand to discuss it, since it's been nearly 2 months since I finished reading it.


By heather on Monday, July 14, 2003 - 06:32 pm:

    i love her house full of boxes

    the book fulfills so many obsessions of mine

    but i never finished the last pages

    and i'm a bit confused about some things

    it is also annoying at times but then i forgive it
    and go put things in boxes.


By BIGKev on Monday, July 14, 2003 - 07:06 pm:

    ok i know i tried to revive this thread and all....

    BUT... i can not read this book... i can understand why it has received the reviews and accolades that it has, but, Shit... i can't get past the broken english....

    So, no, i wont be talking about this book... sorry...


By semillama on Tuesday, July 15, 2003 - 04:47 pm:

    The one dude reminds me of Vilnius Viper.

    I also liked the house full of boxes.

    Did I mention already how I also liked the gradual transition from light-hearted and quirky to heart-wrenching and tragic in both story arcs? I think he pulled that off amazingly well.

    I have my suggestion for a book in mind.


By agatha on Tuesday, July 15, 2003 - 08:03 pm:

    I lost my book about 30 pages from the end. I think it might be somewhere in the giant pile of clothing in my room.

    I want to talk about it when I find it. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit, and I'm totally with you about the boxes, Heather. It made me cry, that part.

    Also, the part about the woman talking to her husband through the walls while he slowly died and went insane. So tragically beautiful.


By agatha on Tuesday, July 15, 2003 - 08:04 pm:

    Did I tell y'all that I got into grad school, by the way?


By patrick on Tuesday, July 15, 2003 - 08:14 pm:

    way to go there sugartits.


    not that we had any doubts.

    you belong there.


By Platypus on Tuesday, July 15, 2003 - 08:40 pm:

    Yay Agatha!

    I don't know what to say about this book, I think I mentioned above that I read it and didn't like it, and I stick to it. Oh well.


By eri on Tuesday, July 15, 2003 - 09:10 pm:

    Congratulations Agatha!!


By heather on Tuesday, July 15, 2003 - 09:16 pm:

    yay for grad school!!


By agatha on Wednesday, July 16, 2003 - 12:12 am:

    thanks! i thought i had already mentioned it, but apparently not. i do that a lot.


By Spider on Wednesday, July 16, 2003 - 11:18 am:

    Agatha, that's fantastic!! What are you going to study?

    I'm so lame...I need to skim the book before I talk about it because I forget a lot. My feelings about the book overall are mixed.


By semillama on Wednesday, July 16, 2003 - 12:19 pm:

    Way to Go AGATHA!!!!! Congrats! Remind us of your field of study, yes, please.


By J on Wednesday, July 16, 2003 - 02:30 pm:

    Right on Agatha:)


By kazoo on Friday, July 18, 2003 - 03:21 pm:

    Congratulations Agatha!!!


By agatha on Friday, July 18, 2003 - 11:37 pm:

    Thanks, you lovely folks. I will be going for my Master's in Library Science in a distance program, and will be travelling to Portland two weekends a month for classes. The rest is done on my own time, haha, whatever that is.

    By the way, I found my Everything is Illuminated book, right after I started reading Pattern Recognition. I will finish it this weekend. It was under my bed, sort of.

    By the way, again, my friend is housesitting for a lesbian couple that we know, and I noticed that their bed, made up in pastel painty striped sheets, had leather restraint cuffs on the legs of the bed, as well as a strange vibrator with a wall control hooked up next to the bed. The reason that I am telling you all this story is that, next to the leather restraints and vibrator control panel, there are these two pairs of bedraggled oversized fuzzy slippers. I wish you could all have been there with me to see it.


By jack on Saturday, July 19, 2003 - 01:05 am:

    congratulations agatha! make it work for you. i'm sure you will.


By TBone on Saturday, July 19, 2003 - 02:55 pm:

    Agatha! Tell me more about this Library Science thing... What school is it through? Is it ALA accredited?

    Jess wants to get a Master's in Library Science, but was under the impression that she couldn't do it in Portland -- which is where we'd like to live.

    Congradulations, by the way.

    And enough of us have read Pattern Recognition that we should set up a discussion of that one too.


By wisper on Saturday, July 19, 2003 - 06:30 pm:

    Agatha! Tell me more about this strange vibrator with a wall control!

    Was the vibrator itself hooked up to the wall (i'm picturing black rubber cock jutting out of the middle of a wall...like the strangest coathook ever), or just a control box for it? Did it have a wire going from the control panel to the end of the thing, or was it all magical and wireless?
    Why would you want the controls mounted on a wall?


By agatha on Saturday, July 19, 2003 - 09:18 pm:

    The school is called Emporia University, it's based in Kansas but they set up distance learning cohorts in several places including Portland. It is ALA accredited, and has been so for the duration of the program. The school started its' library science program in 1902, so it is well established. They have been running their distance education option since 1988. The next Portland cohort will start up in 2005, if that's compatible for Jess.
    Website:
    http://slim.emporia.edu/

    As for the vibrator, I must confess that I assumed it was a vibrator without actually checking for sure. There was a sex-toy like panel with a button and a switchlike thing mounted on the wall, and a wire extending off of it into the bed. It warn't no electric blanket, that's for sure. If I can get up the nerve before my friend stops housesitting, I'll follow the cord and see what it's attached to, but I would feel kind of bad. That doesn't mean I wouldn't do it, though.

