The End

So I finally finished the book, only a week or so late. I feel like I should say something eloquent about this book, but I just don't have anything intelligent to say. Here are some of my rambling thoughts nonetheless.

I liked the way the book ended with all the loose ends. I'm confused though about whether Jonathan's grandfather died when the Nazis came to Trachimbrod or if we escaped or if he left before. And it sounded like Zosha died, but I thought she was his grandmother. And then there're all the questions I have about Alex's grandfather. I felt like the movie left me with some sort of closure and like there were some conclusions that I could draw, and that felt good. I guess I liked the idea that I could place this tragedy in a nice little box with a beginning and an end. But now that I've read the book, the end of the movie seems almost trite. This book seems like the first I've read to really address the fact that there wasn't a nice, complete end to the tragedy of the war. The war not only destroyed the lives of everyone who died, but it also reached out and poisoned the lives of those who lived, like Alex's grandfather and his own dad. I can't help but think about my own grandpa who fought in WWII and came back from the war a different person, according to some of my great aunts who knew him before and after. The book also seemed to be true to Foer's own experience searching for his relatives if indeed he did and was unable to find any connection to them.

This book seems to have the potential for further digging and discovery, but I don't quite feel up to it. At any rate, I'm glad I read the book. Even if it was a bit rough at times for my taste, there were also many poetic moments, and it got me thinking about war and the holocaust in a new way. Perhaps if I get a chance, I'll try to write something more intelligent, but I wanted to let you know that I did finish the book and to record some of my thoughts on it.