    Pattern Recognition: yeah, let's.


By J on Sunday, July 20, 2003 - 07:12 pm:

    Agatha please get over there and take a picture.Pretty Please?


By J on Monday, July 21, 2003 - 12:30 pm:

    We'll keep it to ourselves.


By agatha on Monday, July 21, 2003 - 08:21 pm:

    I can't, but I did ask my friend who is housesitting to go and follow the wire, and she said she just couldn't. I think she might, though. Maybe if I get her liquored up.


By sarah on Tuesday, July 22, 2003 - 11:34 am:


    mmmmmmmmm liquored up.




By J on Tuesday, July 22, 2003 - 03:42 pm:

    Please do get her tanked and have her follow the wire,it's important.


By agatha on Friday, July 25, 2003 - 11:15 pm:

    She never followed the wire, and now it's too late. Damn.


By J on Saturday, July 26, 2003 - 12:03 pm:

    What kind of woman is she? We are suppose to be nosey for the love of God,Adam and Eve,Pandora,you tell her we are very disapointed in her,double dang.


By agatha on Monday, August 4, 2003 - 09:25 pm:

    Okay, I'm ready.

    Somebody start.

    Okay, I will.

    Why did grandpa kill his ole self?

    Was the old woman with the boxes Augustine?

    Why did Jonathan and his tourguide companion get into a fight towards the end?

    What were your top five favorite visual images in the book?


By cyst on Tuesday, August 5, 2003 - 04:28 am:

    congratulations on the grad school thing, agatha.

    do you have an art show coming up?

    does much of "everything is illuminated" take place in kiev?


By semillama on Tuesday, August 5, 2003 - 11:32 am:

    Damn it agatha, now I have to go back and skim the book. You people read too slow.


By agatha on Tuesday, August 5, 2003 - 11:44 am:

    Thanks! This is going to be one wacky year...

    The Fluffah show has been postponed, due to my friend bailing on the gallery space. It is rescheduled to open on November 1st, which is a saturday, at the Satellite Lounge on Pike street, a block from the Comet.

    Sorry, Sem. Been busy. Go dust your book off.


By Lapis on Tuesday, August 5, 2003 - 02:37 pm:

    We'll both have shows in November then! Cool!


By agatha on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 01:48 am:

    UMMMMMMM,


    HELLOOOOOO?

    discuss, already.


By semillama on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 09:59 am:

    haven't had time to reread the book. so here's a rerun of my previous posts. it will have to do for now, since I believe Kazoo is still technically reading the book. and it belongs to her, so it goes to ATL with her next week.

    I read a few chapters last night at the laundromat. I especially like so far the characterization. The story seems to be about the author's search for his roots, except told without relating any personal experience, which is the common way to do such a work. Instead, the search for roots is presented through the chpaters discussing the shtetl and the letters to the author from Alex.

    Alex cracks me up to no end. I especially take delight when he uses one word and a few pages later I realize that he meant a totally different word. the prose in the Alex chapters is a great read and really builds up that character.

    I really like the interaction between Alex, his gradnfather and the "hero" and am trying to figure out if there are parallels between that and the relationship of Yankel to the rest of the shtetl in the other story arc.

    Holy crap. I'm nearly finished, and now the book is breaking my heart, sort of. It's really fantastic how he slowly changes the tone of the novel but at the same pace throughout the three narratives.

    It's one of those books that you end up thinking about at times when you aren't reading it. Trying to figure out meanings and wondering if the meanings you are pondering reallyexist in teh book. And feeling like you get it but maybe you didn't sso you need to think about it some more.

    It left me with the same feeling as I had after seeing the movie "Spider".

    The one dude reminds me of Vilnius Viper.

    I also liked the house full of boxes.

    Did I mention already how I also liked the gradual transition from light-hearted and quirky to heart-wrenching and tragic in both story arcs? I think he pulled that off amazingly well.


By agatha on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 11:54 am:

    Sem is good and kind. More later.


By patrick on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 12:46 pm:

    you of all people shouldnt be pushy about these kinds of things agatha.

    all i have to do is say two words.


By Spider on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 12:52 pm:

    I'll skim the book tonight and report in tomorrow.


By Platypus on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 02:32 pm:

    Uhm, yeah, as I said above, I couldn't get into it, didn't like it, and have nothing to say other than that I didn't like it, couldn't get into it, and privately thought it was silly.


By BIGKEV on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 07:12 pm:

    Ditto


By agatha on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 11:39 pm:

    This thread is about the book, Patrick, which I happened to have completed, as opposed to the mail art which I haven't. Shush up, yo.


By agatha on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 11:40 pm:

    Sarah?

    I really liked the book, can you tell?


By Spider on Thursday, August 14, 2003 - 09:48 am:

    Shoot, I forgot to do my homework.


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